Grow Your Business from the Inside Out

In any company, no matter the size or the industry, it’s important for a business to put together a great team of employees to help propel the business forward.  It’s equally, if not more important to keep that team united and working towards the same goals.  In a society where everyone is focused on winning at all costs, the idea of teamwork has been pushed to the backburner in many businesses - that’s unfortunate when you really think about it.  Without a doubt a business is a team.  It’s made up of employees in different departments with different roles, all doing their individual parts to reach the same goals.  Individually, when employees are satisfied with their jobs and motivated, they use and strengthen their skills maximizing their benefit to the company.  Happy employees work hard on they’re own, but when they work together, the outcomes are multiplied exponentially!

There are several factors that play into keeping your employees happy, in turn keeping the best interest of the company at the forefront of their minds.   Possibly the single most important thing you can do to attract good employees, keep them happy and ultimately watch your business prosper is to empower them!

You don’t have to use cheesy team-building games or outdated techniques; you just have to find a way to instill in your employees a sense that they are an important part of the team and that they matter.  Doing things as simple as having meetings with different groups, such as the sales team and the marketing team, to get input into what’s going on in the company and to address concerns or praise achievements as they come up can make a world of difference.  It doesn’t hurt to throw in fun, shared activities so that employees can have fun together and build relationships outside of an environment of “work, work, work.”

Last week at ShuBee, for example, employees had a “Painting Party.”  Employees were encouraged to hang out after work and paint their offices to create spaces all their own.  It was just another way to make them feel more a part of a place where they spend a good bit of time.  The people who see one another every day in their work attire got to hang out together in their comfortable painting clothes, make the office more personal and bond over pizza.  Employees not only had input into what they wanted their work space to feel like, they had free reign to make their offices whatever they wanted them to be.  They had a sense of ownership.  Another great example of team building comes from one of our customers and Nexstar member, Rosenthal Plumbing, located in Santa Cruz, California. 

“Nexstar members are encouraged to use creative training to get the best quality retention,” Service Manager Tim Sjobeck said.  And get creative, they did!  The group decided to put together a retro rap video to use as a training tool for employees.  Incorporating every member of the Rosenthal team into the project, they produced a video highlighting their belief in the highest quality of customer service and other key focuses of the company.  The video turned out to be educational and extremely entertaining.  As far as team building goes, Sjobeck says he could not have anticipated the overall impact the project actually had on the Rosenthal group, for several reasons. 

Sjobeck says that after making and airing the video, employees developed a new and even stronger sense of accountability to the company.  If, for any reason, they weren’t before, they now HAD to deliver the kind of service the video promised.  It didn’t hurt that Rosenthal offered a discount to customers who mentioned seeing the video, so employees knew that they and the claims they made (through a rap song, nonetheless) had been viewed and customers expected them to be backed up.

“So our customers are now receiving real customer service, service the way it used to be,” Sjobeck said.  He says making the video improved their team strength and the companies positive attitude overall.  Possibly the outcome that proved to be most beneficial for everyone involved, he says, was the project created a sense of ownership.

“Pride of ownership is off the charts,” Sjobeck said.  “Our employees walk around with a confidence that we had not ever seen around here before.”

When people outside of the company saw the video, they were able to get an idea of the fun had at Rosenthal, the commitment of their employees, and, really, what the company was all about.  Everyone was impressed; some even wanted to be a part of it.  Sjobeck says several potential employees came in just from seeing the video and, now, all potential new employees are asked to watch the video.  He says having them watch the video has been a vital tool, helping to determine if the candidates are “down with [their] unique working environment.”

Creating a culture of teamwork has tremendous benefits for a business and really isn’t hard to do, once everyone gets in the “team” mindset.  Efforts can be fun and elaborate or as minimal as the team leader prefers, as long as they are effective.  Different techniques work for different people, but the fact is that creating a team culture is not only possible, but easy and benefits both a company’s employees and the company as a whole. 

Build a team of committed, forward-thinking employees and foster a team culture.  While doing so, though, never lose sight of the ultimate goals.  To keep your team on track and ensure the, there are some things you need to do to ensure the success of the teams, thus ensuring the success of the business.

