The customer point of view is one often written about in this blog and others. I wrote about customer nurturing last week. In essence, we need to take care of the customer, make sure to treat them well, stay in touch, set yourself apart from other by saying thank you. Etc.
That’s all true. One more thing that worth’s saying: Employees are important too.
Yes, it’s true, they can be annoying. [not my people, mind you!] And yes they are rarely ever 100% satisfied. And they usually want something. And sometimes they complain when they should say thank you. And sometimes they make you squirm by asking you hard questions when you really want them to execute your idea. And, sometimes, they don’t do their ‘homework’. But most times, they’re critical to your company and it’s growth.
Isn’t it true that your employees represent your company to many, many people? For most companies that’s true. In fact, the bigger you are, the more this matters.
And, it’s fundamentally the boss(es) that is responsible for making sure employees are optimized.
Key questions worth considering:
Do you tell them what’s important?
Do you help them communicate your values out in the world?
Do you keep them updated on how cool your new product can be compared to competitors?
Do you let them have all your software so they are passionate users? [If not, why not?!]
Your brand is bigger than your marketing campaign of the day or the stuff you write on powerpoint slides. Your brand is reflected each day in the hearts and minds of your people.
Do you respect their opinion?
Do you invite them to generate ideas?
Do you provide them dignity and purpose?
Do you enable them to use their gifts to the fullest?
Do you include them in communications?
Do you share customer impact, so they can know the goodness of where they work?
Take a moment and think about how you can mobilize your employees and nurture those relationships.
And then see if you can get them to carry that forward to the larger community and customers.
Great post! These are some valuable questions for employers and coworkers alike. I’d like to give them to a few of my coworkers as “homework” and ask them to fill out a minimum of 2 paragraphs per question. When the people higher up respect and communicate with the people lower down, it makes for a better work environment for everyone involved.