Should You Hire for Attitude or for Experience? 

I’ve patronized my local health food store for the past 10 years.  On my last visit, I overheard a conversation between an employee and a customer.  The customer needed help finding a product she had read about in a magazine.  She wanted to know more about it.

 The employee clearly had a wealth of knowledge in his head, as he was readily sharing everything he knew about health, including what the customer should be doing to her improve her own health.  The verbiage he used was on the technical side and, judging by the look on her face, I suspect the customer didn’t understand much of what he said. 

The customer doggedly pursued her original question.  However, the employee was so focused on “downloading” his information that he never realized she was no longer listening to him.

 This interaction continued for about 10 minutes, at which point she gave up and left the store.  He went back to the task at hand, oblivious to the fact that he had driven away a customer.  If this was a new customer, I doubt she will return.  Her frustration level as she walked out the door was fairly high.  If she was a returning customer, one can only hope that earlier, less frustrating experiences at the store will encourage her to shop there again.

 In the health products industry, product knowledge and experience are important to both the company and the customer.  But what good is it all if, while passing it along, your employee is unaware of your customer’s needs and reactions? 

While knowledge and experience are valuable, equally so is your employee’s ability to listen to the customer’s needs and to help them find a solution.  Your customers want to feel that you care about them! That’s a basic human need. 

So, are the right people taking care of your customers?  How many people have you hired primarily because of their previous experience in the product or service you provide?  

Many store owners and managers hire based on the principle that a prospective employee with an established base of knowledge and experience will already know how to do the job, thereby saving time and money otherwise needed for training.  Right?  Wrong! 

What you really need to figure out is whether prospective hires care about helping other people.  Look, for instance, at Southwest Airlines.  They don’t seek people with previous airline experience.  They’ve created an interview process that specifically addresses this very attitude – they want people who care about other people.  Once they have identified this trait, they’re confident they can train new employees to do the technical aspects of the job. 

 It’s vitally important that you communicate your expectations during the job interview.  Don’t be afraid to clearly communicate the attitude you expect them to present to your customers.  A great way to see how a job applicant might handle different situations is to role-play various customer interactions.  Pretend you’re an upset customer and see how they handle your complaint.  Pay sharp attention to their ability to listen to the customer. 

 How do they handle customers who are not knowledgeable about your products?  How do they handle senior citizens who may have trouble hearing?  Are they sensitive to that and thus speak louder and slower?

Do they get impatient and raise their voice at the first sign of frustration? If so, they may be driving your customers away!

 So how do you know you’re hiring the right people?  Given our slumping economy, it’s even more important for you to have a way to objectively measure the strengths and weaknesses of those who apply for work at your business.  Unfortunately, many prospective employees are desperate for a job and some may tell you anything they think you want to hear. 

Protect your own interests and give yourself a gift – have each prospective employee complete a personality profile.  The results could surprise you.  Maybe they don’t have as much compassion for serving people as they indicated in the interview.  A good personality profile will show you their strengths as well as their areas for improvement.  It’s a great tool for understanding their behaviors and that helps you train and coach them to be more effective in their customer communication.

One of the best ways to know how employees relate to customers is to observe their interactions with them, discreetly of course.  Just because you’ve hired and trained an employee doesn’t mean they will remember the facts, much less use the skills, that you taught them. 

Pay attention to how they handle new customers.  Do they greet them in a friendly and warm manner?  Do they seize opportunities to walk customers to a specific product or are they content just telling them which aisle to find?  Do they explain differences in brands and, based on their knowledge of the product, make suggestions in a language the customer understands?  Do they thank the customer for their business?  Does your customer leave your store feeling appreciated? 

 If employees aren’t demonstrating these skills with every customer contact, they could be costing you lost revenues! 

You need to be their coach.  Talk to them about what went well and how they can improve.  There is room for improvement in all of us. So don’t forget to walk your own talk. 

Most of us love to hear that we did a great job.  Unfortunately, when we’re on the giving rather than the receiving end, we have a tendency to complain more than we compliment.  Whenever I acknowledge someone for providing exceptional service, their face lights up.  Why?  Because they have just been appreciated! 

If you take the time to express your appreciation for your employees’ efforts, it will be reflected in their attitude toward your most valuable asset – your customers. 

So hire for attitude and train for knowledge.  Your employees and customers will appreciate it.

 David Saxby is president of Measure-X, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based training, measurement and recognition company that specializes in customer service skills and employee retention.  He can be reached at 888-644-5499 or via e-mail at david@measure-x.com.  Visit the Measure-X Web site at www.measure-x.com.