Make sure that expectations for the team’s performance and outcome are clearly defined.  Explain why the team was created, their purpose, mission and what resources will be provided to help them meet expectations.  Employees should not only understand the team mission, but be excited and committed to it; if they’re not, allow them to voice concerns and address those concerns.  If you have to - compromise, as long as the team’s ultimate goal is reached and employees are happy.  Every individual employee needs to know that he or she is an important part of a team.  They need to feel empowered and have a sense of ownership in what they are working for.  The more empowerment and ownership they feel, the better employees they will be and the better your business will become.

While there’s no cookie-cutter way to build a culture of teamwork into a business setting, keep in mind that there’s also no cookie-cutter way to run a business.  Business leaders should work on finding and implementing ways that work best in their particular settings.  The more of a teamwork environment you can create, the more empowerment and ownership employees will feel, the more efficiently your business will run, the less turn-over you will experience and the quicker you’ll reach your business goals.  Your business can grow stronger than ever by working from the inside out.

Customer Service is the New Gold Standard

Wrapped up my report on Joseph Michelli's book "The New Gold Standard," this week. Now I'm talking to him on Twitter. How cool is that?!! GM's report on the book can be read here: http://www.shubeebusinesstips.com/2009/06/the-new-gold-standard/

Anyone who works in a customer service focused business needs to read this book!

Take Back Control of Your Company

No one readily hires a "bad employee." All new personnel are selected with the highest hopes and the best qualifications needed to help move the company along a desired path. During the course of employment though, many forces can change an employee's feelings about the company and subsequently have a negative impact on their performance.

For business owners and managers, balancing personalities and work habits among multiple employees can be a difficult task. Dealing with lack-luster enthusiasm from techs, installers who are chronically late to work, laborers who frequently damage client's property, employees who punch out at five with more precision than they practiced during their previous eight hours- leaving after-hours calls for "someone else" - can easily corner the entrepreneur or manager into a scenario where employees are running the company more so than the people intended to be in charge.

With less-than-optimal employees running the show, the entire company can quickly lose sight of management's vision and even spiral its way out of business. Here's a couple of ideas to help instill the desired company culture in your employees and put you back in the driver's seat when it comes to running your operation.

Fill Your Truck's Empty Passenger Seat

The best asset any service-based company has is the passenger seat in their trucks. To get on the fast track to regain control of your company, assign assistants to your prized veteran techs. When picking assistants for your techs, it's important to focus on individuals who are motivated, eager to learn and positive. An assistant may not be able to do your most complex jobs initially, but will be eager to learn what needs to be done to earn a veteran tech's respect and pay levels.

Having an assistant ride along side your model techs will teach them how you expect the company to operate and soon add another valuable member to your team. This type of on-the-job training helps instill the values you want to promote within the company. Assistants will be able to tackle smaller jobs quickly, allowing their mentor tech to focus on the more challenging work at the jobsite. Also, with this type of training in place, your work force will be able to recover quicker when a problem employee decides to cut and run. Let your competition deal with those employees for a while, your company will be a stronger one because of it!

Connect Brain to Pocketbook

Many companies reward employees for working above and beyond normal calls of duty by paying commissions for upselling while on the jobsite or completing a certain number of jobs within a given time frame. Use a similar principle with any accidents that may occur as well. Hold techs, installers and other employees accountable for any damages they cause to company vehicles, tools or (even worse) client property while on the job. Keep inventory on company owned tools and hold your techs responsible for missing tools or tools damaged through obvious abuse. In some cases like vehicle or property damage, the company insurance policy will cover the bill; have the employee repay the company for any deductibles or increases in premiums resulting from their actions.

Showing employees the costs associated with their clumsiness or inattention to detail will certainly stick with them next time they're in a similar situation and they will surely use more caution to avoid having to fork over additional money for repeated mistakes. This management style may temporarily increase turnover, but you're really only losing the prima donna attitudes and unqualified employees not willing to conform to your company's commitment to excellence - these are the exact employees who were holding your company hostage in the first place.

