Creating happy clients through happy staff

You should service your car at least every six months – and you should check your oil and water more frequently than that. I tell you this so you can learn from my mechanical ambivalence. Car care aside, my ambivalence also gave way to two perfect examples of how powerful a happy, enthusiastic and authentic team member can be at turning a prospect into a happy paying customer.

Customer Service Hero #1

It was 7.20am when my car’s battery died somewhat fortuitously at the service station. After having the battery replaced by a very helpful and probably too understanding mobile technician, he offered to check my oil and water. My mouth went dry in anticipation of the brow-beating I was about to receive for carelessly not checking my car’s vitals… but the brow-beating never came.

He was calm and helpful. He even gave me a litre of oil and advised I get to a spares shop and pick up four-litres to replace what had, I assume magically, disappeared from my car’s engine. He also noticed my hands were dirty from scratching about under the hood, and asked if I’d like to wash them using his truck’s onboard wash station. He was a glowing pillar of cool, calm, collected helpfulness. Had he been anything but, I probably wouldn’t have opted for the more expensive battery option.

Customer Service Hero #2

Straight after having my battery replaced, I went to the local spare parts shop for oil and a spare headlight. The man who served me was just the right amount of helpful and friendly – I could tell he got a kick out of solving the little problems customers like me come in with. Here’s where a lesser business kicks its feet up believing the sale is done. Rather than stepping back behind the register, he offered to top my oil up, install my new my headlights and dispose of the old bulbs.

I was stoked. This man had just saved me a world of hassle and the shame of Googling “How to change headlights in a Subaru”, followed by “Where is the bonnet latch in a Subaru?”

After getting back behind the register, he handed me a pamphlet about their workshop and service centre. I was so impressed by how helpful he was I booked my car in for a service right then and there. His reward for being so helpful and authentic in his service was turning a $25 transaction into a $220 one.

These feel-good stories aside, there are countless other surveys and statistics (like this one and this one) that support the idea that enthusiastic, happy employees are vital in creating positive customer experiences that result in increased sales.

78% of consumers have bailed on a sale or not made a purchase because of a poor service experience

The real question is how do we create a culture where staff are enthused about engaging with customers on a level that’s deeper than just face value? Before we answer this question, we must understand what motivates someone to carry out a task well, something that Behavioral Economist Dan Ariely built his reputation around.

Ariely says that ‘we are driven by the meaningfulness of our work, by others’ acknowledgement – and by the amount of effort we’ve put in: the harder the task is, the prouder we are.’ Put simply, people have to like doing a task for them to do it well.

Two factors are at play here: the work environment and the skill level of the employee. A wonderful work environment, full of fun and flexibility paired with unskilled employees creates chaos. A bleak, strict work environment void of encouragement paired with skilled staff creates apathy – or low productivity.

We don’t need a survey to tell us how to remedy those two aspects! A happy work environment means listening to employees and seeking out what they want and what they value. Skilled staff is a matter of training and development. For example, you might ask your staff how they would like to train – and provide them with options to suit their preferred learning style.

So if you want happy, enthusiastic and authentic employees that relish the opportunity of turning prospects into happy paying customers, start asking questions, follow through on the answers, and support your team with regular, flexible training. After all, a loyal customer is worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase…

– Lachy