Strong Leaders Offer Praise and Empowerment

Everyone is facing tough competition for customers, no matter what products or services you are selling. In today's global market, most companies make quality and price the focus of their competitive strategy but fail to understand the power of awesome customer service. While price and quality are important elements, nothing is more important than providing service that is so exceptional it sets you and your company apart from your competitors.

I can't stress enough how critical service is to the success of any company. I also can't stress how critical empowerment is to service. If you don't empower your employees to make a decision to satisfy your customers, on the spot, your customer service is average at best. Most companies are driven by rules and processes.

There are too many weird things that happen every day. Employees need to understand their principal job is to make customers "over happy." It is almost impossible to steal customers that are over happy.

Most company executives do not believe in empowered employees. They don't trust their customers or their employees. They think customers will take advantage of employees and that employees will give away the store to keep those customers.

More often than not, empowering your employees will cost you nothing. Let me give you an example. I recently called the Wall Street Journal because the paper was not delivered. They gave me credit for the nondelivery, but it wasted 6 minutes of my time. It would have cost them nothing to say, I am sorry, in addition to giving you a credit for today's paper, I am going to add 2 extra days to your subscription for your inconvenience.

Empowerment is about your employee making fast decisions on the spot in favor of the customer. Most employees know they will be fired for doing this. Few employees want to go home and tell their spouse I lost my job today. Until you eliminate this fear, empowerment will not happen.

On average, most empowered decisions cost the company around $25. Many empowered decisions cost you nothing. What too many companies don't realize is that the return on investment for that $25 could easily be $1,000 because the customer will return to do business with you again and again. This is marketing money. If you spend $3,000 on a billboard, you have no idea if it will create new customers. With empowerment, it is with a live customer, and the real cost is peanuts. If you Google "Wall Street Journal annual subscriptions," you will find a ton of deals to get new customers. Keeping customers should be more important.

I fly to Denver to visit my son in Estes Park, Colorado, every month or two. The Estes Park Shuttle is very rule and process driven. They will not take credit cards over the phone. Very complicated website. I have found it is easier to use Uber or Lyft to go 58 miles than to put up with the hassles of their shuttle service. The employees are not empowered. They believe it is better to say no than capture additional revenue.

You must empower your employees. That doesn't mean sending out a memo that says, "You are now empowered to make decisions to satisfy our customers." You have to train your employees on how to use empowerment, and then you have to support and recognize them when they do so. Publicly praise them. Feature them in your company newsletter. Doing so sends a message to all employees that you value employees who use empowerment to not only retain, but build up your customer base.

The major roadblock to employee empowerment is fear. Employees fear they will be fired or reprimanded if they make an empowered decision to give something to their customers. Ensure them that you support them and their efforts. Eliminate policies and procedures that get in the way of providing superior customer service. Create a culture that celebrates empowerment.

No matter what industry you think you are in (retail, manufacturing, banking, or healthcare), you are in the service business. The sooner you recognize that, the better off you and your business will be.

Then sit back and reap the benefits of customers who wouldn't dream of leaving you for one of your competitors.

John Tschohl is the founder and president of the Service Quality Institute—the global leader in customer service—with operations in more than 40 countries. He is considered one of the world's foremost authorities on all aspects of customer service and has developed 19 customer service training programs, including Empowerment: A Way of Life, that are used by companies throughout the world. His monthly strategic newsletter is available online at no charge at customer-service.com. He can also be reached on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.