Tag: management

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Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing’s Critical Connections (Part 2)

Ever notice the natural divisions that occur in organizations?  I’ve seen this in every industry I’ve worked with; e.g., in financial services, it’s the branches vs. operations.  In higher education, it’s faculty vs. administration. In advertising, it’s the creatives vs. the agency’s business “suits.”

Doesn’t matter whether it’s manufacturing vs. sales … or sales vs. marketing … or marketing vs. engineering … there always seems to be an “us” vs. “them” mentality in organizations.  So how can employees effectively serve customers when they’re fighting internal turf battles?

Bridging the Great Divide

Everyone needs to understand where they & their colleagues fit in the scope of the organization and how working together, they can help an organization achieve its goals.  (This was addressed in my April 11th and 14th posts about connecting employees to their organizations through orientation & communication).

To bridge the internal divides, employees also need to feel connected within their organizations.  This involves building relationships with others in the organization so that everyone is on “the same page.”  Here again, communication plays a critical role in bridging the connection:

    • Open up staff meetings – invite reps from other areas of the organization to attend department meetings so they know what’s going on & can share what they’re doing.  This is especially important when departmental initiatives impact others’ work.
    • Showcase what a department or division does & how its work is important to the organization.  You can hold an “open house” type event or spotlight the department in print (e.g., in employee newsletter or intranet).
    • Southwest Missouri State University senior administrator, Greg Burris, launched an ‘ambassador’ program modeled after community leadership-type programs.  Groups of employees engaged in learning about the different facets of the school to improve cross-campus communications and, ultimately, customer service.
    • In his book The Customer Comes Second, Hal Rosenbluth, suggests management can also create cohesion by basing leaders’ compensation primarily on overall organizational performance, instead of relying on individual performance and fostering inter-departmental competition.
Building relationships with others in organization won’t preclude internal squabbles — there will always be internal politics — but it can help minimize them and get everyone working together to move the organization forward.
I’ll have additional ideas on how to strengthen relationships within the organization, so stay tuned for my next post.
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Engagement Marketing Training & Development

Internal Marketing’s Critical Connections (Part 1)

Internal marketing’s focus on valuing both customers and the employees who serve them requires strengthening three critical connections:

  • Connecting the employee to the organization
  • Connecting the employee within the organization
  • Connecting employees with customers.

This post begins a series on each connection, starting with connecting employees to their organization through orientation (for new employees) and constant communication (for all employees).  This establishes and reinforces employees’ fit in the scope of the organization (“big picture”) and what’s expected of them in helping the organization fulfill its mission & goals.

Becoming a Part of the Organization

Orientation’s role is to educate the new employee about:

  • The organization – its mission, values, goals, how it operates, where it’s going, etc. 
  • The specific job function – answering the employee’s questions on “What do I do & how do I do it? How will I be evaluated?” etc.
  • The industry in general – this is important for giving new employees a broader perspective by addressing how the organization is positioned within its industry; who its partners and competitor are; and trends (positive or threatening) that can impact the organization and its industry. (Unfortunately, this component of orientation – connecting employees to the “big picture” –  is often ignored.)

Starting off right

Starbucks‘ CEO Howard Schultz greets all new hires via video in which he shares the company’s history & culture, what it stands for, and where it’s going … he refers to this critical time as the “imprinting period of the new employee.”

Eat’nPark, a Pittsburgh-based restaurant chain, focuses on making new employees feel truly welcome.  Before a new hire starts in one of their restaurants, the manager circulates a “Welcome to the Team” card to be signed by staff.  This card includes a post-it note with brief information about the new team member – the person’s name, job position, and a fun-fact about the person’s hobbies or interests.  The welcome card works on several levels: it makes the new person feel welcome, facilitates communication between the new hire and current staff, and helps minimize some of the initial awkwardness of everyone getting to know each other.

 

Evaluating Orientation

After new employees complete their orientation, don’t forget to get their feedback in formal or informal evaluations.  A great question to ask employees after they’ve been on the job for a period of time (six weeks, three months, or longer) is “What do you know now that you wish you had known when you started?”

To be continued: my next post will address the communications aspect of this connection.

