The Fundamentals
While satisfying a customer is good, businesses strive for this "H-word" by exceeding expectations.
What is Happy?
Positive customer relations is one of the least expensive ways for a business to do this against its rivals.
What is Compete?
Businesses must be careful, as this powerful form of "free" promotion can be negative as well as positive.
What is Word-of-Mouth?
: An HR manager performs this task to verify a candidate's history before hiring them.
What are background and reference checks?
This is the formal act of an HR manager listening to and writing down an official employee complaint.
What is recording a grievance?
To build positive relations, a business shouldn't just wait for problems to occur; it must be this, striving to make every experience a good one.
What is Proactive?
Businesses prioritize retaining current customers because it is much cheaper than doing this.
What is Attracting new customers?
Rather than just talking at people, the best way for a business to communicate is to do this "respectfully."
What is Listen?
This process, which can be done by a manager or supervisor, introduces new hires to the company culture.
What is job orientation?
HR acts as a neutral party to settle a disagreement between a supervisor and their subordinate.
What is conflict mediation?
This "physical" environment includes things like a comfortable waiting room or a clean storefront.
What is the Tangible environment?
By getting it right the first time and avoiding mistakes, positive customer relations helps boost this internal metric.
What is Productivity?
An entry-level employee can help the company most by doing this with the feedback they hear from the public.
What is Reporting it (to management)?
This is the final interview an HR manager conducts with a retiring or departing employee.
What is an exit interview?
This is the process of using surveys or meetings to measure how happy employees are at work.
What is assessing employee morale/engagement?
Every single interaction between a business and a customer—from a website visit to a phone call—is known by this term.
What are Touchpoints?
To encourage communication, a business might offer these, such as coupons or free samples.
What are Incentives?
Even if there is an absence of these, it doesn't necessarily mean customer relations are positive.
What are Complaints?
A supervisor does this when they discuss salary and terms with a potential hire to reach an agreement.
What is negotiating a job offer?
When a worker’s performance is low, HR may help a manager create this "PIP" to help them improve.
What is a Performance Improvement Plan?
This is the most important factor in a business’s customer relations, often described as the "human factor."
Who are the People (or Employees)?
Sending 20% discount coupons to loyal clients is a way for a business to demonstrate this specific "thankful" technique.
What is showing Gratitude (or Being Thankful)?
In terms of reliability, the golden rule for customer relations is that it is always better to "under-promise" and do this.
What is Over-deliver?
HR monitors this to ensure the company is following all Equal Employment Opportunity laws.
What is EEO compliance?
This term describes the set of rules or "handbook" that dictates how employees are expected to behave.
What is a Code of Conduct?