No dirty laundry please!

Image for teamwork by Michael GiuffridaHave you ever been in a restaurant and heard two employees arguing over something or trashing a 3rd employee?  How about when a service provider shows up at your home or business to do something and they start badmouthing the company they work for?  Does this leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling about continued patronage of those businesses?  Probably not.

Consider this when training your own employees for how to act when in public.  Often times they are your customers’ window into your world and most likely you’d like what they see through that window to look good.  While it may seem like common sense for your employees to speak highly of the company that they work for, when your employees become friendly with your customers, they can often feel comfortable doing some complaining about things that are bothering them.

If this happens, you never know how the customers will take it and how it could affect the business relationship going forward.  Don’t take for granted that your employees know how to behave in these situations.  Make this topic part of their training.  If there is something bugging them, they need to come to you, not vent to your customers, even if they have become “friends” with them.  Also make it clear that public venting will not be tolerated and if you catch wind of this type of situation the employees must at least be talked to if not relieved of their position.

Remember, your employees are your brand in public and how they act says a lot about how they were trained and how well they are being led.

 

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Michael Giuffrida from Southington CT has been operating businesses since 1997.  He is an experienced entrepreneur in business management, profitable growth, business valuation, mergers and acquisitions, and information technology managed services.

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