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Engagement Marketing

Treating Customers Like Employees & Vice Versa

The scene: I’m an Executive Visitor at the Iacocca Institute’s Global Village, a special international program for up-and-coming leaders.

The topic:  Marketing — an open discussion that ranges from dealing with difficult customers (yes, it’s OK to  terminate a relationship with customers when there’s no longer a good fit between them & the company; that’s what ING Direct does with customers who use too much customer service) … to internal marketing (how managers can apply marketing to effectively communicate with, educate & motivate employees to deliver on the brand promise).

The question: “Excuse me, but I think you have it backwards. You talk about ‘firing’ customers as if they are employees, and you also talk about marketing to employees as if they are customers? How can this be?”

[An excellent question … and one that takes me somewhat by surprise because I’d never thought of it that way before.] The answer is not so simple, or is it?  What’s the different between customers and employees?

My response: Let’s see – customers pay for your goods/services, which means they contribute the revenue that’s used to pay employee salaries. No customers =  no operating income = no business = no employees. On the other hand, without employees to produce & deliver your goods/services, there’s nothing to offer customers. No employees = no business to compete in the market = no customers.

The bottom line is the organization depends on both groups. As such, it needs to develop positive and loyal relationships with its employees AND customers. So the marketing and management strategies aren’t that different when you consider an organization needs to attract and retain the right employees (who are competent and capable) to establish and retain relationships with the right customers (whose needs will be best and profitably served by the organization).

The take-away: Yes, you can market to employees and you can manage customers … done effectively, you’ll have the best of both serving as brand ambassadors.

 

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Customer service Engagement Marketing

Customer Service for Nonprofits: Can You Hear Me Now?

To membership-based nonprofits, listen up: the concept of the customer experience also applies to you!

 

Here’s the situation: about a year ago I joined an organization that serves leaders in the nonprofit field with offerings that include information & idea-exchange, e-newsletter, discounted publications, annual conference, etc. But I decided not to renew my membership since I hadn’t gotten much out of it. It was only when working on my budget for memberships that I even realized they never sent me a renewal notice.) I also realized I never received the quarterly journal promised in their new member material, and they were unresponsive when I e-mailed them with a question about one of their events.

                                                                                                                                           

Welcome Back!?
                                                                                                                         

So I was surprised when I got a letter telling me my membership was extended for one year. I e-mailed them asking why — given my service to the nonprofit field as a professional advisor/facilitator as well as a volunteer leader, I was just a bit curious. Was it a matter of member service recovery? Or did the organization have such a great year they decided to “share the wealth” with their members?

Guess what? No response (surprise, surprise). So I sent a letter with a copy of my earlier e-mail to the organization’s Board Chair, a well-known & highly respected leader. This time I got a response (while it wasn’t directly from the Chair, at least I got through to someone). I received a phone call and letter from the staff apologizing for the situation (which was acceptable) and offering an explanation based on insufficient staffing, mis-communication with the members, etc. (which I found lame).

There’s no excuse for this treatment of members, especially given the prestigious founders & supporters of this particular organization. (Sorry, I know the power that dissatisfied customers have in spreading negative word-of-mouth and the more current “word-of-mouse,” but I’m reluctant to divulge the name of this group).

Acquisition Without Retention = Leaky Bucket

Membership-based organizations, no matter how well-intentioned their missions, won’t survive without members. They have to pay attention to the “customer” experience, and I’m not talking about anything complicated here — just the basics of being responsive to members, answering their concerns in a timely manner, communicating effectively to manage member expectations, and delivering what was promised. 

When it comes to member/customer satisfaction, this is Customer Service 101. My friend Mike McDermott and his colleague, Arlene Farber Sirkin, wrote a great book on this entitled “Keeping Members”, published by the ASAE (American Society of Association Executives (Foundation).

What’s surprising and disappointing is that there are member-based organizations out there who still don’t get it. Trust me, they won’t get my membership either.

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Customer service Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing Fundamentals – Gaining Employee Commitment (Part 3 of 3)

Welcome to the last in this series on the 3 Rs of gaining employee commitment as the foundation of internal marketing:

  • Respect – give people the tools to do their jobs [see post 3-14-05]
  • Recognition – catch them doing something right [see last post]
  • Reinforcement – continually support a customer-focused culture.

