High Performing Contractor - Apr 2008

Submitted by Dennis Sowards on 18 April 2008 - 7:41pm.

Leadership

Business management books, teachers and history of successful organizations all stress the importance of having a compelling vision and mission statement and clear direction of where the company is heading. As many contracting companies grew from a core group of founders, who knew why they began the business and what they were hoping to achieve, the need for a vision and mission also grew. However, most leaders overlooked the “business” of setting direction because they spent most of their time working “in” the business rather than “on” the business. As the business grew so did the number of new employees. These employees, though usually well meaning, entered the company’s workforce with little understanding or commitment to the founder’s vision. Given enough time and exposure to the company’s leaders, the new employees will pick up the same values and vision. However, in today’s dynamic world, most contractors can’t afford to wait for this natural and show learning process!

Effective leaders of today’s high-performance companies do take time periodically to clarify to the employees:

The company’s key products and services
Their key customers
The customers’ requirements/demands
The company’s direction (vision), reason for existing (mission) and the company’ culture (values).

Leaders of high-performance companies find it helpful to commit these ideas to writing to continue reinforcing the key points. The most effective vision, mission and value statements are very simple and short, with clear and concise phrases everyone can understand.

It is not enough to write these statements and post them somewhere. Leaders must seek ways to constantly share and reinforce them with all employees.

One company starts each management and all hands meeting by asking attendees to share recent examples of employees living the company’s vision, mission or values. Another company has a five minute stump speech that senior managers use when meeting with any departments or groups of employees. The theme of the stump speech is periodically changed to reflect different aspects of the company’s vision, mission and values. There are many ways to communicate the message; the failure usually comes when leaders feel they have communicated it too much. Research shows that most managers under communicate these by a factor of 10!

For this month, consider these questions- then take action:
What message about the company’s vision have you shared?
What company values have you stressed?
Which two employees can you spotlight this month for living a company value?
What will you do to get employee’s attention about the importance of living the company’s mission & vision?
If don’t have a vision, mission and/or values statements, how will you communicate them to your employees? How do you expect the employees to behave as representatives of your company?
If your vision statement is so boring that you feel it is not worth sharing, you are right! Guess what your employees feel about it, if they have ever heard of it? You need a compelling vision statement, how will you get one? They don’t come off the shelf at your suppliers and you won’t find a compelling one for your company looking at bid specifications.
What will you change to drive your company? All leaders lead somewhere, but only effective ones lead their employees to greater heights of performance. Where are you going?

Customer Focused

How can you give your customers excellent service?

“Adjust your attitude. Make it a top priority to develop in your company an attitude and culture of service. Live it and breathe it. Reward excellence. Foster pride in your product and make your employees feel like they have a stake in the success of the company. Treat your employees with the same respect and service that you would expect them to give to your customers. How effectively can your employees provide service to your customers if they are stressed-out, overworked, and under-appreciated themselves?

“And, of course, treat your customers like the VIPs they are. According to the Customer Service Institute, 68% of customers don't follow through on the sale because of a perceived attitude or indifference toward them by the owner, manager, or an employee.

“Be Knowledgeable and Accessible. Your customers may have questions before, during, and after the sale. Provide as many avenues for answering their questions as you can. If you have a Web site, include as much information as you can. Most sites contain a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section, where common inquires can be answered quickly and effectively, any time of day. Some customers actually prefer this method. Be sure to include either a phone number or e-mail address for questions that aren't covered in the FAQ. If you have someone answering a phone, be sure they are friendly, speak clearly, and are knowledgeable about your product, policies, and procedures. It's a good idea to have a list of frequently asked questions, a list of employee phone extensions and responsibilities, and directions to your business that stays by the phone. Make sure that everyone in your company is aware of phone procedures and understands the importance of answering the phone appropriately.

“Be Reliable. Do what you say you're going to do. If you say your product will ship on Monday, then ship it on Monday.

“Be Proactive. Train your employees well, and make sure your policies and procedures enhance customer service rather than detract from it. When you do encounter a problem, and you will, learn from your mistakes and correct them as soon as possible.

“Alert your customers to problems before they have a chance to complain. If your Web site will be down for maintenance, let your customers know ahead of time so they aren't frustrated or dubious about your company when they can't access your site. Let them know if shipping will be delayed because of a holiday. Tell them up front if you can't quite deliver on something you promised, do what you can to satisfy them, and give them something extra for being such a good customer.

“Suggest additional products or services they might be interested in. Whether it's an additional component to what they are already ordering, or something you think they might like based on previous orders, they'll appreciate the extra attention, and you may be able to sell them something they wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

“Be Responsive. Answer questions quickly and accurately. Problems can become bigger, and something that wasn't originally a problem could become one if your customer has to wait too long for a response from you. But remember, giving a wrong answer can be worse than taking a little extra time to get the right one.

