Customer Service Tips: Frontline to Manager

Positive Employee Engagement Drives Fan Loyalty

A new study adds to the growing body of evidence that talent management has a profound impact on an organization’s bottom line. The question is what are leaders in the sports and entertainment industry doing to engage their employees in promoting fan loyalty? That is the bottom line. If we want to create an experience for every guest that keeps them coming back for more, we have to take a look at what influences that environment.

The study conducted by IBM and Washington-based Human Capital Institute shows that while 84 percent of organizations know that workforce effectiveness is important to achieving business results, only 42 percent of those surveyed found managers devote sufficient time to people management.

The study, Integrated Talent Management, was based on research with 1,900 individuals from more than 1,000 public and private organizations around the world. The study focused on talent management practices such as understanding future workforce needs and effectively deploying talent to deliver maximum benefit to an organization.

Here is what that means to us in the sports and entertainment business. If we want to create an experience that turns every fan into a season ticket holder, we need to turn significant attention to the people responsible for creating that experience.

To me, a successful talent management initiative focuses on the following:

1) Leadership – Leadership thrives when they know who they are, what they stand for and what their true mission is for the overall organization. The most successful leaders I have worked with clearly understand all these things. Their vision is clear, they communicate it to their staff at all levels and then they create an environment to let it all happen. Sometimes it means just getting out of their employees’ way so they can bring the vision to life.

2) Recruitment – From the web site presence for job postings, to the introduction of potential employees to the organization, the mission of exceptional customer service is apparent and elaborated upon with every position. Individuals are chosen if they are willing to work with the public and embrace the excitement of promoting a positive event for every visitor. Applicants for all positions understand how important their role will be in creating a legendary guest experience.

3) Training – Time and energy is invested in setting up front line employees to succeed. They are enlightened by the big picture of customer service and given the nitty gritty details that can help them succeed. This includes answers to Frequently Asked Questions, specifics about the venue and every event; appropriate attire, body language, and voice tone, as well as coaching on what to say when predictable situations arise.

4) Supervision – Most front line supervisors have not been trained properly and I see this as one of the major roadblocks to any organization’s mission to build a customer centric culture. Supervisors need to understand the importance of clarifying expectations for their staff and make sure that message is received. Supervisors need to know the best way to motivate, coach, discipline and reward their employees to promote positive performance on the front line.

5) Succession Planning - Succession planning enables any organization to identify talented employees and provide education to develop them for future higher level and broader responsibilities. Succession planning helps you “build bench strength.” With good coaching and development, employees are ready for new leadership roles as the need arises, and when someone leaves, a current employee is ready to step up to the plate. Succession planning works towards the goal that there are highly qualified people in all positions, not just today, but tomorrow, next year, and five years from now.

So, what is your organization doing to engage your employees in promoting fan loyalty? Remember, season ticket holders are created one positive experience at a time.

Register for Ruby’s complimentary webinar, “Enhancing the Fan Experience: Making Your Tickets Worth More than the Price of Admission” at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/977635011.

© 2009 RubySpeaks, Inc. You are free to reprint or share this article providing you include Ruby’s copyright information, leave it unaltered and include Ruby’s contact information on the page. Technorati Tags: leisure, industry, guest, training, tips, supervisors, managers, corporate, leaders

6 comments May 19th, 2009

About RubySpeaks

Ruby Newell-Legner, CSP

Ruby Newell-Legner, Certified Speaking Professional, founded RubySpeaks, Inc. in 1994 with a singular mission: To provide the hands-on training employees need to create a more productive work environment where everyone can excel on the job. Over the last decade, she has presented more than 1,400 programs in nine countries and has shown tens of thousands of participants how to quickly improve workplace performance.

A nationally recognized training expert in the Leisure and Hospitality Industry, Ruby is also a facilitator with a proven ability to create environments where groups can brainstorm effectively, share perspectives and come to consensus-while enjoying the process.

Ruby helps organizations like yours build strong teams between front line staff and management, and make exceptional customer service a way of life. Your staff will treat your customers like management treats their employees. That is why a positive reflection on leadership is essential for success.

