No Customer Engagement without Employee Engagement

Companies today spend a great deal of money in research and processes to keep their customers happy. They buy CRM software, they build customer engagement programs, they monitor and listen to social media, they survey customers and they use analytics on their big data.

Many of them are missing the point.

There is no customer engagement without employee engagement. This point is so critical it bears repeating: there is no customer engagement without employee engagement. A study from not long ago found a frightening statistic about the American workforce: fully 70 percent of employees are either neutral or actively disengaged from their jobs. What this means, essentially, is that they have no emotional or intellectual investment in their jobs, and they are filling a chair for a paycheck.

So how can you expect disengaged or disinterested employees to delight your customers? The answer is: you can’t. In a recent blog post for SearchCRM, customer service consultant Dayna Steele wrote that the number one key to keeping your customers happy is keeping your employees happy.

“Happy and engaged employees create happy and satisfied customers, who in turn create the best free advertising in the universe for your company,” wrote Steele.

Of course: “engage employees” isn’t something you can expect to write on your do-to list in the morning and finish by day’s end. It’s a multifaceted project that involves multiple steps. According to Steele, they include:

The work environment. A pleasant, well designed work environment that makes employees feel welcome and comfortable is critical. This includes décor, lighting, ergonomics, furniture, temperature controls and amenities. Think it’s expensive to buy good coffee for your employees? Not if it’s making employees feel valued, it’s not.

Technology. If you’re expecting your employees to make do with six-year-old computers and software that is three versions old, give up now. “Penny-wise, pound-foolish” may be an old expression, but it’s still relevant today. Employees expected to limp through their workday using sub-standard tools will definitely not feel valued.

Autonomy (News - Alert). While scripts are important, particularly in a contact center environment, it’s also important for employees to feel like they have some control over their jobs. Give them space to say “yes” to a customer in a move that will help to retain both the customers AND potentially the employee.

Listening. Who spends all day on the phone with your customers? Who hears their complaints and their demands? Who soothes them when they are angry? It’s not the chief operating officer or the board. It’s not the head of the IT department. It’s the contact center agents, and they are a valuable source of insight into your customers and your operations. Listen to them, and let you know you value their input.

Appreciate employees. When employees feel valued and that their work makes a difference, it’s a great step toward engaging them. There’s no such thing as too much employee appreciation: employee of the month, pizza parties, gift certificates for a job well done, gamified training environments that allow employees to earn tokens or badges, summer parties, birthday parties and more are all elements that help employees feel like they are part of a “work family.”

Evaluation. By evaluating employees often, and not just once a year, there are fewer surprises, and employees have a better shot at achieving the goals set for them. It’s also a great time to ask them for information that can help improve processes.

If you’re trying to put a customer engagement program in place without having put an employee engagement program in place first, you’re wasting your time. Only fully engaged employees can help build engaged customer relationships.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi