Susanne Dansey’s Blog

One of the things I will talk about at the Small Business Symposium in Denver is about maintaining consistent service with your customers. Now, I only have an hour to talk about a whole host of things, and not just about this particular service. I’ve decided that this is one reason why I like my blog so much so that I can splurge all my other ideas on here for you to read in your own time. (We won’t talk about how sad it is that I felt the urge to whip open the laptop and get all this down - just for you I might add…) 

At the time of writing this post it is 06:07 here in Heathrow Airport as I wait for my flight to Chicago which then connects to Denver. It’s pretty early and I’m sitting in Starbucks having a spot of breakfast with a nice cup of coffee.

Earlier, as I left the check-in area, two American girls ran past me very excited that England has a Starbucks (can you believe it?! What a novelty that our lil’ ol’ Island has a coffee shop, and not only that, one that is famous! - sorry… hehe). Anyway, as their mother asked them what they wanted to drink/eat, they listed off exactly what they wanted without looking at the food or the menu. I was there because I like Starbucks coffee, I’m a bit more easier to please; Americano (why can’t I just have a ‘normal’ coffee?), no milk, no sugar, no nothing - just coffee. Or as I like to call it ‘naked coffee’, well you don’t forget it then do you!?

It’s great when you receive the kind of service/product you expect, and particularly when you can buy from them anywhere in the world and still be guaranteed that ol’ Faithful will be there for you. Supermarkets are champions of this, no matter what location you go to, you know the bakery is at the back and the alcohol is at the opposite end to where the entrance is. Consistent positioning of consistent products is safe and allows for predictable business.

But whilst you know what product you are receiving, are you 100% certain that you’ll be getting the same service you got last time or have come to expect?

As I waited for my toasted sandwich, I watched the assistant do a number of things that, if I was Mr. Starbucks, I wouldn’t be happy with. Don’t be scared kids, nothing was done that stopped me from having breakfast…

When your business grows from an idea that came from you which you nurtured to a level where you need to spread the work load, what happens to your dream as you begin to involve others?

Unless you’ve been lucky enough to find a cloning machine you are never going to be able to replicate everything you do (good or bad) as long as you aren’t a one-man-band.

Growing from one to some is never easy at the best of times, you have to add another hat to your stand and become Payroll & Human Resource (HR) Manager as well. Not only that, whilst you are trying to manage the workload, you also have to find the cash to fund someone who you may need to train up. What happens when they decide (Heaven forbid!) to start contributing ideas to the business? What happens if they disagree with the way your business is run? Can they find another way round a problem that you keep bashing your head against the wall about? Oh dear, you’re going to have to listen to them I suppose…

Hiring staff is a bigger responsibility than most people think. It’s not just about hiring the best, but it’s also making sure you get the right person for the job. It’s not always about the straight A student, and it’s not always about who has the best relevant experience. It’s about hiring the right person for the company, about going for ‘gut’ feeling. Look for a team player and someone who you can rely on to take responsibility (even if they are more experienced in an area than you) and help steer your business ship in the same direction as you had plotted (as long as it’s the right one).

But how annoying does it feel when it’s not the big things that bother you about your staff, but the smaller ones? What about when they spend just that bit too long chatting on MSN Messenger, or get a bit careless with the way they serve food to your customers? Being a laid back manager is one thing but when boundaries are abused it turns into that drip, drip effect.

For a small business that is too busy to stop and address these issues, the smaller things become the prime focus for you and become the reason why you just can’t calm yourself enough to have an objective and constructive conversation with your staff.  It happens even in our private lives, the girl serving you food hasn’t got their hair tied back, you get irritated by the person who talks too loud on the quiet carriage of the train, or the shop assistant who takes your order but never looks at you or doesn’t stop her conversation with her colleague as she serves you… believe me, if I can remember these things then they bothered me!

But they aren’t my staff, they’re not my problem; but I should be their problem and if the majority became disgruntled about enough things then they would move their custom elsewhere. It’s important to address these issues, but in a way that doesn’t have you going for the jugular from the word ‘go’.

It may sound too much of a hassle, but it’s always, ALWAYS a good idea to check in with your staff about how they feel about their job. In addition to a regular review, it’s a good idea to see how they feel personally about their job and to make sure that you are all singing from the same hymn sheet. You won’t get a carbon copy of your point of views, but that’s never a bad thing. For a company to grow and prosper, you need the constructive input of everyone involved (that includes your customers) so that you know which direction to take when you get to the next junction.

If you pay them peanuts, then you’d better think of a way to entertain your monkeys or else. Unhappy staff with a lack of enthusiasm will reflect negatively on your customers when they engage with them, or worse still, they could leave and you have to start all over again (either that or you’ll stay small).

Everyone in your company markets your business. Marketing isn’t limited to the person who sits on the marketing table drawing pretty pictures on their Mac. Marketing includes anyone who is connected to your business. Marketing is the person who answers the phone for your business, who wears your company logo, or who stands outside your office front doors having a cigarette break (oh! what a beautiful sight to behold!).

Don’t be afraid of feedback either. All feedback is better than silence. Silent unhappy customers and/or staff is bad. I won’t repeat it again but if you don’t remember that and you wonder why you aren’t getting any more clients through ‘word-of-mouth’ referrals and your existing base has fallen way then remember what you just read in the last sentence.

Build on the experience of bad feedback, think about how you take it on board. Don’t do what some vendors do and take it without giving back - it’s rude and you’ll find those that you ask will stop obliging if nothing is done as a result of their time.

If it is necessary, create a document of the plans and procedures you expect your staff to fulfil. If you haven’t got an IT user policy for them, then get one. If you don’t give your staff an indication of what goes on in your head, and unless you run a mind-reading business, then they aren’t going to know what the ‘big picture’ is.

Don’t be afraid to do something different to make a difference. It’s what makes us who we are and differentiates us from the rest. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have walked past Costa Coffee, Caffe Italia, Bagel Street, or Pret A Mange, to get to Starbucks for my coffee (it is JUST coffee at the end of the day). And as I turn round to look at what other coffee places are around me, the queue at Starbucks just got longer…