Have you ever walked out of a store because of poor customer service?  Or felt frustrated because the company representative at the other end of the phone did not seem to care?  Or after enduring a bad experience with an employee at a particular establishment you said “never again”?

Customers react first and foremost to the employee they are dealing with, the one they are facing, whether the transaction is financially significant or not.  To the customer, that employee “is” your company, and these buy / not buy decision-makers will consider the treatment they receive a reflection of your company, for good or ill.

It is worth noting that the person who just caused you to take your business elsewhere is likely one of the lowest paid employees in that organization.   Does that reward / impact relationship make sense to you?  It would seem that the organization does not recognize / reward (value) the impact that their employees can have on customer relations.

Does your company acknowledge and measure the value and impact that these employees can have?  Or is this skill set a compensable factor at all?  Have you ever checked?

Many companies have long ignored the importance of the customer-facing job (non-direct sales) in determining a position’s value to their organization.  They consider education (what you know), experience (how long you have been doing something) and competitive survey data (what others are paid for a certain set of skills) in setting their pay scales.  The fact that the position also has the power of gaining or losing customers is often lost on them as “just part of the job description.”

Some job evaluation systems may give a nod for those facing customers on a regular basis, but such recognition is not often viewed as a critical factor – nor does it help determine where in the salary range the incumbent is paid.

Oftentimes it is the lower paid employee or the position with the least amount of “cachet” that presents the jobholder with the opportunity to influence customer action and reaction.  As an example, the employees most commonly approached by guests at Walt Disney World are the Custodial workers.

Is it not surprising then that these employees can have as great an impact on customer good will and retention as your executives?  Studies have also shown that having a pleasant experience when dealing with a company often outweighs price considerations and marketing glitz.

However that does not mean that you have to pay more to these employees than the marketplace suggests, but it is in your best interest to ensure that they are fairly treated:

• Ensure that actual pay centers on the middle of the range or higher.  Do not risk minimum pay scale workers interacting with your customers.
• Hire well into the salary range.  This is not a time to be cheap.  That dollar you saved today could cause you to lose a great deal more later on.   It pays to remember that it costs a great deal more to gain a new customer than to retain an existing one.
• Modify your performance appraisal process to recognize the customer facing role; attitude is just as critical here as know-how and experience.  Your customers place great value on the smile and pleasant demeanor they receive from your employees.
• Develop a point of pride for these workers, coupled with fair and competitive pay, to encourage that the right caliber of employee applies for these positions.
• Avoid structuring these as “dead end” jobs.   Offer upward opportunities for higher performing employees.
• Listen to them; they are talking to your customers and their suggestions for process improvements – even new products and services – should be considered.

How do you know whether your company is vulnerable?  1) Ensure that these positions are regularly surveyed for competitive pay practices, and then 2) Create a report segmenting the actual pay of your customer-facing employees to determine the average compa-ratio and spotlight the presence of low paid workers.   Then you will know how well you are paying those closest to your customers.

Now we should have a final word about direct sales, which is perhaps the ultimate customer-facing job.   Be careful that your training and recognition programs remember to acknowledge the importance of the customer-facing relationship – beyond an immediate financial impact.  Rewards should not be all about short term results.  A customer made unhappy by your sales rep can decide to; 1) not place an order, 2) limit their order and split their requirements with another vendor, and / or 3) spread a negative comment to their professional associates that reflects poorly on your company.

Each unfortunate scenario reinforces the financial and long term impact of the individual employee.

Such would be a hard lesson indeed.

The time will come when you find yourself between a rock and a hard place at work.  Your ability to produce project deliverables will be challenged by staff shortages, multiple projects simultaneously coming due, or the requirement of particular skill sets not possessed by your existing personnel.  And while you are stressing out Senior Management will not let matters slide until circumstances are more convenient.

You need help.  You need it now.  But do you need a hired-gun professional, a consultant?

You could try to find a temporary Compensation Analyst to run some numbers for you, and if that will solve your immediate dilemma you need not read any further.

However, if your challenge is deeper and broader than simple spreadsheets, a proven strategy to ensure success is to obtain the services of a seasoned expert, one who can provide hands-on advice and counsel, who can take data from the analyst and advance your agenda: What does this information tell us?  What can we do now?  What corrective strategies can be employed?

The following circumstances would encourage the use of outside expertise:

• Technical knowledge is not currently available to existing staff (i.e., international, executive, expatriate or sales compensation).  This may not be the time for on-the-job training.
• When the current staff is overwhelmed and you need temporary assistance to take charge and drive your project(s) forward
• Interim replacement for absent staff (separation, leave, etc.).  Someone to fill the gap, holding things together and advancing the agenda until the replacement is secured.

External professionals have the experience and broad perspective to impact your business, not simply report on it.  If used properly and in a focused manner subject matter experts will save you time, money and sleepless nights.

Caution: many professionals currently between jobs (“in transition”) consider themselves temporary consultants while continuing their job search.  Dependent on your time line these individuals may not be able to provide the focus or dedicated support (staying power) that you need.

As you would expect, specialists cost more than general labor, on account of their broad and deep capabilities that are available “on demand”.  However, you should consider whether the expense is justified before you commit.

• An improper one-time “fix” will cost a great deal more over time (dollars, morale, turnover, training etc.) than if the problem was properly corrected in the first place
• Consultants have the seasoning and long service expertise to look past the figures to the root causes and underlying issues
• Someone who has a broad background working with diverse industries, geographies and employee segments will provide a richer perspective as to how best to approach your particular challenges

Of course you can decide to do the work yourself, but that strategy often presents its own challenges.

• Your staff may be slow to focus on projects additive to their full time job, plus they will need to overcome numerous day-to-day distractions.  Project time lines will be drawn out.
• Internals tend to focus on easy-to-achieve short term improvements, like low hanging fruit, vs. what core issue decisions are needed to affect a permanent solution.  This is not solving the problem, but shoving it into a closet – with the other skeletons.
• Managers are often in a hurry to check off the project (problem) as completed (fixed) or “addressed” – the so-called “check mark” management style.
• Internal staff is often restrained in their thinking by experiences limited to the What and Why of their company.  They may not be able to see out of the box into the wider universe of possibilities.

If you have decided to bring in outside experts, exercise care that you utilize them effectively to gain the maximum value:

• Proper scoping of the project saves time and money.  Understand the challenge you need addressed, as confusion here leads to greater expense and longer time lines.
• Scrub your data before handing it over; otherwise you’ll be paying for “grunt” work easily completed by inside staff.
• Monitor work progress, lest you end up with charges for unanticipated (though not specifically prohibited) work.  The grey areas will cost you every time.
• Avoid consultants who are incented by billable hours; they may encourage additional steps that render your project(s) more complex / expensive.
• Be cautious of fancy report formats and four-color charts; you are paying extra for the fluff.

Seasoned external experts have the advantage of concentration; they focus on the project at hand, while avoiding the trap of non-productive time (socializing at work, interruptions, meetings, other distractions from the work at hand).

If you need Compensation expertise to help address your challenges, help you achieve your objectives and partner with you to success, take the step and make the call.  It will be worth it.