Some people think that just because an employee was pleasant and smiling at them all through the job interview that they will behave the same way when they see a customer. This is not always true.
If you are going to be in business you need to make time and money allotted for training your employees part of your business plan. It is all too easy to just assume that you can trust your employees to do what makes sense or what is friendly. Sometimes you have to train them to treat their customers the way you would.
The fact is that every employee is different. For some, it is just not in their nature to smile. In fact, customers annoy them.
You also get that employee that refuses to think for him or herself as they do not think they are paid to do anything but what they are told. If you have not told them what to do then they will do the absolute minimum.
Training your employees is crucial because every time one of your employees lets a customer down that is lost customers. Bad attitudes and incompetence erodes your reputation with your customers.
Make sure your employees are polished before you release them on the floor to deal with the public. Teach them how to greet the customer, get their email as they leave and how to handle a complaint or difficult customers.
The big chains make this type of training mandatory. They create brochures, manuals and guides to make sure that their customers know what they are doing every second of the day. In fact, the way your employee behaves can even help brand your business. Look at Walmart, which is known for it’s friendly at-the-entrance “greeters” and MacDonald’s that makes asking you whether or not you want to supersize your order a consistent part of your experience. You don’t have to be exactly like them but be aware that lousy or rude service isn’t often tolerated nowadays.
It does not take much to teach your employees how to act or how to be consistent in a way that is polite, courteous and makes your customers want to come back. In many mom and pop stores, employees are not even trained to make eye contact with the customer. You can do this. There is no better way to connect with your customers and make them feel special.
