Remember Me
forgot your password?

Employment Costs – Company Image is Crucial – But you Still Need to Control the Cost

Doesn’t it make you cringe when you phone into the office on an ‘away day’ and the receptionist makes it sound as though you misdialled and got through to Fred’s Back Street Warehouse?

Just as bad is the feeling you get as you stride through customer support and overhear poor advice being given to a caller.

Okay, you always take action, you always put it right. You tell yourself it only happens on rare occasions, when you need to backfill because of staff shortage, sickness or holidays.

But, you know it does happen and you have a sneaky suspicion it happens most often when you don’t see it. Receptionists, support staff, delivery drivers, field workers, representatives, they all present the ‘face’ of your company to a particular individual at a particular moment in time.

While you take care to ensure that new employees are schooled in the correct techniques to present the professional face of your company there are times when busy schedules mean the lessons are not learned quickly enough.

In these days of 'judgment by performance' only one person is going to carry the can for poor presentation and whether you are proprietor, manager or team leader that person is you. You can't very well take it out on the people who fail you, especially if you didn’t allow enough time to train them in the first place.

You could of course make sure that new and temporary hire is always of a very high standard. That would bring new skills and talent into the business, but of course there would still be some training. Even the brightest individuals are not clairvoyant and they can't know your internal methods until someone shows them. And don't forget that recruiting from the top of the tree in order to import skill and ability incurs a cost premium.

So, how do you make sure that the people you employ present the best service to your customers from day one?

One way is to make absolutely sure that every employee has easy access to any resource they may need. In order to perform even a simple task a person needs to know how you want it done. It makes sense, therefore, to document your processes. Everything from answering the phone to giving detailed product support can be written up and given as a resource to employees where and when they need it.

Technical authoring will ensure that the documentation describes the processes in straightforward language, enabling average employees to follow the steps and ensure all customer contact is conducted in a precise and professional manner.

New and temporary hire need only to be shown where to find documentation to be fully capable of piloting a customer interaction to a satisfactory conclusion.

Everyone wins, your employees are happy because they have confidence in what they are doing, your customers receive a professional service and feel safe in their association with your organization and the next time you call in on an ‘away day’ you'll be proud to experience the professionalism.

© Copyright 2007

Chris A Watkins

Chris A Watkins is a writer with many years experience in the provision of Technical documentation. His industry experience ranges from vehicle fleet management, through IT, to small business management. http://cawatkins.blogspot.com/ http://www.ffox.biz

Rate this Article: 0 / 5 stars - 0 vote(s)
Print Email Re-Publish


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/employment-costs-company-image-is-crucial-but-you-still-need-to-control-the-cost-190866.html
Add new Comment



Captcha

  • Latest Business Articles
  • More from Chris A Watkins

Tactics to Avoid Being Laid Off During the Recession

By: Sharon Alexander | 04/07/2009
Tips and strategies to avoid job lay offs, redundancies and downsizing

Are You in a Marketing Rut?

By: Jody Gabourie | 04/07/2009
If you're feeling out-of-sorts with your marketing, discover some questions that will help you to evaluate what you're currently doing and give you some ideas about ways to get feeling excited again about your marketing.

Office partitioning specialist, Optima Products launches new environmentally friendly USB version of its Designer’s Guide

By: Harry Smith | 04/07/2009
In line with Optima Products’ corporate responsibility and environmental

New Trend In Corporate Business Gifts UK

By: Compete Infotech | 04/07/2009
With presents, you can make a good start of branding your business. Many people, however, think that they need a huge budget for this marketing tool, which is not true. Actually, there are so many practical ideas that won't cost you a fortune. The Internet is a huge source of inexpensive items that can also make an elegant gift. After all, giving corporate presents need not be very expensive to be appreciated.

Using Hot Water Extraction for Carpet Cleaning

By: Vikram kuamr | 04/07/2009
If you are bearing in mind hot water extraction carpet cleaning techniques then there are a lot of dissimilar advantages and disadvantages you have to consider before using this technique.

Water Damage Restoration for a Dry Basement

By: Vikram kuamr | 04/07/2009
Once you assess the circumstances of water damage to your house, the process of water damage restoration and some significant steps have to be taken to formulate the renovation process as trouble-free as possible.

Flood Damage to Carpets – Remove the Water Damage from Your Home

By: Vikram kuamr | 04/07/2009
If it has happened to you to have flood damage to your precious carpets, you have to hire a company that dedicate them selfs to the specialized business of water extraction from the carpets and restore your flood damaged carpets to its original state as fast as possible.

How to Report Phone Numbers Using Reverse Phone Lookup Services

By: Jeru Wilson | 04/07/2009
Now you can report phone numbers of unsolicited or prank calls you receive via reverse phone lookup websites.

Stabbings: Anonymous Text Tip-off, a Solution?

By: Chris A Watkins | 03/06/2008 | National, State, Local
The value in these systems is that they afford the tipster a much greater degree of anonymity than previously.

Law and Order - the Anonymous Text Tip Off

By: Chris A Watkins | 20/05/2008 | National, State, Local
Law enforcement organisations and Crime Stopper programs are turning to technology which enables text tip-off from the public to facilitate a police response.

Splitemail – Delivering More Time, Less Email, Better Communications

By: Chris A Watkins | 13/03/2008 | Software
Email is fantastic, but now you can have more. Read on and see how managing and tracking your email communication can become much simpler. This product presents ideal solutions for both the busy social net-worker and the email-weary executive.

Web Copy – the Importance of Correct Use of Language

By: Chris A Watkins | 11/03/2008 | Online Promotion
SEO and SEM may bring customers to your door, but content is still king. When it comes to delivery, your content should be flawless.

What Does it Take to Stay Ahead in Business?

By: Chris A Watkins | 10/12/2007 | Business
In the face of increasing costs, profit margins can be sustained in only three ways – 1. Increased product price – could be death to your competitive edge. 2. Decrease in quality or professionalism – while the process may take a little longer, this will kill you just as surely as pricing yourself out of the market. 3. Increased efficiency. No prizes for guessing the best option.

Product Environmental Claims - Overselling, or Sowing Seeds for the Future?

By: Chris A Watkins | 15/10/2007 | Business
Motor Manufacturers are now being told that their advertised environmental claims are misleading

Team Management – the Less Stressful Way

By: Chris A Watkins | 02/10/2007 | Business
It's not just the loss of one individual. It's the stress on the others as they try to take up the slack.

Submit Your Articles Free: Signup



Use of this web site constitutes acceptance of the Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy | User published content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Copyright © 2005-2008 Free Articles by ArticlesBase.com, All rights reserved. (0.26, 6)