BUSINESS Establishing Best Practices for Your Business have endorsed the fundamental concept and benefits of best practices, with different labels. Next, let’s zero in on some more specific business applications. Answering a Business Telephone We can all relate to calling a business, and if we are lucky enough to reach a human, we notice the numerous ways that phones are answered — a broad range of everything from a loud “What do you want?” (reminds me of Eddie Murphy in SNL’s hilari- ous “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood”) to “Hello, you’ve reached ABC company. I’m ___. How may I help you?” As a business owner or manager, you probably have a phone- answering method that you believe is the most appropriate for your particular situation. This is a good time to remind our- selves that each incoming phone call may be a prospective cus- tomer’s first contact with our company. As we have discussed many times in previous articles, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Customer Service Applications Let me stipulate that I have never worked as a customer service representative (CSR), which is generally considered to be one of the more stressful roles in an organization. However, I did stay at a Holiday Inn. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist that reference to the well-known TV commercial campaign.) I have been re- sponsible for the customer service departments of several major companies, the largest of which had 14 CSRs and was led by a department manager who reported directly to me. In addition to proper recruiting and training, perhaps one of the most vital things that I learned was the importance of establishing and implementing best practices. Whether you have one employee handling such matters amidst other duties or an entire dedi- cated customer service department, the same principles apply. Training Employees Sooner or later, you will likely find it necessary (or at least de- sirable) to train one or more employees in the role of a CSR, even if their actual job titles are something else. As with any training situation, being able to access established best practices can be enormously helpful in your onboarding process. This can really pay off big time by helping to evade rooky mistakes, especially those that could have easily been avoided. Remem- ber, what’s clear to you (or another experienced individual) is most likely not so obvious to the trainee. And let’s not forget that even experienced employees will likely have somewhat different approaches to some jobs or tasks. But wouldn’t you prefer them to do it the best way? 24 KEYNOTES MARCH 2021 Service Business Applications: Repairs and Installations For many service businesses, installation and repair can be excellent areas to apply best practices. It’s common for service business owners to have backgrounds as technicians. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that you are famil- iar with installation and repair techniques and situations. The bad news is that, at least in some instances, you’ve probably embraced one particular way of doing things, which may or may not be the best way. Admit it, you know you enjoy the raw power rush you get from saying, “My way or the highway,” as you mimic Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry delivering his famous refrain of “Go ahead, make my day.” But isn’t there something to be said for consistency? Yes, absolutely, unless perhaps your employees affectionately describe you as being “consistently in- consistent.” Pause for a moment as that one marinates just a bit! The Cost/Benefit Ratio of Best Practices So, you say that you don’t have time to develop best practices for your business. Do you have time to go back and clean up a mess that should not have happened? How much time will it take you to earn back your customer’s lost confidence? What will it cost you to replace a customer that you lost for all the wrong reasons? Isn’t it better to do it right the first time? (This reminds me of Bill Clinton’s testimony when he said, “It de- pends on what the meaning of ‘is’ is.”) Our question is: What does “do it right” mean? Of course, the answer is “do it accord- ing to our best practice(s).” It is better to invest the effort up front to prescribe how you want certain things done than to repeat instructions over and over to new employees or individuals learning a different role or task. We are probably familiar with the words of Fred R. Bernard, who is credited with coining the phrase “one look is worth a thousand words,” which is oſten stated as “one picture is worth a thousand words.” Inspired by the intrinsic wisdom of Fred’s observation, manufacturers continue the trend toward primarily reducing assembly or installation instructions to il- lustrations. The fewer words, the better! Yes, saving on printing costs, avoiding ambiguity and facilitating multiple languages are all benefits. Many firms now use videos for indoctrination and onboard- ing of new employees. This approach is efficient, consistent and done without taking up the valuable time of an HR person or trainer. Indeed, there are numerous videos on YouTube that are inexpensive to create and free to view. They can be watched re- peatedly on demand and are a wonderful reference. Let’s face it: Some instructions (especially how-to types) are far more helpful WWW.ALOA.ORG