3rd R: Reinforcement

This involves supporting the importance of customer-care in both word & deed.  Consider the opportunities you have to share this message in verbal, print, and electronic communications — internal memos, staff meetings, intranet, special events, etc.  For example, you can publish success stories of staff who go “above & beyond” when it comes to taking care of customers, recognizing employees as roles models or organizational heroes.

Unlikely media

Financial services giant MBNA has the words “Think like the customer” printed above the doorways in its offices to reinforce customer empathy.

QVC, the shopping channel, has an expression of its values inlaid in the floor of its headquarters: “Customer focus: exceeding the expectations of every customer.”

And a growing number of companies now include their mission statements and/or corporate values on the back of employee ID badges.

Special events

You can also reinforce customer importance through customer appreciation-type events.  Such activities aren’t limited to for-profits — the U.S. Census Bureau celebrates Customer Service Week each October.  Census Bureau marketing staff & employee committees explore creative ways to honor the Customer Service Week event with special activities.  For example, field offices participate by creating customer-focused displays that are peer-judged on the Bureau’s intranet.  Customer Service Week program books are published & distributed featuring service success stories submitted by customers and staff.

It just keeps going & going …

Organizations that successfully cultivate a customer-focused culture know it takes continual effort beyond just using internal media or special events.  It also means management’s actions need to be consistent with its customer-focused message, whether on a daily basis or during extraordinary times.

Application

How does your organization reinforce a customer-focused culture?  Let me know.

Gaining & maintaining employee commitment to serving customers involves an ongoing demonstration of respecting employees, recognizing their efforts, and continually reinforcement a customer-care orientation.  This is the foundation of internal marketing.

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Engagement Marketing

Employee Engagement: Walking the Walk

In this week’s internal marketing workshop in New Orleans, I had a wonderful group of attendees interested in learning how to better engage employees. They came from a variety of organizations at different stages of internal marketing – ranging from those already doing it (and doing it well) to those just getting into it.

What was disconcerting was hearing about situations where management freely “talks the talk” but doesn’t “walk the walk” … i.e., they green light the launch of new employee incentives and recognition programs but don’t follow through consistently to support them.

Cycle of Cynicism

All this does is create a cycle of cynicism where employees don’t buy into company programs because management has no credibility. Then when faced with motivational programs that don’t work, the clueless in charge approve the creation of yet more initiatives that, without appropriate support & follow-through, are doomed to fail. Frustrated by the waste of resources put into these “flavor-of-the-month” programs, employee cynicism only deepens.

Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to dealing with this situation. Ideally, someone in the organization needs to convince management of its credibility gap. (“Look, the emperors have no clothes! Or are we into an extreme version of business-casual?”)

Sometimes management just doesn’t get it. So people continue to ride wave after wave of short-lived employee motivation programs.

Crossing the Chasm

If this describes your organization, you need to assess your tolerance threshold:

  • Maybe you can find some amusement in seeing what management is going to come out with next.
  • Maybe you can hang in there despite management.
  • Or maybe it’s time to find a place where management’s credibility gap isn’t an issue.

So have fun with it, hang in there, or best of luck!

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Customer service Engagement Marketing

It’s the Experience, Stupid!

I used these very words (in the title) in response to a recent post by a colleague Dana (Feb. 21, 2005) ranting about the lack of customer service. Customers have lots of choices these days, sometimes too much. It’s one of the reasons the “customer experience” has become a critical differentiator – treat customers right if you want to keep them coming back.

Too bad more companies don’t get it. I’m seeing this more & more as a business traveler. Wading through airport security … being herded on planes like cattle … and without the amenities we used to get (a small package of pretzels just isn’t enough on a cross country flight). Fellow passengers share the same frustrations, complaining about a particular airline or the industry in general.

On my last trip I heard a traveler comment about some surly airline staff. A few passengers tried to empathize with the staff given the instability of the industry and the fact that their jobs are in jeopardy. (In my experience, it’s only a handful of staff who have poor attitudes. But if they continue to to alienate passengers, their companies may not last much longer.)

