See the bad say the good
There is a school of leadership that believes you don’t thank people for what they are paid to do. After all, they are being paid.
Here’s the problem with that approach.
“It takes about 4 positive statements to balance 1 negative statement”
Read more at Dan Rockwell’s Leadership Freak (‘Helping leaders reach higher in 300 words or less’) blog right here
As we set out to build relationships with our people, it’s vital that there is every opportunity to make progress. And sometimes, you can be in the driving seat to make that happen…
Managers need the support of their people to build teams that will have positive impacts on the running of the business – and the outcomes that are necessary.
To make the most of this, good managers create valuable one-to-one relationships with as many employees as they can, such that rapport builds and creates win-win opportunities, where both sides get positive benefits from the interactions.
Where there is repair work to do – as new managers often find when they take on an existing team – perhaps where the previous manager has underperformed, the progress to rebuild trust can take a little time.
Employees who have suffered consequences of poor management relationships will by pretty shy when it comes down to exposing themselves to more painful experiences in the future.
So, this is when the manager really starts to earn their crust. Their efforts at this time will really need to demonstrate a changed workplace environment for the better, through the immaculate way they interact with their people.
There are many ways to rebuild relationships. There are ways to start them off too, but the key impact when things haven’t gone so well in the past is the white flag of peace to offer. Sometimes this can be enough for those forgiving types in your team.
Others will be less easy to turn around. They may be scarred more badly and will need real evidence of goodwill on your part, to accelerate the healing that will need to take place.
Managers can position themselves to make upfront gestures towards their people to more rapidly progress their collaborative input. Small actions to show their willingness to move relationships forwards are hugely valuable.
Be it a small gesture of thanks; an idea shared to help a learning need; simple trust building activities; remembering the name of an employee’s child; recognizing when they need to listen much more than speak.
Taking the first step to enhance a relationship with small gains for your people will quickly start the ball of a bond rolling. Once that happens, there are short-, medium- as well as long-terms gains to be enjoyed, on both sides.
The most interesting aspect of this is that although a manager is offering small gains to their people as a constructive activity to develop the relationship between them, make no doubt about it, this investment is one that will pay off over time for them too.
The key to building effective relationships is that both sides see benefits for themselves, whilst – and this is significant – allowing the outcomes to make the business more effective, efficient and organizationally valuable too.
So there are winners all the way round, just from a manager being prepared to stick their neck out and offer upfront value to a maligned bunch of employees.
And changing their views of the possibilities that can come from good management forever.
Customers are an asset. Yet how many managers have the insights to make much more of these people that simply completing today’s transaction.
They are much more valuable than that.
It’s easy to appreciate the challenges that providing great customer service can pose. You see it’s not simply a case of giving them what they want, when they want it, at a price that they are happy to pay.
No, there’s a lot more value that we can squeeze from them in the customer relationships we build.
And the good thing is that they will be the beneficiaries as well. Because the way we generate ‘Raving Fans’ is purely by being great with the customers we already have and being clear about what we want from them too. It’s as simple as that.
You see, what we want from our customers, are people who like us so much they want to:-
• Support us as a gesture
• Help us along the way
• Become a resource to their family, friends and acquaintances too
• Come along and trade with us more often
We want to create people who love us so much that they will tell our story for free to anyone who will listen.
For many small businesses, this is all they do.
They are great to their customers; they go an extra mile even/especially when things go wrong and they are loved for it.
So much so that their customers become their marketing tool.
When you have complaints, you have the opportunity to interact fully with your customers – which, ironically, you miss when things actually go right!
A complaint is a little door to create a relationship that is open, honest and mutual. Over a little time, you will be able to move that relationship into a partnership too.
These people are a vast asset whether you are in a small local business or a huge mega-corporation, by creating one-to-one relationships like they’ve never had before with a service or goods providers.
And they tell others about how great you are.
If you are smart, you even start to ask them to collaborate in the development of your business or service, by asking them for their input beforehand.
Whether you are a store; a call-center or an online business you can move into the sport of open-sourcing.
And that will enable you to draw on the insights of your most important asset (along with your people, of course) – your customers and clients!
The ‘Raving Fan’ is the most cost-effective customer or client you can create. They are worth more than their weight in gold and are out there, right now, waiting for you.
(c) 2010 Martin Haworth. This is a short excerpt from one of 52 lessons in management development at Super Successful Manager!, an easy to use, step-by-step weekly development program for managers of EVERY skill level. Find out more at http://www.SuperSuccessfulManager.com.
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