The Management Tip Get Your Employees Talking to Customers

The Management Tip

 

Get Your Employees Talking to Customers

Jul 23 2019

Customer experiences can provide you with powerful insights into how to improve your products. Many companies outsource this research, but you should consider having employees collect it instead. This can save time and money and will give employees a better understanding of the people they serve. Start by identifying who would most benefit from hearing feedback directly from customers. For example, you might choose managers who make the decisions about projects, designers who plan them, or individual contributors who carry out their day-to-day work. Next, consider how these employees will interact with customers. You could assign each person to join a sales call once a month, or to spend a few hours talking to clients with customer service reps. Capture their insights, and then share the most valuable ones with the rest of your team. This process should be repeated often so that your team stays up to date with what customers are thinking about.

Adapted from “How to Keep Employees Connected to Customers,” by Alessandro Di Fiore

Is Your Board Setting a Good Example for the Company?

Is Your Board Setting a Good Example for the Company?

The CEO sets the example for how employees should act — and board members should be setting an example for the CEO and senior management. If board meetings start late or have discussions that devolve into personal attacks, those behaviors can cascade throughout the company. That’s why boards and senior leaders need to model how they want others to act. A good first step is to create an “operating agreement” that lays out the CEO’s expectations of the board and vice versa. The agreement might include, for example, running meetings in which everyone has a chance to voice their opinions, providing monthly reports on the state of the business, and treating each other with respect. Think about what kinds of cultural norms you want to establish, and what you want business as usual to look like. Review these expectations annually during performance reviews and board self-assessments. Evaluate whether senior leaders and board members are sticking to the agreement, and remind everyone of their commitments.

Adapted from “How to Make Sure Your Board Sets a Good Example for Your Company,” by Kenneth W. Freeman