In this article, Shep Hyken explores the question What’s More Important, Happy Customers or Happy Employees?
Shep Hyken has written in many articles and books that a focus on the employee experience will improve the customer experience. The logic makes sense. If you treat employees well, they will be more engaged with their customers and fellow employees. Shep Hyken’s mantra has been:
What happens on the inside of an organization is felt on the outside by customers.
Shep Hyken had the chance to interview Sean Crichton-Browne, co-author of The Human Culture Imperative, for an episode of Amazing Business Radio. He challenges the concept, and in his book, he discusses how happy customers create happier and more engaged employees.
Crichton-Browne’s insights stem from his years of sales experience. He said, “I was happy when my customers were happy. Because at the end of the day, when I received that phone call from a disgruntled customer, I became exceptionally unhappy.” In other words, the emotional climate of a customer’s happiness (or unhappiness) had a direct impact on employee satisfaction.
Crichton-Browne’s “outside-in” approach flips the traditional “happy employees equals happy customers” approach and asks us to start with the end in mind. He argues that when customers are happy, employees will take greater pride in their work, stay longer and be more engaged.
While this idea makes sense, Shep Hyken is still of the “happy employees first” mentality. No matter how great your product is, if you don’t support it with great service, the customer eventually moves on to the competition. That great service is the result of great employees positively engaging with their customers. You don’t want to make employees who control the customer experience unhappy. Again, what’s happening on the inside of the organization is felt on the outside by customers.
Shep Hyken and Sean Crichton-Browne did find some middle ground. There is no doubt that happy customers elevate employee morale. It’s like a continuous loop. Employees feel good when customers are happy, and customers feel good when employees are happy. Crichton-Browne says, “One cannot exist successfully without the other.”
So, what’s the takeaway from their conversation? First, don’t get caught up in the chicken-or-the-egg debate. The truth is that employee happiness and customer happiness feed-off each other. Customers feel good when employees are engaged, and employees feel good when customers are happy. One can’t exist without the other, and together they create the kind of momentum that makes both employees and customers say, “I’ll be back!”
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
James P. Randisi, President of Randisi & Associates, Inc., has been helping employers protect their clients, workforce and reputation through implementation of employment screening and drug testing programs since 1999. This post does not constitute legal advice. Randisi & Associates, Inc. is not a law firm. Always contact competent employment legal counsel. To learn more about the rights of employees who test positive for marijuana, Mr. Randisi can be contacted by phone at 410.494.0232 or Email: info@randisiandassociates.com or the website at randisiandassociates.com
