Don’t let your staff become complacent…
As more and more businesses are allowed to open, it’s important to build customer trust and confidence and this means implementing the new health and safety measures that are advised to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Some essential businesses have been operating throughout lockdown with the opening of many more being gradually phased in. It’s imperative that your team irrespective of the type of business continues to strictly adhere to the systems and processes that have been put in place by you to protect customers and ensure that they feel safe, and that your team doesn’t become complacent, cutting corners, which could affect the safety of your clientele.
Businesses have been forced to change the way they work, virtually overnight with health and safety becoming a critical element of the customer experience. It certainly represents real challenges and your team must be up to the task.
Systems and processes to ensure your customers feel safe
Staff will need thorough and continuous training in all health and safety matters including the systems and processes that you have put in place to protect the public with enhanced training required on how to deliver a memorable customer experience. These will include the use of healthy hygiene practices, intensified cleaning, disinfection, and ventilation and the wearing of PPE equipment if required. The regulations of social distancing will have to be adhered to with seating set at a distance of at least 6 feet. Closing and opening times may well have to be staggered so that people are not all arriving and leaving at the same time. There must also be restricted use of any shared items or spaces and the installation of Plexiglas at checkouts and counters if feasible.
6 ways to Prevent complacency creeping in:
- Have regular team briefings about new developments
- Implement frequent training/reminder sessions
- Ensure your team understands WHY you are implementing procedures new procedures
- Ensure the team understand the impact of not following the process
- Strictly adhere to social distancing regulations
- Independently test the experience to ensure your perception meets the reality
Keeping your customers safe will lead to a larger market share
By ensuring your team sticks to the systems and processes will help you to not only maintain your existing customers, but also win a bigger market share. Brand loyalty will only happen if your customers feel safe and what you do now will make an enormous difference to how your customers feel about your business. Complacency by your team can gradually creep in and cannot always be seen, but your customers will certainly feel and notice it. The more confident and comfortable your employees feel will transmit to the confidence and comfort levels of your customers. A safe and happy team will be able to give the best experience to your customers.
Due to their heightened emotional state customers will remember their experience with you for longer and be more influenced by the experience. This is good if the experience is great, but can have a long lasting impact if it’s not.
How can insight6 help you to determine if your team is becoming complacent?
insight6 are the Customer Experience (CX) specialists in the UK and Ireland, designing and delivering feedback programmes for your customers in order to find out their experience of your business. We conduct CX Reviews (Mystery enquiries) that are tailored to your specific business, and involves a researcher experiencing first-hand the service that your team is delivering and then reporting back their findings. These reviews will highlight if any complacency is creeping in with members of your team and will act as an early warning system if protocols are not being consistently implemented.
Our staff and customer safety checker will also help to ensure you understand how safe your team and customers are feeling when they visit you.
For more information, call Paul on +44(0)7710 394729 or email paul.matthews@insight6.com