Learning is a way of life in Knock Your Socks Off Service companies. In the past, new employee training often consisted of nothing more than “watch John for a few hours, then I’ll turn you loose on the customers.” If employees made some little mistakes during their first few weeks, well, customers understood about breaking in new help.
That was then, and this is now.
Today, a walk-in-off-the-street, start-tomorrow-at-full-speed match is unlikely. Your methods, policies, and procedures are unique. So is the way you want customers treated. As for asking your customers to tolerate on-the-job training—forget that!
Knock Your Socks Off Service companies routinely spend the equivalent of 3 percent to 5 percent of salaries training employees—experienced as well as new. Managers believe that keeping everyone on top of changes in technology, competition, and customer demands is critical to success and survival.
Management support is equally critical to success in Knock Your Socks Off Service companies. Employees need to know and be able to see clear evidence that you are behind them in their efforts. They need to feel sure that you are on their side, that even if they make a mistake trying to do a good job for a customer, you will applaud the effort, if not the outcome.
Employees need to see themselves as colleagues, if not customers, in your eyes. Your personal credo should be, “If you’re not serving the customer, you’d better be serving someone who is.”