If you are serious about taking your service to people in your community and society at large as an extraordinary leader, then I reckon you need to deeply think about how you consider implementing the following 3 focus areas in your business and teams;
1. Support the people that work for you like family – Focus on your employees mental and emotional wellbeing for service to thrive in the future
The same psychological stress has impacted your employees as your customers; therefore, employees will need greater attention and support than before. How have you planned to remobilize your employees and what level of care and attention will there be given on their mindsets, and emotional, mental wellbeing?
The emotional state and behaviour of staff influence the emotions or purchasing behaviour of the customer, through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotional states and behavioural attitudes.
The emotional state of your employee matters. When it comes to service; emotion is critical to engendering a sense of trust, loyalty and commitment to a product or service.
Getting workplace wellbeing right has never been more important. Regular check ins, employee support programs, activities and events available to help support employees happiness at work. Check out the 66 Day FREE Meditation Program I have created to support your teams.
2. Bring more LOVE into your communications – Focus on communication with the spirit of transparency and empathy for all employees and customers
The sense of lack of control in the face of uncertainty means there is less trust and confidence in society, therefore building rapport and loyalty with people will take more effort.
Now is the time to truly try to understand people. Thich Nhat Hanh says ; Understanding is Love’s other name. Once the basic human needs of safety and psychological security are addressed m the next hierarchy of needs is love.
Put yourself in both employees and customers shoes through the lens of understanding. If you are unsure about how they are feeling; ask…like you would a friend. Be transparent about what has changed, what will be changing and do it… like you would a friend.
3. Master soft skills – Focus on soft skills that strengthen employees’ capabilities of social intelligence and skills of the heart
Social distancing brings a heightened awareness of personal hygiene and creates barriers with face to face service interactions. Online services and interactions can be potentially distorted, where the social cues and messaging people receive are often misunderstood or missed completely.
A friend of mine walked into a pharmacy last week and the level of humanity that the lady behind the counter brought to the interaction brought my friend to tears. Tears of gratitude and hope. This is the level of mastery I am referring to when it comes to soft skills. This goes beyond good listening and questioning skills.
Mastering soft skills is being genuinely interested in the human being you are serving, bringing 100 % attention to their needs and communicating that though all of their senses.
Grab a copy of my recent book Service Habits as a starting point on helping your team deeply understand the soft skills and service behaviours needed to strengthen relationships with those you serve.
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Jaquie Scammell