Leadership

Customer Retention Begins with Employees

Managers, leaders, executives, human resource people: it might be a recession, meaning you have pick of the liter during hiring, can pay what you like, treat as you may. You may even allow your dictator, power-hungry urges to showcase fully aware your employees won’t resign, find another job anytime soon. That little manipulator in you might want to come out. Or maybe it’s that belittling demeanor. Or maybe you are a leader who utilizes your position as an anchor demanding respect and authority.

Reality check: things will turn around and when they do those employees who you take advantage of-they will leave you. And when they do you will begin a four month hunt to find the right candidate, paying thousands in recruiting efforts, thousands in training, thousands in customer retention efforts. Loosing a talented employee can and most certainly will cost you one year and a half of lost productivity. In other words, loosing one talented employee will cost you more than their annual salary.

Don’t believe me when I say you are treating your employees poorly? Recent study shows nearly forty percent of the working force confessed when they can, when the market improves, they will leave their current employer. They will desert you for a competitor, a customer, taking the knowledge they obtained from you, your hidden secrets with them. Your secret recipes, strategic plans, will then be handed to their new employer.

Try this on: treat employees the way you treat customers. Treat customer as king and employee as customer. Your employees are your greatest asset-they are your best product evangelist, introduce the greatest innovative ideas, and actually deliver you those profits. You treat your employees right and they will treat customers right.

I’m guessing customer retention is a priority these days! Here’s how you handle customer retention: Start treating employees right. When employees are happy, customers are happy. And when employees are happy, no one leaves (including those customers).

© 2010 Ramblings of JayS.