Making the Most of Local Community Interactions

When you work in the community where you live you can just about guarantee you are going to talk to a customer or two each time you are in town. We all know that business is not just done during business hours, and that’s ok most of the time. When they see you, the conversation just naturally turns to how things are going on the farm and when they might be expecting an application, delivery, or service.

Conversations start sitting in the bleachers at the school on a weeknight, departing church on Sunday, or pumping gas on your way to work. We all do it. You see your sons’ teacher outside of school and ask about the assignment for the shoebox diorama being built on your kitchen table for her class or ask the insurance agent just one quick question when you bump into him at the grocery store and promise to call tomorrow when you both have more time.

When approached in the community, business leaders give a friendly hello and say they will check into the question if they don’t know. On the clock or not, customer encounters matter. No one expects every question to be answered outside of work. But do you feel confident that the same warm greeting and helpful attitude is being delivered by everyone on your staff? There are two ways to say yes with certainty. First, hire the right people to represent your business. Second, provide the right technological solution so that staff can confidently assist customers.

Hire the Right People

A strong work ethic and a service attitude can be just as valuable as the list of skills in the job description. If you find the right people, teach the rest. In the article Hire and Retain the Right People, you will find ideas for hiring customer service-oriented people and giving them a reason to stay. To make the most of community interactions you need people on your staff that will represent your business well, even after hours.

Use the Best Technology

When your staff feel confident that they can answer a customer question - even if it is later - an off-site community interaction ends with a smile and a wave. One proven way to provide employee confidence is with an enterprise-wide technology system that makes finding the answer to customer questions easier. With Agvance, as new data is entered at one part of the business it is immediately available to others. Whether it is the sales team taking the orders, the office staff processing the payment transactions, or the warehouse or applicators fulfilling orders, connections to the same information are key. There is no need to search your email for a shared spreadsheet, find a handwritten note, or track down the salesperson to check on order status. Cloud-based Agvance SKY allows the potential for select staff to access information anytime, anywhere. Read more in Create a Company Culture that Embraces Technology.

By-chance conversations and connections in the community are an opportunity to improve customer experience and customer loyalty. Make the most of the interactions!