Preserve the Core: Five Free Things You Can Do to Supercharge Employee Performance

Rich Gallagher, of the Point of Contact Group, is a 2010 Management Clinic speaker who is the author of the #1 customer service bestseller What to Say to a Porcupine as well as his latest book How to Tell Anyone Anything. To learn more about Rich, visit him online at www.pointofcontactgroup.com.

Last week I visited Grossman's Garden and Home near Rochester, NY - an award-winning store that has been recognized as the best garden center in the Northeast - and you could feel something special in the air the minute you walk in. Not just from their great merchandise, their appealing layout, or the smell of free Jamaican coffee, but from the warmth of their staff.

Talking with Frances and Larry Grossman about what "felt" so nice about their store, they didn't hesitate: they have a core of highly talented employees who have been there for years and years, who have learned to be really good at what they do. Which got me to thinking about my own career experiences dramatically turning around the performance of customer contact employees. What made this magic happen are some basic principles that are powerful, rarely used, and free:

1. Train culture first, skills second. Why do you visit Disney World, fly on Southwest Airlines, or stay at Marriott hotels? These organizations teach their employees a sense of "who we are" as well as just job skills, and make everyone a part of something bigger than themselves.

2. Stop criticizing your employees. Today. And forever. Many of the top coaches in sports nowadays use a criticism-free, blame-free approach to coaching, for the simple reason that it works. You should too.

3. Make liberal use of titles. A few well-placed words on a business card can be the key to making everyone feel important as they walk in the door every morning.

4. Learn how to execute. Do all of your employees know what to say when someone is returning a plant? Or complaining about a service issue? My call-center employees always knew the right things to say, because we taught them - often, gathered around my speakerphone listening to me handle one of those "let me speak to your manager" calls.

5. Benchmark the best. You aren't just competing with other green businesses - you are competing with everyone who sells products and provides services. Learn from those who do it best, and teach your employees.

Whatever you might think are your biggest success factors, I'd say that buzz customers feel when they walk in your door ranks right up there near the top. (Jamaican coffee doesn't hurt either.) Get your employees on board with creating that buzz, and watch what happens!