Strengthen Your Front Line

 A few days ago I had the good fortune of meeting a young man who works as a telephone marketer for a company that supplies a product for retired persons across the nation. His contact list is made up of well over 5,000 different organizations. That’s a good list in anyone’s book.  I could tell from the tone of his voice though that he really did not enjoy his job.

As I probed him a little I discovered that he did enjoy working with people. He loved to help customers solve problems, answer questions, and clear up concerns they may have. He believed in the product and how it could help people. What then was the problem? He needed to be needed. To feel valued within the organization.

He felt out of the loop. He had no idea what was going on with the company. His only real contact was the occasional surprise visit from the owner wanting to make sure he would meet his daily contact quota. It seemed no one wanted to know how he was doing, problems he was having, questions he had, or even to hear about the successes he was having.

To him it seemed that the only thing the company was interested in was that he made 50 contacts a day. A contact was defined as speaking to an authorized company representative that wholesaled their product, answering questions, scheduling shipments, and recording the information discussed into the computer’s data base. In addition the customer contact system was new to the company and he was the first full time user of it. He had no idea if upper management was looking at the data or how it affected the company. He did know that sales were up, but he didn’t know how that would affect him or the owner.

Our young man had come to the company from a better paying job, with the implied promise that he would be highly involved in this growing company. His friend and contact in getting him the job was in the marketing department and was having the time of his life. Now after a year of being with the company, the dust had settled and our young man found himself stuck in a room fearing every time the big boss came around.

There were other people who were also assigned to make calls as well, however, these calls were secondary to their regular office duties, and they had no quotas. Our young friend’s only encouragement came from the office manager who shared the same office location and knew how hard he worked, but she had no authority over him.

As I listened to him vent some of his frustrations I couldn’t help, but feel his sensitivity toward his customers, he believed in the product and how it could help others, he just didn’t feel valued.

One inherent need within each of us is the need to be needed. This is one of the most powerful sources of strength known to man. If we as managers will tap into this source there literally is no limit to what can be accomplished.

A positive energized employee can solve some of our customer’s greatest problems with relative ease. While a disgruntled employee can soon become a liability and instead of helping put out or prevent fires they can actually start some that can take years and thousands of man hours to fix.

If we want our front line people (customer service, sales, service techs, and so forth) to care about our company and our customers, we in management had better want to take care of them. The simple rule of “doing unto others as you would have them do to you” is so valid in every aspect of business and especially in customer service. We may have all kinds of training programs, but if we don’t make our people feel valued and important it’s just hypocritical rhetoric.

There are a lot of different motivators and many studies on the subject; however, the top motivator on every list is expressed in some description of gratitude. The most powerful words you may ever share with an employee or associate are “Thank You!” These two words when delivered with true sincerity can be a powerful enabler to anyone and especially your frontline staff. Everyone needs and appreciates an expression of gratitude for the effort they make, but the frontline staff needs it even more. There are days even in the best of companies that you just can’t please everyone, but even on those days you want your frontline at their very best. No matter what is being thrown at them they must keep a cool head.

When Branch Rickey of the Brooklyn Dodgers made the bold move to sign Jackie Robinson, the first black man in the Major League of baseball, Rickey took great care that Jackie knew what he was getting into and how important it was. He also made every effort to insure Jackie’s safety. When Jackie got battered and bruised by the world at large Rickey was there for him. Jackie Robinson was the Dodgers frontline. He was Branch Rickey’s frontline and everything he did reflected on the character of the organization and the leadership of that organization.

Your frontline employees are just the same, they need your trust and support. They need to know how important they are to you and the company you and they represent. They deserve your respect, loyalty, and gratitude. If you give them the gratitude and respect they deserve, they will give you the gratitude and respect you deserve. At Branch Rickey’s funeral Mr. Robison stated that only Abraham Lincoln had done more for the African American than Branch Rickey had done.

Each company’s ultimate success is a product of that company’s overall environment. An environment of gratitude and respect will do much to move a company, organization, or even a family from OK to Great!