How to Make a Difference in Your Company

It was a Saturday evening and I had a special day off because usually, I work Saturdays. As I was sitting in the living room, a thought popped up in my mind. I thought that I should have a walk to the closest  shopping mall and get an idea of the best business practices in preparation for my own business. I did not really want to buy anything.

The first shop I visited had quite a variety of merchandise I was interested in. I looked around and found a nice pair of shoes. Then I asked the vendor if I could have the same pair with a different color. Engulfed in his calculations behind the counter and without looking at me or the item I was showing, he replied: that’s exactly what we have for now. I immediately walked away.

Then I thought about what I could have done differently if I were the vendor. I could have stopped what I was doing as the client was coming through the doors and meet him half way to present myself, greet him with a smile. Then I would ask: “how may I help you today?” I could actively listen to him, ask open-ended questions to discover needs, present solutions based on those needs and probe to find out if there was any other need they did not think about. I could have shown people how to bundle my products and services to save money.

You may argue that in a sizable company like that one, the owner has no time to be there all the time or serve the clients himself/herself. I understand. In this case, as you expand, hire the right people for your business. Train them to be the best they can be. Pay them the right salary. Give them real benefits. Let them feel that if the company succeeds, they succeed. It you fail, they fail. Treat your employees and your clients the way you treat yourself .

Before you train your employees, make sure you are updated about the market trends in your niche. Your niche should be something your really love from the bottom of your heart. And if you can find employees who love and understand what you do, that will be wonderful and the training will go smoothly.

Once your employees are ready to do the job, step back and observe. Learn from them as they learn from you. Encourage the spirit of research. Allow them to be more creative. So many companies may prefer to give instructions and answer the most frequently asked questions over and over again.

Teach your people to take on responsibilities. Delegate responsibilities and keep the most difficult tasks for yourself. Encourage collaboration, communication and trust between your staff. Make your company an exciting environment to work and have fun. Create opportunities for your  employees to meet in a non business environment to have fun. You may sponsor such activities or ask for a small contribution from them.

Give back to the community in which you do business. For example, you may decide to take the kids in your community to an amusement park during summer time, sponsor the event and let your employees organize the event from contacting parents, making lists of children, organizing transportation, preparing the site, selecting activities and scheduling those activities.

Be friendly with your employees, respect each and everyone at their levels. While emulating performance, make sure productivity quantity and quality are well respected and balanced. In other words, it doesn’t help your company if your employee is producing more of low quality products or services. One day or another, the consequences will be disastrous. The clients want quality before quantity.

For example, if I buy a computer from you today and tomorrow I have to return it because it is not serving my needs, I will think twice before buying from you the next time. I will be careful about referring a friend to your company. Clients are now budgeting the time they waste trying to solve problems caused by your product or service. Remember you are in a competitive world. A product default, a bad service, a negative attitude or a mistake of your employee  can cost a lot to the company.

If your employee’s attitude is not pleasant, I will run away from you. The quantity, the levels of quality and spirit of the company make a difference in the success of your business. So many companies say that they care about the client but the client should be the one to say, may be through an independent survey, how much he/she is satisfied with your services.

I have seen places where clients were so many and servers were very few and mean. If you see ten people in the line with bored and resigned faces and you have one employee who is taking his/her time to serve and sometime picks up the phone to talk about his/her own friend, then don’t tell me that two other employees are having their lunch break. If you happen to tell the clients to come back next week, chances are, they will work hard to find an alternative.

If as a company, you score low, revisit the three key components: quality, quantity and spirit. You may easily measure the first two but spirit might be a tricky one. Some employees may be afraid to disclose their feelings and choose to act happy in your presence.

Help them move from acting to being by encouraging open communication and setting up rules to protect the freedom of opinions. Allow them to voice their opinions before you implement changes. You may also create a box for anonymous suggestions and place it in a place where they will be able to see it. Do not impose your views or surprise them when changes happen. Prepare them for change.

No employee will ever say that his company is paying enough or too much money in salaries. No customer will say that he/she doesn’t want any more discount. As a company owner, you may allow a good percentage of shares an employee can buy in your company so that they may become owners as well. Let your clients feel that they are valued members of your large family. Create your happiness from within you and pass it on. Make your employee happy. A happy employee creates a happy client.