Does Your Company Suffer From a Staff Infection?

Is there a Doctor in the house?

Staph Infection: An infection caused by bacteria commonly found on the skin or in the nose.

With over 3 million cases in the United States alone each year, they are very common and are treatable by a medical professional. Lab testing or imaging is often required to diagnose and it may spread easily but with proper care can be resolved within days to weeks.

Is there a “Business Doctor” is the house?

Staff Infection: Poor customer service caused by apathy, poor training or general petulance.

With millions of documented cases that can be found each day in businesses, stores and from service providers, it is one of the leading causes of “Customer Defectus”, a.k.a “losing your customers.”  Any boss or leader should be skilled enough at diagnosing a staff infection by observing their employees and team members, but it can also be discovered through asking customers and clients about their experiences, either in person or through follow-up surveys and check-ins after the sale or service has been completed.

Simple staff infections can be resolved with training and education, coaching or counseling while more severe cases might require disciplinary actions including reprimand, suspension or even removal of the toxic employee from their role. Blatant cases of staff infections have been known to “go viral” which could result in negative postings on social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, TripAdvisor and YouTube.

Signs to watch for to see if your company or business might be experiencing staff infections include:

• Decreased customer visitation
• A waiting room full of frowning patients, customers or clients
• Impatient or hurried clients resulting from a delayed greeting by a receptionist or clerk and service not being rendered in a timely fashion
• Being double-booked, over-charged or otherwise not treated as if “your business is important to us”
• Customers feeling like a number instead of a person who has feelings and the ability to take their business elsewhere
• Staff members or company representatives being satisfied with the status quo and delivering the bare minimum required for the payment received
• Employees that do not check their work, fulfill orders correctly or stand by the work they do

It’s time to realize that we now live in a world where the customer determines the company they chose to do business with, not the other way around. The brands, service providers and entrepreneurs that make that decision easier and more consistent for their ideal customers and clients will enjoy a much cleaner bill of health in the new year.

Here’s to your (business) health between now and your next check up.