Utilizing these simple practices will put the reigns back in your hands and your company back in line with your original visions of quality, excellence, growth and success.

Six Tips to Get Your Mail Read

You've already spent money putting together a flyer, promo package or other mail piece to send to your customers, this week we're going to go over a six pointers on how to make sure it doesn't end up filed away in the trash can.

Stuff It - If you're sending a sample or other trinket to a client or prospect, find a way to make it puff the envelope. This makes it harder to stack other mail on top of yours which means your mail is more likely to end up at the top of the stack - making it the first to be read.

1. Hand Write Your Addresses - Computer generated mailing labels can certainly be a time-saver, but they also make your mail look more like everyone else's junk mail as well. Hand writing your mailing label adds a personal touch to your message and shows your recipient that you've put time and thought into your mailing.
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3. Use Colorful Wrap for Packages - Mailing departments, shipping and receiving or even the small mom and pop shop receive numerous letters, boxes and brown paper wrapped packages daily. Packages wrapped in colorful, festive papers stand out to the delivery team (and the recipient) and are more apt to be delivered to the right person in a timelier manner. Also, bright colored packages are more likely to be opened instead of sitting on a desk for days.
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5. Use a Clear Call to Action - Tell your reader exactly what you want them to do and by what time. "Save 10% if you call by 9:00 a.m. Tuesday." This seems like common sense, but you'd be surprised how many advertisements are ineffectively written by not including a call to action. If you're advertising a new product or service, make sure to include a line informing the reader that this is a new item. If you're promoting a sale or special, be sure to include the sale price and valid dates for the offer. And in any written correspondence, always, always,always, include a way for your readers to get back in touch with you! The best call to action ever written will do you absolutely no good if there's no clearly identified way for a customer to get back in touch with you.
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7. Validate Your Recipients - The USPS receives 5.4 billion pieces of undeliverable mail every year. Why? 2.4 percent have moved; 4.1 percent have missing or wrong apartment numbers; 6 percent have missing or wrong directionals or suffixes; 0.4 percent have wrong route or box numbers; 5.9 percent have wrong street names or numbers; 4.8 percent have the wrong ZIP code, city or state. Make sure you have the correct delivery information on your mail piece. If you're unsure, call your customer to verify you have the correct information. This is a perfect opportunity for you to introduce yourself or merely touch base and let your customer know you have an important piece of mail you'd like to send them.
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9. Don't Send "Junk" Mail - We all loathe junk mail. It's important to stay in front of your customers, but make sure your mail has a purpose! Don't overwhelm your customers with mail every other day and don't include irrelevant information in your messages. Keep you mail short, to the point and action-oriented.

Follow these tips and your mail stand is sure to stand a better chance of staying out of "File 13!"

Steps to Avoid Employee Inbreeding

No, this has nothing to do with the number of forks in an employee’s family tree. Employee Inbreeding occurs when a company continuously recruits candidates that are virtual clones of the existing employee base. It’s only natural for us to gravitate towards those who share the same likes and interests as we do. When hiring for your team, job candidates who “click” and “fit in” with the established workplace culture often seem like the best candidates for your job opening. Many times these candidates have been referred to you as a friend or relative of a current employee. This would seem to make for a no-brainer hire, but research proves otherwise.

According to Career XRoads, referrals make up for an astonishing 54% of new employee hires. However, according to a recent study by BusinessFinance, this type of hiring practice may be an indicator as to why your business isn’t growing as fast or in the direction you’d like it to.

The problem may be that your employees think too much alike. Companies that are working to make changes in strategy to improve growth, retain more clients, increase average sales per ticket, etc. may have better luck if its employees are able to offer multiple ways of problem solving and provide varying perspectives on challenges the business is facing.

While bringing in referrals can make the selection process easier, hiring a large amount of referrals can stunt a business’ growth. Referrals aren't necessarily a bad thing and there are steps to hiring that will keep referrals from turning your business into a "good ol boy" establishment.

