We often talk about emotional intelligence when referring to understanding our customers and their needs. Right now, we must consider the working level of our emotional intelligence by heightening our awareness of customers’ needs and measuring our reaction and response to those needs.
I’m not teaching you to suck eggs but I am asking you to approach your service as if you were just presented with an egg and asked to suck it. Keeping in mind you are in a suit and don’t want to get messed up, you have a full set of teeth but as yet you don’t know if the egg is uncooked, lightly cooked or hard boiled. All this you will have to work out for yourself. You also do not know if you have a spoon, knife or simply your bare hands to work with.
In some ways that is what is happening to each of us right now in this time of economic down turn. We have knowledge of the industry sector we are in, experience of delivering a service to customers and an understanding of how to bench mark services and pricing structures. However, our customers are faced with an uncertain market, extreme challenges with financial restrictions placed on them, their customers and suppliers. No one knows day to day how the chain of payment will flow or break down and what the consequences will be when forced to make radical decisions in order to fight for survival. In turn you are in that chain and what effects your customers will ultimately affect you. They may make reactive decisions that in turn create financial difficulties for you with delay in payments or cancelling of contracts or orders. How are you dealing with the frustrations, stress, bad tempers, curt conversations and a reluctance to spend money on services that results from pressure of this nature? How are you nurturing your staff to enable them to cope with the additional emotional intelligence required of them? How are you as a company nurturing the relationships with customers in order to come up with win win solutions providing a flexible service and perhaps even new products?
This is a time when we need to evaluate our business model to identify the areas that are not supporting our customers at this time and like approaching the egg challenge we need to invest time in our business to identify what business practises would be seen as more beneficial and in turn rewarding to both our clients and ourselves.
THINK – allow time to take in what the challenges are
TALK to customers, suppliers, staff and other business people
TAKE NOTE of what people are telling you so that you can work on solutions
TAKE ACTION by brain storming ideas with your team following the model shared at the regional meetings this year
TEST your new ideas by involving customers and asking them to comment on the changes or new services provided and either role out or modify your ideas to suit your business community.
TRAIN and re train staff in service skills that will be crucial to your business right now. Heighten the awareness of the benefits to delivering remarkable service
THRILL your customers and staff at every opportunity with personal touches that make each day worthwhile. A solution driven business community only results when people are in a positive state of mind – not in a state!
By taking these positive proactive steps now in managing change you will minimise the emotional reactions from customers that result from feelings of uncertainty and lack of control. Above all – enjoy going to work on an egg. Go back to basics so that you can modify your approach coming up with new ways to crack the economic egg you have been served.
For further information on evaluating your training needs, to host an innovation workshop, or to request a facilitator for an internal managing change session please contact Karen Morton Grosvenor Training (01825 749399) If you want to know more about turning ideas into profit in an economic downturn and would like to host a workshop to stimulate new ideas in your company please e-mail Karen@grosvenortraining.co.uk.
