Episode #44 - Steve Cohn talks about the Link between Customer Experience and Employee Engagement

Permission to Speak Podcast. Hosted by Leadership Communications Expert Kelly Vandever. Episode #44 - Steve Cohn. Permission to Speak is the video blog and podcast that loiters at the intersections of leaders who want their people to speak up, technology that facilitates connections, and results that serve an organization’s higher purpose. Topics covered in this episode include: - It’s always about the other person... meaning... In sales, it’s all about the customer. In customer experience, it’s all about the customer. In management, it’s all about the employee. In writing, it’s all about the reader. In speaking, it’s all about the audience. It’s always about the other person.- Everything is about the other person and thinking outside yourself- Strativity’s research on 29 different customer experience factors revealed that the top loyalty driver of customers is “employee’s pride and passion”- Start asking people in the interview process to tell me about a time when you were serving a customer and you made them ecstatically happy. Then watch their eyes to see how they talk about the experience. Look for the passion. You can’t teach that kind of passion.- Find out your employee’s story first. Then tell them your story. - Re-interview your employees and get to know what they’re passionate about. See if what they’re doing stimulates them. If they’re in the wrong job, help them to find the job they would be happy in.- You can’t pay someone to smile sincerely. - If money is your driving factor, your customer knows that. It comes through every pore in your body.- Ask your employees why they do this job. There are other jobs out there that pay the same money. Why this job?- Address the cynical voices in yourself and your staff- Ask your people “What gets in the way?”- If you don’t have a good relationship with your employees, use a consultant or a trusted member of the organization like HR or another manager, and have them ask your employees the question, “What gets in the way?”- One of the mistakes managers make is not really listening when asking an employee “What gets in the way?”- Employees don’t want excuses for why things are that way. The want the obstacle removed.- Managers think they’re coaching when they’re not coaching. They just tell the employee what they think. Versus, asking the employee what she does well and what her challenges are. Coaching the focus should be on the employee, not you & your opinions.- Leader’s biggest “ah-ha” is understanding that your team doesn’t need you. If you leave for 2 weeks and everything runs smoothly without you, you’re doing a great job because you’re empowering your people to make decisions and they know enough about how you think that they’re able to decide for themselves and know where you stand on the issue. You’ve shown them you respect them as people first, then as employees.- It’s tough to do, but be willing to let people make mistakes.- We spend a lot of time at work, you better love what you do- Do the right thing for employees, do the right thing for customers, do the right thing for the bottom line, do the right thing for society – and remember those things aren’t mutually exclusive. - Employees and customers want to be good.