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Four
Ways to Motivate Service Professionals
The only
thing harder than delivering excellent customer service consistently
is motivating someone else to deliver excellent customer service consistently.
Customers are more demanding than ever. Professionals are more difficult
to hire and retain than ever. Winning the lottery might be easier than
rallying an entire organization to satisfy customers. Yet, some organizations
succeed. Four motivation strategies can help your organization succeed
too.
1.
Get Excited
Ironically, as managers the first professional to motivate is ourselves.
If we lack motivation, employees will lack motivation. Motivation occurs
from the inside out. If we want to motivate someone, we have to communicate
to their inside. Emotions communicate on a deep level from inside to
inside.
2.
Hire Motivated Professionals
It's easier to hire motivated professionals than it is to motivate professionals.
Experts assert, "Hire smart or manage tough. Do you believe that
professionals exist who would revel in the kind of work your team produces?
The answer is…they do exist. However, if we are not excited about
the work our team produces, we will never attract and hire people who
are excited to do it.
3.
Measure Performance
Measure something, but make it relevant to your employees, your customers,
and your bottom line. Measurements motivate employees for different
reasons. Some employees are very competitive and thrive on distinguishing
their performance from others. Some are very competitive and thrive
on distinguishing their own future performance from their past. In other
words, they compete with themselves. And some employees are not competitive
at all. Set goals that are realistic to encourage positive performance.
4.
Institute Profit Sharing
Tie the measurement to a reward. Rewards add precision to measurement
inspired motivation. If we want salespeople to simply make sales, we
emphasize the first sales commission. If we want salespeople to create
relationships and long-term accounts, we emphasize the backend commission.
By rewarding team measurements, we can influence internal customer service
in addition to individual service efforts.
To motivate employees, be
an exemplar. Being an exemplar will enable you to attract and hire highly
motivated employees. Focus employees' energy through measurement and
reward strategies.
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