They say if you really want to understand another person, what you need to do is to walk a mile in their shoes. You will then feel intimately how they walk, where their shoes rub, how they feel, whether are literally down at heel. For a short while, you become them.
Alternatively, you could try being a parent at the end of the telephone line. It can be a sobering experience.
'Wait a minute. I'm on the phone.' (to child)
'Hello. Is that Bonny Babies Nursery?'
'Yes. Can I help you? (reluctantly)
'Can I speak to the nursery manager please?'
(Pause) 'She's not here.
'Ah, I see. When will she be back?'
(Pause) 'I don't know.'
'Can I leave a message?'
'Hold on. I'll get a pen.'
... and so on. An exaggeration? No, this is word for word a telephone conversation I had with a small private nursery. Although I was not ringing as a parent, I was calling to discuss a heavily subsidised job ad in a recruitment newsletter that I regularly put together for an early years team. As they say, what's not to like? But, regardless of that, why should a simple conversation become such hard work?
Let's look at it point by point:
- The young woman was preoccupied with a child in her care and failed to engage with me at all. I was clearly an intrusion.
- She did not give the name of the nursery.
- She did not say who she was.
- Rather than say where the manager was and how long she would be, she withheld that information.
- At no point did she ask how she could help.
- There was no apology for wasting my time.
- There was no pen to hand - and the one she found didn't work.
All of this was compounded by her using a mobile phone that kept cutting out. The result was that, while she seemed unconcerned, I felt embarrassed and irritated. My estimate of the nursery was, fairly or otherwise, very low.
This is the nub of the whole encounter. Every business - even if it is technically a voluntary-sector organisation - depends on good will in order to survive and grow, because customers are fickle people. If they don't like you or they feel unloved, they won't come back. On top of that, they have the ultimate weapon: word of mouth, which, like many things, can have a negative as well as a positive effect.
As a PR consultant, I am used to setbacks, but parents phoning in to a nursery have a great deal more at stake. They are pushed for time, as they're probably ringing from work; they have concerns about their career; they are constantly calculating the financial (and emotional) costs of childcare. Finally, working parents feel guilty, and, for this reason, all parents need to be handled with great care and tact.
Back to word of mouth. I think we all know from experience that there is more juice in critical gossip than spreading a more positive message, and this is why the 'circle of influence' can be so devastating in its power. An old standby of those in marketing, it has increased in status, because it is firmly rooted in human behaviour.
Originally, it was calculated that everyone had a so-called circle of influence - friends, colleagues, neighbours and so on - of up to 300 people. The theory is that each person you share your dissatisfaction with tell up to 300 more people (their circle of influence), and so on. And it is a sad fact of life that bad news is more compelling than good news.
It gets worse, for, in these days of multiple texts and huge numbers of 'friends' on social networking websites, the potential for damage is much greater, running perhaps into thousands. But potentially even more damaging, because they are focused, are the interest groups that are now so active. Any dissatisfaction with your nursery could be transmitted to a regional parents' group, all the members of a community group, a women's group and so on.
So, what can you do to ensure all your staff are acting as positive advocates for your nursery and using their and your customers' circles of influence in a constructive way? There is no quick fix, but there are three overall ground rules:
- There should be a culture in which parents are genuinely valued, listened to and supported, for they are the ones who ultimately pay the salaries.
- It is up to the manager to ensure everyone knows what the latest internal developments are - and where the key people are.
- In a nursery, all your people are front-line staff and all must have the social skills to answer the phone, greet visitors and handle enquiries and requests.
The responsibility for this lies with the manager as role model. Genuine courtesy with staff and colleagues filters down on the basis that, if we are treated well, we will reciprocate. That, in its turn, should spread outwards, with the result that parents are greeted by name, with a smile. It's worth noting that when you talk on the phone with a smile on your face, that is transmitted in the tone of your voice.
Building a welcoming culture, based on good communication and positive belief in your colleagues, is a long process. But there are simple things you can do to ease the way. A few minutes pondering the conversation that opened this article will yield some action points, including:
- If you have a landline, an extension in a quiet place is crucial.
- If your mobile phone continually breaks up, investigate other network providers.
- Check daily that there are pens and paper by the phone.
- Provide a checklist - a simple table is fine - showing who is where and when, and pin it to the wall where it is easily visible.
- Set up some coaching in telephone skills. It is far more difficult than most of us admit.
Finally, for those who say that your staff always handle telephone calls well, may I suggest that you think again? Everyone has a story of a bad experience on the phone. If that is the case, then, equally, we must all have been personally responsible for some of this. No one is perfect, even those of us who work in the services industry, for example, in a nursery or PR.
Sue Churchill is a PR and marketing consultant with experience of working in early years. She can be contacted at Churchill Associates on 01626 852030
KEY POINTS BOX
- People buy people.
- Parents are the lifeblood of your nursery.
- Nurseries are particularly vulnerable to word of mouth.
- Every member of staff should be an advocate for your business.
- Every point of contact with parents is crucial to your business's success.
- Everyone should be coached in handling the phone.
- Your staff cannot take messages unless they know where key people are.
- Your staff cannot talk positively about your nursery unless you update them on developments.
