The importance of your front line

I’m going to touch on a bit of a different topic today that many businesses often over look when they think in terms of their marketing.  This idea was spurred a bit by my last article with reference to choosing the right person to attend Trade Shows on behalf of your business.  This addresses staffing. 

Many businesses think of their staff more in terms of their experience/ability to do the tasks the job requires.   However, what they don’t often consider is the impact/influence their staff has with their customers.  But when you stop and think about it, in many businesses, it is the “staff” who actually deals with the customers far more than the owners.  This is especially true with retail or when there is an office setting with people answering the phone.

So you spend your time and money creating all kinds of different forms of marketing.  But how much time (in particular), and money, are you spending in training, monitoring, reviewing and following up on your staff?  You make the decision to track your marketing – are you 100% sure that your staff are carrying out your wishes?  More importantly, are they doing it accurately and the way you want them to?

Have you ever had a trusted stranger “spy” on your staff?  Also known as a “Secret Shopper”?  How’s your staff treating your customers?  Are they smiling every time someone walks in?  How about when they answer the phone?  May sound silly, but yes, a smile on your face when you answer a phone will come through in your tone and the person on the other end will “hear” your smile.  If your phones have call display there is always a possibility that the way your staff answers the phone when they know it’s you calling is very different to how they answer to a number they don’t recognize.

So how is this all relevant to your marketing?  Every person in your business is an extension of your business; they’re an extension of you; they’re an extension of your marketing – they are even a form of marketing in themselves.  How often have you eaten at a restaurant and had spectacular service? The kind of service that quite simply made the entire experience the best you’ve ever had.  Suddenly the food tastes a little better than it actually is; the atmosphere is a little nicer than it actually may be.  You eat with a smile, you leave with a smile, you tell everyone you know how wonderful it was (with a smile) and you return with a smile.  The flip side?  A horrible server that makes even the most exquisite food leave a bad after taste, followed by a miserable experience that you also tell everyone you know all about (without a smile) and you don’t return.

Your staff pretty much makes or breaks the promises you make in all your other marketing and they highly impact whether or not a customer will return.  Unless you’re the only gig in town or the offer they simply cannot refuse – your staff had best be playing the role you want and need to help your business grow or all of your other marketing efforts are going to be a huge waste of time and money.