PR ES I DEN T’S COLUM N
MARIE MCCONNELL Lake County Nursery
BACK TO THE BASICS Wow! SUMMER. FLIES. BY. And, with that said, these articles are becoming more and more difficult to write. Like a kid who’s looking towards fall, thinking of school – in my case, work – as this summer begins to wane, all I want to do is play! I also don’t want the summer to end, because I honestly love my career and my coworkers. I suppose I just wish we had 10-day weeks, so that I could enjoy my hobbies a little more often. Five work days. Five play days. Yes, please! I get the same sense from a lot of our customers. By the end of August, everyone’s tired and looking forward to the next season. Not that they’re wishing their lives away or anything, but some jobs just become so tedious, and all anyone wants is to have some personal time to enjoy while the weather is still nice. Most customers and prospects typically don’t empathize with this, so the question then becomes: What can you and your team do to show them you are still engaged? Talking with a customer recently, I let him know what a joy it is to work with his assistant, Kayla. She is always smiling, eager to learn, and asking if there is anything else she can do to make the relationship better. He thanked me for the compliment and said, “Kayla is all that – and more!” Imagine that; a millennial who wants to work AND understands the basic fundamentals of customer service! He went on to say that, since she started, his close ratios have increased to 85%. That’s pretty impressive.
Personally, this customer admits that he may not be the best landscaper, but what he does understand are some basic business practices that many of us sometimes forget to use when interacting with our clients. He’s shared these ideals with his employees – like Kayla – and now he’s shared his simple philosophy with me. (And yes, he knows this article will be about the info shared.) Manners. I loved kindergarten! Our teachers basically taught us how to become adults back when we were like five, though the reasons were never fully explained. My teacher made it easy for us. We learned words like ‘please,’ ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome.’ These words stuck with me to this very day – as they should. Setting the bar high for our employees means showing gratitude and respect, which doesn’t always have to come in the form of compensation. The simple acts of saying ‘good morning,’ or ‘thank you,’ while treating them with respect will continued on page 6 The Growing Concern | September 2018 | 3