Is Employee Retention Linked to Customer Retention?

Is Employee Retention Linked To Customer Retention?

Short answer: ABSOLUTELY!

The agreement stated in basic terms that if an employee would work hard and be loyal to the organization, the employee could count on a job for life, along with regular salary increases and a secure future.

Without a doubt, the above agreement is no obsolete!

Job security and company loyalty have been replaced with the realization that tomorrow your organization may downsize and eliminate your job at any time. Make no mistake, the only person who's looking out for you, is YOU.

So how does all this relate to our initial question? Is employee retention linked to customer retention?

As organizations change and new faces appear in front of the customer, to some extent it's the customer who will help train those new employees. You can count on customers to correct your employee when he/she gets it wrong, as every employee surely will make mistakes as they learn their new roles and responsibilities.

Overall, a customer who is already satisfied doesn't necessarily welcome change. A customer feels secure knowing that a long-time employee, whom they've worked with over many years, will be there to help them again when they have a need.

So how do managers ensure higher rates of employee retention? First they must understand that in general, employees don't quit a company - they quit their manager. Managers must take time to connect with their subordinates.

In a recent poll, past employees were asked why they left their company. The number one answer was that the employee felt that their supervisor was "indifferent" - meaning the employee didn't feel as if their manager cared.

On average, too many managers fail to acknowledge any responsibility for an employee resigning. Too often upon receiving an employee's resignation, a manager will fail to conduct a thorough exit review – they fail to try to understand the main reasons for the employee's decision to leave.

So many managers fail to connect the dots, or even ponder the question “Is employee retention linked to customer retention?”.

Upon learning about an employee's upcoming departure, many supervisors’ first thought is how they are going to backfill the position without missing a beat in sales production. A question that is seldom asked is how will the customers respond to the news that this employee has left.

The loss of a valuable employee can be a major factor in the perceptions of your customers. If they loved Joe Salesman, and they learn that he just walked across the street to XYZ Company - odds are that at the first sign of a lapse in service, the customer will walk across the street as well.

Employees are the most important assets an organization has. So the answer to the question "Is employee retention linked to customer retention?" is without a doubt - "Yes".

In conclusion, organizations that strive to maximize customer retention should have a plan in place to maximize employee retention.

Both efforts strongly contribute toward the longevity and stabilization of the organization. Take care of your people and they will in turn take care of your customers, and you.

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