As the leader your team needs you to be strong. Your team will become a lot like you in personality. For the title matter, as a leader you have 2 options, you can ignore it and hope it goes away or you can become coach. Fighters fight, lovers love, winners win, but not all coaches coach in business. We get confused by the title manager and by implication boss, it is easy to forget we are suppose to help and develop our team members to reach their goals. Often times we blame our people if goals are not met but if we are coaches that do not coach ,it is our fault.
Ok you have discovered one of your customer support representatiives dose not listen well and has lost some accounts, what do you?How do you coach through this situation?
1) Set up a meeting to provide feed back.
During this meeting the ask the CSR how things are going, do they enjoy the job, what are their biggest challenges? Try to make them relax and do this by being friendly. Make sure you listen, smile and aknowledge their statements. If your relationship permits, have some light talk, how is the family? how about da Bears? etc. This is called breaking the ice
2) Point out a strength.
Ensure you compliement your CSR on something done right. A booK called “The One Minute Manager,” calls this, catch them doing something right.Often times we excell at telling our people what’s wrong but never get around to what is right. In this case let’s assume your CSR has excellent problem solving abilities. Point that out and refer to how it helps the entire organization. The more specific you can be the better.
3) Link the strength to the weakness. “Your problem solving has helped us save some big accounts and takes amazing focus on your part. I have noticed at times you lose focus when listenting to customers.
4) Provide an example. “I noticed when I was listenting in on your call with Dr Jones, you cut him off several times and he may have felt you only had interest of getting him of the phone asap. Dr. Jones later took some of his business to competition.”
5) Hear their side of the story. “Why do you sometimes cut people off and some times lose accounts, when we both know you can show incredibile focus at other times?
6) Listen carefully, There may be something the CSR will say that will explain the issue.
7) More linkage. ” I would like to see you exhibe the same focus that makes you a very capable prolbem solver in all aspects of your job. I would like you to become a better listener.
8) Agree upon a plan. ” I have a tape on developing better listenting skills. Listen to this tape and I will do the same. We will discuss the tape and then I will help you use some of the techniques by role playing.Later I will listen to your calls again to hear the improvement.
9) Agree on follow up dates for coaching, role plays, listenting in on call and general assements.
10) Review concequences of no improvement and benifits of improved performance. Make clear you value them and want their improvement and are available any time they have questions on their progress or need help
Managers that is it. Try it, benifit to you, a better team and more respect from team. Remember coaches coach.
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