“Resolve issues quickly and generously. If, despite all your preventative measures, you do have a complaint, do everything you can to set things right again. Fix the problem. Show sincere concern for any discomfort, frustration, or inconvenience. Then "do a little bit more" by giving your customers something positive to remember - a token of goodwill, a small gift of appreciation, a discount on future orders, or an upgrade to a higher class of product. This is not the time to lay blame for what went wrong, or to calculate the costs of repair. Restoring customer goodwill is worth the price in future orders and new business.

“Empower your employees to resolve issues. Frustration levels will increase each time a customer is transferred to another person. Empowering your employees to solve problems emphasizes not only your confidence in your employees, but also your commitment to customer service by resolving their issues immediately and not requiring them to first go to an employee (or several employees) that can't really help them.

“Appreciate your complaining customers. Customers with complaints can be your best allies in building and improving your business. They point out where your system is faulty and where procedures are weak or problematic. They show you where your products are below expectations or your service doesn't measure up. They point out areas where your competitors are getting ahead, or where your staff is falling behind. These are the same insights and conclusions that people pay consultants to provide. But a "complainer" gives them to you free! And remember, for every one person who complains, there are many more who won't even bother to tell you. The others just take their business elsewhere. At least the complainer gives you a chance to reply and set things right.

“The average business never hears from 96% of its unhappy customers. For every complaint received, the average company in fact has 26 customers with problems, 6 of which are serious in nature.

“Of customers who register a complaint, between 54% and 70% will do business again with the organization if their complaint is resolved. That figure goes up to 95% if the customer feels that the complaint was resolved quickly.

“The average customer who has a problem with an organization tells 9 or 10 people about it. Thirteen percent of the people who have a problem with an organization recount the incident to more than 20 people.

“Customers who have complained to an organization and had their complaints satisfactorily resolved tell an average of 5 people about the treatment they receive.”

Source: Improving Customer Service, Dr. John T. Self, Compass Bank BusinessClass newsletter, 12/28/07

Employee Focus - Ten Questions to Ask Your Employees

“Think of employee retention as re-recruiting your employees, advises Management Recruiters International (MRI). That means "applying the strategies and tools of external recruiting to your current employees," says Michael Jalbert, president of MRINetwork. "Adopt the policy that no one will work at a company longer than one year without being re-recruited by the boss."

To re-recruit workers, Jalbert presents 10 questions that can help a boss determine whether an employee will stay on the job:

If you could make any changes about your job, what would they be?
What things about your job do you want to stay as they are?
If you could go back to any previous position and stay for an extended period of time, which one would it be and why?
If you suddenly became financially independent, what would you miss most about your job?
In the morning, does your job make you jump out of bed or hit the snooze button?
What makes for a great day?
What can we do to make your job more satisfying?
What can we do to support your career goals?
Do you get enough recognition?
What can we do to keep you with us?

Consider using these questions to enhance communications between managers and employees. "You'll often discover things about your company culture or work environment that need fixing," Jalbert says.

The key to keeping employees, he adds, is promptly addressing issues that could lead to their leaving, and to make sure they clearly understand situations that can't be easily changed.

“Ten Questions to Ask Your Employees,” by Jill Jusko, IndustryWeek Daily News, Sept 4, 2007

Learning Opportunities

You may be interested in attending one of these training seminars by Dennis Sowards:

April 17, 2008 – Job Planning that Works - Phoenix, AZ – Sponsor: PIPE & 469 JAC, contact Cathy
April 28, 2008 – Gaining Customer Loyalty by Design, Oakland, CA – Sponsor: Bay Area SMACNA Chapter – contact Audrey Kerns at (510) 635-8212. Must be a SMACNA member to attend.
May 6, 2008 – 5S’s in Construction – ASQ National Conference, Houston, TX
May 15, 2008 – Problem Solving Lite: Root Cause Analysis - Phoenix, AZ – Sponsor: PIPE & 469 JAC, contact Cathy
May 21, 2008 - Lean Works in Construction, Portland, OR – Sponsor: Columbia SMACNA Chapter – contact Tom Goodhue at 503.220.2303. Must be a SMACNA member to attend.
June 2, 2008 – Lean Works in Construction, Oakland, CA – Sponsor: Bay Area SMACNA Chapter – contact Audrey Kerns at (510) 635-8212. Must be a SMACNA member to attend.
June 18, 2008 – Gaining Customer Loyalty by Design, Kansas City, MO – Sponsor: SMACNA- KC – Contact Sang 816-421-3360 ext. 112. Must be a SMACNA member to attend.