Save Customers By Engaging Your Front Line
I recently read a blog post about a coffee shop that had so many customers in line every morning that other people (potential customers) would turn and go somewhere else when they approached the store. The question was being asked, “How many customers did you lose today?” Or to put it in business-ese, “How much revenue and potential growth did you let slip away today?”
Reading the comments, I noticed that people were talking about line of sight between the executive and the store front. Some people are talking about management by walking around, and others are throwing around theories and noted papers. Only some have grasped an idea that holds any weight. Which is – Engage your front line employees.
These other methods are worthwhile, but they are only a part of the solution. Unless you only have one store, management by walking around isn’t going to catch everything. Queuing doesn’t solve the problem that there are so many people in line others are detracted from entering the establishment.
The key to your solution is this – Engage your front line employees and trust your own hiring decision.
Engage your front line employees by empowering them to make changes to the business’ performance format. Ask the store manager what he needs to solve the problem? The manager of that location and his front end staff know this location better than any executive. Why? Because they work there everyday. They know the customers. They know the market and they know what marketing format works or does not work. These employees are full of the business intelligence needed to boost the sales of the store. What they need is an open ear, some guidance, and the ability to make it happen on their own. A semi-autonomous business – or putting it another way… trusting your manager to do the job you hired him for. By allowing them to develop and implement their own ideas, providing the support to make it happen, the potential for the store to increase its footprint is exponentially enhanced.
Here is the link to the post: How Many Customers Did You Lose Today?
“Intrapreneurs” supported by a management team open to feedback and criticism is key to success indeed. Employees on the field needs to be cherished for 2 reasons at least: they are the company representative in front of the customers and, by facing the customers on a daily basis, they are the ears and eyes of the company, as you fairly write. They are therefore the best positioned to bring brilliant ideas on how to improve and grow the company further. Of course, this works only if they are supported by a management team ready to base their decisions on their employees’ inputs and capable of explaining why a solution/decision is adopted against another one… (unfortunately, constraints do not allow to go for all suggestions or risk mitigation actions)
Well said. That is a great term “Intrapreneur.” When it comes to forecasting sales and marketing ventures it is wise to get feedback from the team on the ground. They can provide an insight that is not readily available in the data. You get your HUMINT (Human Intelligence) portion to help explain the current circumstances and provide ideas for alternative methods to increase your company’s footprint. Thanks for the feedback…..keep it coming!
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