As a business owner, a manager, or as an over seer of employees often is it important to learn about what employees want. What do they really want to be happy and stay in their jobs? You want to keep the employees you have because they are the best in what they do, but often finding the just right reward can be difficult. In this article, I want to give you a few ideas about how to reward your employees who are great with working with your customers, as your customers are the most important things in your business!
To satisfy your customers, you have to have employees who enjoy their job, love their job, and believe in what they are saying or doing. Keep in mind that it does cost more to get new customers than it does to keep the customers that you already have!
Put a rewards points system into play. Have a manager walk the retail floor. When a sales person is heard calling a person by name, they are rewarded points. Getting to know a customer, meeting their individual needs is important. After xx points are accumulated, the sale person gets a bonus or a day off, or extra long lunch. This is easy and satisfying. It can work not only on the sales floor but with those who represent the company on customer service calls as well.
Every quarter one sales rep is going to get a $500 bonus for bringing in the most new customers. Alternatively, the bonus could go to the rep who had the most repeat business from the customers that you already have. Adjust the bonus to the amount of business that your sales reps bring in every week, month, or year.
If you have a large turn over in your customer service department, start giving weekly prizes to those who have excelled in their field. While each department is going to be different, you can hand out surveys to customers, you can do spot checks on phone records who took the most calls, and you can make these prizes also a quarterly ‘thing’ giving those who did the best over all a larger reward.
Recognizing people and making your employees feel important is a big thing in their lives. It is important that you employees feel appreciated. Put their photos on the wall, a different one each month. Employee of the month, so all the customers can see that customer service is a big thing in your business.
Provide special t-shirts, hats or sweatshirts to employees when they do something great. Those who do not excel will not have a new shirt, and free things are great no matter who you are, employees will appreciate wearing the company t-shirt anywhere because they are proud to belong to the company who appreciates them.
Special pins are given to those employees who are most attentive and educated in their customers needs. Employees want the pins that other employees have, and will work harder to get them.
Throw a pizza party once a month so all the employees can take a break together. It does not really cost that much and it will show your appreciation to your employees.
Give a party for the employees every few months, or every six months. Have prizes awarded for those who sold the most, those who have the best customer reviews and for those who have learned or excelled the most in recent months. The better the prizes and rewards, the more your employees are going to work harder to please your customers.
Have an internal box located somewhere that employees can tell you what is going wrong with customers. Who they had a problem with and anything else you should be aware of. Thank you employees for keeping you up on customer problems with a special reward of solving their problems without a delay.
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