Studies of in the fast-food business shows that when customers feel the employees are engaged they are 6 time more likely to return. If the employees at a bank treat customers in a friendly, personal and engaging manner, customers were 20 times more likely to continue a relationship with that bank. Harry Hoover, Marketingprofs.com, 2002.

The Secrets of Employee Engagement

Gallup Research has found that upwards of 75% of American workers are at least partially disengaged on the job. This means that while they are physically present they are, at least to some extent, psychologically absent. This absence has a direct negative impact on the experience of customers and, ultimately, profitability. Studies of the fast-food business show that when customers feel the employees are engaged they are 6 time more likely to return. In addition, if the employees at a bank treat customers in a friendly, personal, and engaging manner, customers were 20 times more likely to continue a relationship with that bank.

Wegman's has been highly successful by focusing on empoloyee engagement.

What's their secret?

1. They hire people who have a passion for the experience the company has to offer. You won't get hired to work in the fishing department at Bass Pro Shop unless you love fishing.
   
2. They fuel the employee's passion. They challenge employees to help customers. Learn how the customer plans to experience the product. Then help them buy the right product and increase their ability to have the experience they desire.
3. They provide ongoing training to help employees continually give a better customer ecperience.

Employees become psychologically engaged and, as a consequence, they find work fulfilling.

Employees at Wegman's

Wegman’s, a grocery store chain headquartered in Rochester, NY, understands the value of credible employees, and pushes the envelope to develop them. Their business philosophy is, “You cannot separate strategy as a retailer from strategy as an employer.” This is not just an abstract notion for Wegman’s.

Wegman’s wants its employees to be both credible and authentic. Credible means they know what they are doing. Authentic means they are, in fact, experts. Take the sous chef who prepares the ready-to-eat
gourmet items offered at the Wegman’s store in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford. In his previous job, he was an assistant chef at the highly regarded French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley. His mentor was
Thomas Keller, one of the top chefs in America. For Wegman’s, this credibility and authenticity doesn’t come without an investment, but the Pittsford store has sales of over $2 million per week, the highest
gross sales in the entire chain. Wegman's is committed to employee learning. They invests millions of dollars in college scholarships for both full-time and part-time employees. To insure their cheese experts know the products and the countries they represent, Wegman’s willingly sends them on ten-day tours of the UK, France, and Italy. Why not train at home? That would not capture the full experiential value of the training. The payoff for the customer is obviousbut what about Wegman’s? Industry experts' estimate that sales per square- foot are 50 percent greater than the industry average. Clear evidence that rewards come to those who use employees to offer fulfilling experiences to customers.

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For more on the topic of EmployeeEngagement download out white paper:

Employee Engagement and the Customer Experience

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You might notice the intersecting of a couple of themes in recent newsletters, namely the building of customer relationships and the influence of Web 2.0 or Social Media. The Whetstone Edge is taking this seriously. Many business people find it difficult to see how business strategies can play out in a Web 2.0 world. Others get wrapped up in a blog, social networking or other form of social media and complain that it is a time sink. We have put together corporate briefing and seminars to pull the issues into an actionable framework.  To learn more email John at jtodor@thewhetstoneedge.com and put Social Media in the Subject line. __________________________________________________________________________

For additional information on trust and customer relationships, check out John's book, Addicted Customers: How to Get Them Hooked on Your Company. www.AddictedCustomer.com.

This newsletter is brought to you by The Whetstone Edge, LLC (www.TheWhetstoneEdge.com).

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