CEO Adviser: Do Your Customers Love You?

I have always been surprised at how few articles are written about customers loving a business. Ever since I can remember, Ive known intuitively that customers will never love a company unless the employees love it. And over the years, I have seen this scenario played out again and again. This is not to say gaining and sustaining the love of your employees first is easy in fact,

Its very hard. But there are some surprising things that can contribute to making your employees love your company and spread the love to your clients.

Remember the manners we learned as kids. These behaviors have been coined the Four Referability Habits and, while they are simple and obvious, they seem to be on the wane.

1. Say please and thank you. Youd be surprised how many people forget this simple courtesy. Weve all gotten so busy that we demand something and then quickly move on to the next thing without acknowledging the favor. At Mosaic, we talk about these habits and we work consciously to apply them on a daily basis.

2. Show up on time. Being on time isnt a matter of circumstance; its a matter of choice. When you show up late for appointments, it shows disrespect.

3. Do what you say you are going to do. It seems straightforward, but many people dont follow through. If you say youre going to call, email or send something, then do it.

4. Finish what you start. This step shows you have the commitment to see things through to the end and strengthens your credibility.

Show grace. We all make mistakes. We all need grace. Many, if not most of us, dont see a lot of grace in the workplace. If your employees feel safe in their role, they will be free to do their very best. If we feel safe with each other, we are freed to focus all of our energy on satisfying our customers in the best way possible. I will never forget an instance where mistakes were made with a client and Mosaics project manager took most of the heat. This employee was unfairly targeted and, ultimately I had to pull the manager off the assignment. I never blamed the manager in fact, I nominated that person for employee of the quarter. The project manager handled everything with grace and all of us learned from it.

Providing grace in the workforce is not the same thing as having low expectations, and this is where it gets tricky. We need to set high expectations for our staff and challenge them to be their best. An environment that is defined by grace and not by fear will inspire your employees to improve constantly and be their very best. Your clients will notice it.

Communicate, especially bad information. Is cash flow tight? Is a customer leaving? Is there a product or project delay coming? The truth is your employees can sense when something is wrong or bad news is lurking out there. And the rumor they will make up is usually worse than the truth anyway. Keep them informed. Communicating shows respect and earns trust.

Listen and trust. I believe every good character trait has an offsetting weakness. One such weakness for leaders is being (over)controlling. Being controlling can be very good, but I promise that the more you learn to listen and trust your team, the more successful you will be. Have you ever known someone who left a company to complain that their boss trusted them too much and spent too much time listening to them?

Lead. Be decisive. You must lead and do so assertively. People want to be part of something, and when they join your company, you are creating the something they choose to be a part of. In most companies, wrong decisions can be corrected quite easily. I am convinced that the worst decision is no decision. And if you habitually practice the four Referability Habits, your employees will show you the same grace you have offered them when a bad decision is made and needs to be corrected.

As your employees learn to love your company, your customers cant help but notice and they will love your company, too. It may not always be on a conscious level, but it will be real and it will cement your value and relationship to your customers.

Clint Morse is cofounder and EVP of Mosaic, a Renton-based oil/gas and utility consultancy. Reach him at [email protected]