 ‘I
Want to Speak to a Supervisor!’
A
young man working for a Big Boss made an expensive
mistake his first week on the job. At the end of the
week the young man cleaned out his desk and packed up
his things to leave.
The big boss asked, ‘And just what do you think
you are doing now?’
‘I’m leaving,’ said the young man.
‘I made such an expensive mistake, surely you
don’t want me to come back here again next week.’
‘Are you kidding?’ exclaimed the Big Boss.
‘I just spent a small fortune educating you. You’d
better come back next week and show me what you learned.’
(Does this makes sense to you? If so, read on...)
***
Have you ever asked a frontline service provider for
something special and been told, ‘Sorry, company
policy. The answer is NO!’
Have you ever asked to speak with the supervisor and
found the answer soon changed to YES?
When this happens (and it does all over the world) how
do you feel about the company? Do you respect the organization
more, or less?
How do you feel about the supervisor? Do you admire
their use of authority, or feel pity for the frontline
staff they overrule?
How do you think the frontline service provider feels?
(And whose rule was he following in the first place
when he said, ‘The answer is NO.’?)
One supervisor took this problem a step further and
asked me the following question:
Dear Ron,
In our business,
customers who get special treatment come back later
and they only want to speak with a supervisor and
no one else. These customers have lots of friends
and tell everybody. I am afraid everyone will want
the same special treatment.
In the end we would
have no need for counter clerks as the supervisors
would be serving all our customers! This might make
the customers happy, and that is our ultimate goal,
but it would be too much for our supervisors to handle.
We have plenty of other work to do! How can we solve
this situation?
Here is my answer:
Companies should empower
frontline staff to do what the supervisor ultimately
does, without having to check with the supervisor each
and every time. This means staff must get training to
know what’s right – and have authority
to do what’s right.
It means supervisors
must trust their staff to do the right thing at the
right time and not abuse the privilege. It also means
frontline staff must learn the skills required –
and earn the trust desired.
This approach shifts
the supervisor into the role of educator and motivator
rather than controller and dominator. It’s a huge
change of mindset and culture in any organization.
And it’s the
right thing to do for two reasons:
One: The experience
customers have with your company must be positive and
uplifting, or they won’t come back. If your customer
must get in touch with a supervisor to get satisfaction,
more flexible competitors may take your customer away.
If, however, you can
please your customers, inspire your customers, and make
your customers feel welcome in a non-bureaucratic way,
their desire to come back (and tell others) will grow.
This is essential
for successful business in today’s fast-changing
and customer-centric world.
Two: The cost of staff doing robotic work (and referring
every exception to the supervisor) is simply too high
to sustain. Companies that invest wisely in appropriate
training will do far better than those who overspend
on high levels of supervisory staff.
Customers get smarter
every day. So smart companies provide self-service tools
for most basic needs. Well-trained frontline staff should
spend their time helping new customers get acquainted
and assisting repeat customers with any special situations.
This makes sense, and
it makes money.
The next time you need to go beyond the frontline staff
to get what you want from a supervisor, ask yourself
this question: ‘Would you rather go to another
business if the staff in that organization could say
“yes” to you in the first place?’
If so, let the first
business know. And if they still won’t empower
their staff, then get up and go!
Key Learning Point
Give your frontline
team the training and authority they need to take care
of customers without constantly asking for approval. This
will help you build your business, please your customers
and keep your most able staff loyal and growing.
Action Steps
Make a complete list
of everything your frontline staff cannot do for customers
without getting a supervisor’s permission. (Hint:
ask your frontline staff to make the list.)
Now scrutinize the items one by one and do everything
you can to make the list simpler and shorter. Where staff
can be trained to decide for themselves, train them. Where
guidelines are needed, provide them. If mistakes will
be made, allow for them. Over time, everyone can learn
to do what only the supervisor used to do.
Empowerment is simple, really. Give good staff the authority
to make a decision and tell them to use their common sense.
If they bring a situation to you that they should handle
themselves, turn it back to them. If they make a good
decision, pat them on the back. If they make a bad decision,
pat them on the back for doing something and
then help everyone learn from the mistake.
One more thing: Leaving things as they are is not
an option for success. Your best staff will leave in frustration,
your customers will leave for better service elsewhere,
and you will be right where you were at the beginning,
making all the decisions...alone.
Next Article in Customer Service Culture >>
Dead Wood: High Value Antiques or Dangerous Rot?
First Article in Customer Service Education >>
Education is the Star at Starbucks
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Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service.
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