1. Encourage employees to think beyond family and friends when recommending talent. Let them know the qualifications of the position and ask for the best qualified candidate, not the ones they simply know best.
2. When asking for referrals, target your current top producers for their recommendations. This is your opportunity to exploit the fact that similar-minded people are attracted to one another.
3. Pay a bonus to employees whose referrals are hired. Spiffs like these are designed to make your employees think a little harder about who they suggest for the job. Avoid paying too much for a quality lead though or you may find yourself spending more time recruiting than actually hiring, which is sure to stall growth.
4. Consider posting your job openings online. This broadcasts your opening to a much wider audience, attracting a bigger pool of personalities and skills to choose from.

The idea is to make sure you're getting the most qualified candidate for the job, not just the most popular one. Hiring referrals may make interviews and the hiring process go by quicker, it could also be the reason your business has been stuck in a rut.

Success is in the Details

We've all seen the t-shirts advising, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" and though that mantra may have made millions for those in the t-shirt printing industry, not sweating the small stuff in your business may be hurting you more than you think. It's all too easy to become isolated behind a desk and lose touch with employees or what's really going on within the company.

As owners, managers, directors and team leaders, it's our job to keep our employees on task and the business on track. If we ignore the details of the business or rely too heavily on others to do tasks for us, we're suddenly removed from the business operations and can fall victim to a false sense of accomplishment. This only leaves us wondering why the business isn't performing the way we planned. Focusing on the small details will keep you in touch and on top of what's happening.

Analyzing the small stuff doesn't mean we need to micromanage every project or develop a taskmaster-like mentality to ensure that jobs are being done correctly. Really we just need to hone a few management skills to make sure we're not missing the small stuff that may trip us up later. With details in mind, there are a few practices you can implement around the office to ensure the small stuff doesn't get overlooked and provide the ultimate customer experience:

• Plan
• Constantly evaluate your processes
• Practice a "Walk Around" style of management
• Make bad news "safe"
• Obsess over pretty much everything!

Planning is essential for success. Without a clearly defined set of goals and a list of the steps needed to achieve those goals, we're really just floundering around with the hopes that success will fall in our laps. If there's a particular milestone that you'd like to see your company reach, whether it be a set number of new customers per month added to your client base or a dollar figure you'd like to earn per year, write it down and plan the steps that are necessary to make it happen. Goals that we develop for ourselves in our mind are abstract and can easily be undermined or even forgotten. Once we commit a goal to writing, it becomes real and tangible. Keep a list of goals at hand as well as an outline of what it's going to take to achieve them.

Just because you've been doing something the same way for ten years doesn't mean it's the best or most efficient way to get the job done. Set a schedule to evaluate how processes are handled within your company and review these regularly. How long does it take to process an order? How easy is it to amend an order if your customer changes their mind? How do other companies handle similar issues and would there be any benefits if you were to structure your policies in a similar fashion? What do you do when a customer requests something your company hasn't handled before? These items are just the tip of the iceberg. By constantly evaluating how your business handles itself, you can find any problem areas in the way you're currently working. This will help you work towards the most efficient working processes and the ultimate customer experience.

Get out of the office and walk around. Isolating yourself from your employees is a sure fire way of pulling yourself out of the loop. Visit other offices just to see how things are going or go on a call with one of your employees. This allows you to see what's happening, analyze how problems are handled, learn new techniques of doing things or simply share your vision. If you want your company to grow, get out in the front lines!

Make yourself accessible to all news, even the bad stuff. Obviously bad news is not fun, but what happens when something goes wrong? Do your employees feel comfortable enough to tell you about it? If not, there's probably a good deal of stuff going on behind your back you may not know about. Be just as receptive to bad news as good news. This allows you to know what's going on and also to be a part of the solution.

Obsess over everything! The success of your business is in the details. Take time out of your day to analyze the small stuff that you'd normally overlook. You're sure to find a few holes in how the business is running and may even find some answers to get your business where you feel it should be.

Even with the best levels of communication and planning there are bound to be some items that may fall through the cracks from time to time. However, by following these simple practices you're bound to have a better grasp on your business' operations and be able to make better decisions to move your business in the right direction.