My concern is for those airline staff trying to stay positive while taking care of customers. It truly is a delicate balance: as a result of cost-cutting reductions in staff & operations (needed to remain viable), airline staff have less resources at their disposal. (The good news was the last leg of my flight arrived on time; the bad news was we had to wait for baggage handling staff to unload the carry-on luggage.)

Remember, we’re also talking about employees who have taken pay-cuts, given back benefits, or haven’t had salary increases in a while. So yes, we passengers may need to be more understanding & perhaps lower our expectations a bit. At the same time, airline management needs to know it’s not a good experience – for either passengers or employees.

There’s no magic bullet for this. I just hope airline executives & managers are doing their best to be supportive of their employees — recognizing those who continue to take care of customers (despite the situation), while providing remedial attention to those don’t.

(Hint to those employees with a negative attitude: customers aren’t the only ones who have the option to leave!)

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Customer service Engagement Marketing

Pop Quiz: Customers 101

Over the years I’ve developed internal marketing as an approach that recognizes the value of employees in serving customers. (Remember my mantra: take care of the employees & they’ll care of the customers.) 

You can use marketing to communicate with, educate, and motivate employees as effectively as you use it to communicate with, educate, and motivate customers. Especially when it’s based on respect — giving employees the tools they need to serve customers and each other (i.e., employees as “internal” customers).

I’m talking about the basics here … letting staff know as much as possible about your customers.  Basic stuff like:

  • who your customers are (e.g., general customer profiles & product usage)
  • what’s important to them in dealing with you
  • how they feel about your organization (from customer satisfaction surveys, complaint tracking)
  • what competitive options they have, etc.

Does any of this info get shared with employees, or is it kept for senior management’s eyes only? Excluding proprietary & confidential data, the more employees know about their customers, the better they can serve them.

Try giving your staff a quiz sometime about your customers (you can use some of the questions listed above). And if the very thought of doing this scares you, it means you have your homework cut out for you. Communicate with & educate your employees about your customers. The results will benefit everyone involved.

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Engagement Marketing

Art Imitating Life

Check out AirTran Airways ad: “Fired” created by Cramer-Krasselt advertising about an employee who gets a phone call from his boss telling him he’s fired. The boss is living it up at a conference when he makes the call. Then you see the fired-employee getting on an AirTran flight to the conference. Just as the boss is making his speech about how important employees are and how profits are up (yadda … yadda … ), the employee rushes across the stage to tackle the guy. (Right on!)

Unfortunately, too many organizations claim employees as their number one asset, but it’s only lip service.

According to Dilbert creator Scott Adams in The Dilbert Principle, guess what line holds the #1 spot on the list of “Great Lies of Management?” It’s none other than “Our employees are our most valuable asset.”

Human capital … don’t you just love that term? Living, breathing “assets” or pure overhead? … What’s more important than what an organization calls its people is how it treats them. The truly smart, successful organizations are those who value both their customers AND their employees, and they demonstrate their commitment to both groups in their culture and operations. It’s what internal marketing is all about.

 

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Engagement Marketing Musings

Warm & Fuzzy Marketing? Get Real!

Since this is my first post on the new Quality Service Marketing blog, I wanted to tell you about my concept of internal marketing.  It can best be summed up by this quote from hotelier J. W. Marriott: “Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of your customers.”

It’s a philosophy and corporate culture espoused by Marriott and many others (whom I’ll be citing over time in this blog). And it’s based on the premise that the way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel.

What’s amazing to me is the reaction I get from some executives when I talk about internal marketing. You can see their eyes glaze over as they say to themselves, “Here it comes, the old ‘warm & fuzzy’ stuff.”

On the contrary, it’s not ‘warm & fuzzy’ but crystal clear in that customer relations mirrors employee relations. Here’s the bottom line: if your employees don’t feel valued, neither will your customers!

Unfortunately, too many organizations claim employees as their number one asset, but don’t walk the talk. In this day and age where employees are expected to create a positive experience for customers and deliver on the brand promise, managers can no longer afford to pay lip service to employees. Employees can tell the difference and so can customers!

I’ll have more to share in future posts …