Can efforts to capture customer loyalty be thwarted by employee loyalty?

Evidence gathered from top retail groups, including auto dealerships, indicates that employee loyalty directly affects customer loyalty and thus business results.

Dealer operators and their managers do their business, their stakeholders and their shareholders disservice when they fail to foster, develop and reward employee engagement. Get this loyalty driver fixed first. Then watch the ROI on customer loyalty improve.

According to customer experience researchers Temkin Group, engaged employees are key to engaged and loyal customers.

“Engaged employees deliver a better customer experience; a better customer experience creates customer loyalty; puts employee engagement; and, customer loyalty leads to more profitable business results,” Bruce Temkin, managing partner, told Direct Marketing News.

Among auto dealership franchises, Toyota does the best job at this, according to Temkin’s Experience Ratings report, just released.

Is employee loyalty killing your dealership?

When employees are taken for granted, not given clear direction, rarely cheered on and viewed as utilities, don’t expect them to engage customers in positive ways.

Absenteeism, water cooler huddles and high turnover are signs employee loyalty is in bad shape.

The good news is that developing employee loyalty is not rocket science, but a good dose of the Golden Rule, treating others as one would like to be treated.

Here are some ideas for engaging employees so they can deliver better customer experience:

• Hire the right people. Look for those possessing the required job skills – as well as having the heart and desire to serve others.
• Lead with vision. Employees who can articulate the dealership’s guiding principles and reflect them in their engagement with others have bought into leadership’s vision. Wall plaques cannot adequately convey this vision. Ongoing cheerleading sessions and desk side chats will.
• Equip staff to master and own their jobs. Only when employees know their jobs and are comfortable performing them will their attitude and actions allow them to focus more on others and their needs than their own. Provide training on both hard job skills and soft attitude skills.
• Care for their families. This is a tough business, given the hours, competitiveness and personality types it attracts. Nothing tells employees you care about them like paying attention to their personal life and family. Include families in company events. Send flowers or other forms of condolence when an employee’s family member is ill or otherwise struggling. Can the dealership fund a scholarship program for employees’ children or sponsor a kids’ day program during summer months? Might a letter to a spouse of a hard-working member of the team encourage both employee and spouse?
• Link their loyalty to customer loyalty: Some people get it naturally, that warmth, helpfulness and personal interest in others, that sparks social interaction. Most of us need a few clues. Consider an all-staff event to talk about the link between customer loyalty and employee loyalty. Help them see clearly that their behavior and attitude on the job (as well as off) either bolsters or undermines efforts to build customer loyalty long-term. If you need outside expert help, make the call and the investment.

“Most industries earn their reputations,” Temkin told Direct Marketing News.  “What happens is industries end up cultivating their mediocrity.”

What reputation is employee loyalty cultivating for your dealership and your customers?