From the Roundtable

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD

As we find ourselves already in the first quarter of 2023, the focus of this issue is Relationship Building.

We are in a people business delivering customer service to our boards and communities done by the relationships we build both internally and externally.

Building the relationships is the key to success – starting with focusing on the internal team members. If your team is engaged and enjoy their time with their fellow employees, that creates a strong work environment for success.

On the other side, if they don’t like where they work or who they work with, then the chance of them delivering the level of customer service necessary to keep the relationship strong is reduced dramatically. Unhappy, unmotivated, and resentful team members do not build strong relationships either internally or externally.

Leaders must set the example and celebrate the delivering of exceptional customer service. They must be engaged in the process and be connecting with the clients while showing their team members what exceptional service should look like.

This process will highlight that the leaders are not asking you to do anything that they wouldn’t do, which in turn helps the team member understand how important it should be to them. Leaders should acknowledge, celebrate, and reward when they see exceptional service, making it the bar to exceed to for all team members.

Another important area for relationship building would be active listening when the feedback is being given whether it is favorable or sometimes not – whether it is coming from internal or external. Listening to them will enable you to make the best use of every opportunity to make them feel valued and appreciated.

Allow them to speak freely without interruption, and then work with them to resolve their concerns. This will also help you determine what your internal and external customers want and make them feel their feedback and opinions are important to meet and exceed their expectations.

Ultimately, you need to act or at least address the concerns in a timely manner or the goodwill you have built for the relationship will fail due to trust concerns.

Team members should know how to communicate with your clients even through negative experiences as it can build a stronger relationship if handled right – not that we want to teach having negative experiences, but realistically, they will occur.

What a team member says is important but how they say it can strengthen or break a relationship. Phrases like “I don’t know, or we cannot do that” will damage a relationship instead of using “we apologize for any inconvenience or let me look into that for you.”

Showing a sense of empathy helps build the relationship even when you don’t have the solution that they may want to hear. “I am sorry that happened to you,” or “I understand that must have been tough” are a couple that can be used, and if you personalize the statement, it makes it more sincere. Personalized communication is key to building healthy relationships.

Share a random act of kindness – also helps in building relationships!

Joe Price, CAMEx, CCAM