Ruby’s high-impact trainings are based on 25 years as a front-line service provider and manager in parks and recreation; she has been presenting training programs in that area for the last 13 years. With “in the trenches” practical know-how, Ruby has an uncommon level of experience that gives immediate credibility with conference attendees and allows her to offer suggestions and recommendations based on actual hands-on experience. Her clients range from NFL stadium management staff to leaders in municipal government to Jumeirah International, the Dubai, United Arab Emirates, based luxury hospitality group that has the only seven-star hotel in the world, the Burj Al Arab.

Ruby has worked together to build workplace learning programs for some of the largest, most recognized organizations in the country. Her track record in satisfying clients is identified by the number of clients who have hired Ruby again and again to provide training for their group. With expertise in the areas of leadership, communication, management, internal and external customer service, Ruby provides new perspectives and fresh ideas that enhance ongoing initiatives within your organization to create both immediate and lasting results.

She is a Certified Speaking Professional, a designation bestowed by the National Speakers Association to less than 400 speakers in the world.

4 comments July 10th, 2007

How do you create a legendary guest experience

How do you create a legendary guest experience? It has to be in the culture of the company…You attract and select the type of person who understands what the leisure industry is all about…creating good times that are so riveting and exciting that people pay money to come do it. If we do it really well, they invest in long term memberships like season tickets or annual family passes. For some, it might mean retraining the employees that are working there to remind them why they are in the business. Some need specific skills, like detailed examples of how to be nice to a customer. Knowing what to say and how to say it can be the difference in an angry patron who will never return to a patron who gets their needs met and can’t wait to tell their neighbor what an enjoyable experience it was. So to round out my mission to be a provider of training tips for supervisors, managers and corporate leaders, I decided to start this blog. I will be sharing tips I have known for years and tips that I am learning from every client I work with. I invite you to enjoy the journey with me. I hope we both learn a lot along the way!

Technorati Tags: leisure, industry, guest, training, tips, supervisors, managers, corporate, leaders

4 comments June 28th, 2007

Before we knew it, We were Promoted

We’ve all been there. We showed up for work, did what we were told, worked a few extra hours because the boss needed help and before we knew it, we were promoted from the front line to a supervisor position.

I remember the day as if it were yesterday. One minute I was filled with pride, just busting at the seams that someone recognized my hard work. And the next minute reality hit and I was scared to death. I had no idea how to supervise anyone let alone be in charge of a crew.

So I spent the next few months supervising by trial and error. My boss had his hands full and didn’t have time for my questions so I just did my best to figure it out.

I look back at those days in remorse. I would like to tell you that I didn’t do that bad but if you were to talk to that first crew I supervised, I am sure their story would be much different.

Since then I have supervised thousands of people on the front line and I have coached many supervisors into their role.

As a leisure facility supervisor you are in the middle between upper management and the front line. You are asked to support management’s decisions and stand up for your crew.

On a daily basis you are pulled in fifty different directions and every day you go home wondering if your actions were good enough. You are apprehensive to go back the next day and wonder what new challenge you will be faced with. It is a challenging position.

So I decided to start this blog to offer insight on what it takes to be a good supervisor and leader for your organization.

Technorati Tags: leisure, facility, supervisor

3 comments June 25th, 2007

Ruby's Sites

RubySpeaks Ruby Newell-Legner helps organizations build strong alliances between management and the staff they supervise and front line staff and the customers they serve. I provide the tools to make exceptional customer service a way of life.

Guest Relations Training Ruby helps organizations create a culture that delivers a guest experience worth more than the price of admission.

Ruby's Store Ruby offers a variety of audio tapes, downloadable recordings, books and teleseminar tools that enables management to make exceptional customer service a way of life.

Customer Service Tips: Frontline to Manager

tips on customer service, employee training and supervising staff

Positive Employee Engagement Drives Fan Loyalty

About RubySpeaks

Ruby Newell-Legner, CSP

How do you create a legendary guest experience

Before we knew it, We were Promoted

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