Employee Expectations Key To Customer Retention in Today’s WorkplaceWritten by Allan Katz
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An open, sensitive work environment, where people understand each other and work together is another key to keeping valued employees. Learn how to recognize different behavioral styles and you’ll be on your way to understanding your boss’s behavior, your team’s behavior and your own way of getting things done. Build rapport with fellow workers, employees and customers to insure your customer service message is getting through to everyone. Do you tend to focus on details while your boss can’t seem to follow through on his promises? Do members of your team want to just keep status quo while others are constantly demanding change? Understand, that people like people who are like themselves. Your customer service and sales departments can build rapport quickly by practicing good rapport skills and understanding that people they work with are not “good” or “bad” because they behave in a certain way. That’s just their “style.” Management’s role in creating a customer-focused culture must be consistent, planned and clarified. They must make sure that way they measure and reward employee success is consistent with their customer service goals. You can’t expect customer service reps to get off phone quickly and at same time begin to build healthy relationships. Clarify purpose of becoming customer focused. Each employee should know what role they play in developing and implementing this new customer focused strategy. Internal research must determine what loyalty implementation methods are working and which are not. Encouraging employees to be open and honest about their expectations, researching what they are truly feeling, establishing consistent guidelines and training employees in understanding diverse behavioral styles in building rapport, reduce risk of losing key employees in today’s volatile work environment.
Allan Katz is President of Katz Innovation Resources, dedicated to coaching and helping retailers and service companies retain their customers and employees. He is President of the Memphis Direct Marketing Assn. and author of 4 books on marketing including, "The Complete Guide to Retail Loyalty Marketing." He is a 21 year direct marketing veteran. Additional articles and a newsletter are available at www.loyaltycoach.com.
| | Seven Steps to Getting Known - Guerrilla Public Relations for the EntrepreneurWritten by Jill Lublin
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The press release should be done on your letterhead on top left hand column; it should say FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. The upper right hand should show CONTACT and give name and phone number of your publicist (or yourself). Be absolutely sure it is 100% accurate in terms of grammar, facts, punctuation, spelling, and names. Step #5 will involve creating a media kit, which will include a copy of your press release(s) as well as other information. This is used to create interest for press to do a full story or having you appear on a TV or radio show. It should also include a company background piece or brochure, a pricing sheet, any press clippings (reproduced on your stationary) and any other public relations materials. Grabbing attention is imperative so packaging is critical. It involves careful selection of eye-catching colors for folder as well as contents. Quality says a lot so don’t skimp. Now that you’ve assembled your kit, it’s time for Step #6, all-important mail out. Presumably you have created your media list and have appropriate names with (correct spelling) and titles. Now comes most critical part, follow up! The phone may not ring. It is up to you to make calls. Start by saying, “hello, my name is “and start your pitch within 10 seconds Remember your hook” and tell them in 30 seconds or less why you are news. A good rule of thumb on follow up calls is within one week for national, within three to four days for local/regional or if email, with a day or two. You might want to create a one page synopsis to use as a guide when you call which should include who are you, why are you news, and how your product or service benefits people and gives value. Step #7 is a series of seven reminders to help you create powerful publicity 365 days a year. If you follow these tips, you will be well on your way to capturing media’s attention!Make personal contacts as often as possible. Always carry your business card and materials. Know what is special about you and get word out using media. Know media you are pitching — always watch or listen to a show before you are on it. Be prepared for interviews. They might just call you before you call them. Be consistent with your image and make sure all your materials reflect image you desire to project. Participate in social and civic activities and help others get business by networking.
Jill Lublin is the owner of Promising Promotion, a full service public relations agency located in Bel Marin Keys, California, and the author of the upcoming book, Guerrilla Publicity, part of the best selling Jay Conrad Levinson Guerrilla Marketing series. Her clients are individuals as well as major corporations. She does extensive lecturing and training throughout the United States. She can be reached at (415) 883~5455, email to jill@planetlink.com or at www.promisingpromotion.com
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