Are My Staff Any Good?
For all those businesses that have staff, hopefully you have a system of detailed and thorough training in place. Your staff need to be able to provide the level of service that drives consistency and quality in each transaction- to give the customer a desire to come back again and more frequently. A recent personal experience showed that while we may have some good basic process, it is the ‘unknown’ that differentiates the ‘good from great’ businesses. (Read Jim Collins’ articles)
One advantage of being a business coach is the flexibility of my working day. This means I can do some of the ‘fun’ things, like shopping, during the day. While the standard grocery items can be acquired from the big two supermarket chains, I like to get good quality meat, so I go to a local butcher.
This particular day I was seeking a Scotch Fillet cryovac pack and went to the local independent butcher. I was greeted pleasantly, I explained what I wanted and was subsequently shown my options which were all good and I was looking forward to a great consumer experience. This was until I asked an ‘unknown’ question to the young guy serving me…”Where does the beef come from?” There was a short pause, then the reply of “From a box out the back!’ Clearly this was going to be a bit tougher to extract the desired information.
“Do you know where the meat that went into the box came from?” I continued.
“Nah, it just comes from a truck, in a box and we put it on the shelf…..do you want me to have a look on the box?” he continued reluctantly.
“Yes please that would be great”, I replied more out of curiosity as to how this would play out.
Eventually I got a response after he had disappeared out the back for some time and got the reply of it coming either from “Victoria or Queensland” so I still don’t really know!
My point is ask yourself whether your staff training process covers adequate information to respond to the left field question, as they will and do come. Do they have the basic knowledge-base to cover what should be some standard questions, such as a supply line for a butcher, as this shouldn’t be a left field question – it is what they sell!
On another occasion I was conducting a business meeting with a butcher in Wanniassa. His product looked great, so I asked him about his scotch fillet and then asked where it was from. Immediately I got ‘Swan Hill’ as the response, but then also I was told that recent flooding was potentially going to cause some risk to this and he may need to amend that supply. On this occasion the knowledge on his product was highly detailed and conveyed with a sense of passion to me as the customer. Not only that, the product was excellent and I will definitely look at making the extra drive to see Jordo at Jordos Chop Shop vs. my local guy.
What level of service do you offer to your customers?
Tony Ozanne
Small Fish Business Coaching Canberra
www.smallfish.com.au
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