18 Sep

The Art Of Making Your Employees Proud

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 18.09.15 by John Meloche

Young business people standing behind their director proudly showing the laptopBusiness owners all across Canada know the importance of positive brand representation. This week, the Synergy Marketing Blog has covered this topic, knowing just how important it is for entrepreneurs to always represent their brands in favourable ways. In yesterday’s blog, we highlighted the fact that companies require the cooperation of their entire staffs in order to develop and maintain positive brand images.

And one of the best ways to do that is to ensure that the members of your staff are consistently kept happy. Providing incentives and rewarding top performers is one key way to foster a happy group of employees. The senses of pride and excitement felt amongst your staff members will translate into the way they communicate with your clients. As a result, your brand’s reputation will shine.

On Forbes.com, Blake Morgan suggests that to provide your customers with wonderful experiences, it is imperative that you make your employees proud to represent your business. She believes that pride – not just happiness – is the key to ensuring that your company is always represented in a positive light by the people who work for it. So how can you make your employees proud to work for you?

Respect all of your employees equally. Perhaps, more important than the material rewards is the acknowledgement that the contributions of your employees make a difference in your company. People like knowing that they’ve done a good job. But, they love, even more, that the jobs that they’ve performed are of consequence. Employees on all levels of your business deserve to know that they matter.

According to Morgan, office perks shouldn’t be limited to higher level executives. “A recent Gallup poll found that a whopping 70 percent of workers are disengaged in their jobs,” she reveals, “If your company only offers perks to the higher level executives you’ve got it wrong…The wealth and the showering of praise should come at the lower levels as well. These incentives tell employees ‘thank you,’ and generate many positive returns for the company.”

Showing this kind of consideration and respect is bound to encourage your employees to not only work harder for you, but be proud to be part of your team. It stands to reason that when people feel that they are important, they will take greater pride in themselves. Eliminating any notions that the contributions of any of your employees are insignificant will garner you a staff of very proud individuals.

Encourage camaraderie amongst your staff members. Morgan believes that shows of respect can’t just come from the owner of the business. It’s a practice that must be widespread and practiced by everyone you employ. To have, what she calls “a culture of niceness”, it’s important for everyone to be on board. “Nice just means your culture is one based on values – where employees have consideration for one another,” she describes.

Morgan goes on to note that an absence of “a culture of niceness” is a problem with some companies. But implementing one is easier than you may think. It’s all about being considerate. “There is a culture of consideration – one where sarcasm is nil,” she explains, “Where people bring cookies to work and wish people happy birthday…These are the little things that make work a nice place to be.”

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17 Sep

The Importance Of Keeping Your Employees Happy

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 17.09.15 by John Meloche

Large group of business people. Over white backgroundThe way you dress, what you say, how you train your staff and how you behave in public all carry a lot of weight. When it comes to creating a positive image for your brand, your own persona has a lot to do with it. As a business owner, your company and the person you are goes hand in hand. When people see you, they see your company. When they see your company, they see you.

So, if they see you doing something that is considered less than respectable, what do you think that implies about your company? You get the picture. This week, the Synergy Marketing Blog has focused on the concept of positive self-representation as a method of putting out a positive image of your brand. In yesterday’s blog, we revealed a few techniques that you can employ to do just that.

But there’s one particular technique that we didn’t mention that deserves exploration today: keeping your employees happy. Yesterday, we pointed out that proper training is imperative if you want your company to gain a favourable reputation with the public. One thing that all customers definitely hate is when they call companies and speak to representatives who provide service that is subpar to the service provided by other representatives of the same company.

However, proper training is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to securing a staff that can positively represent your brand. It’s important to ensure that employee morale is kept at high levels on a regular basis. In fact, Synergy Marketing can help you with this. Many of our clients have informed us that our promotional products are very often used as employee rewards. Providing your hard-working employees with gifts can never be a bad idea.

“Proper training is not enough to ensure your employees are representing your company in a positive and accurate light,” writes Erick Simpson of SPC International, “Satisfied, happy employees not only are your best resources, but also your best representatives. Encourage your employees to go above and beyond their duties by fostering an environment where they are appreciated and rewarded for their efforts.”

We have often said that a happy staff is a productive staff. And this is true no matter what industry you work in. The happier your employees are, the more likely they are to be productive members of your staff. In order to ensure that employee morale is kept high, it’s a good idea to reward those who are performing exceptionally. So monitor the results of your staff’s contributions.

“By performing routine evaluations you can ensure your top performers are being properly compensated for their work while employees who are struggling or not working up to their capacity are offered guidance or additional training to further empower them to perform better,” says Simpson. There’s nothing like a good incentive to keep the members of your staff at their best.

Synergy Marketing provides the best promo products in the business. And, as mentioned, they are often used as incentives to keep workers encouraged to do the best jobs that they can. We offer a wide array of gifts that include water bottles, pens, key chains, wine stoppers, golf tees, knives, rulers, markers and so much more! For more information, or to place your order, be sure to give us a call at 1-877-748-9884!

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16 Sep

3 Ways To Positively Represent Your Business

Posted in Synergy Suggestions on 16.09.15 by John Meloche

Business representative indicating upwards isolated over white. Copy space conceptOver the past couple of days, we have been discussing the importance of representing your business through the ways in which you dress. Yes, your physical appearance at corporate events and business meetings say a lot about you and the brand that you represent. It may not necessarily be fair, but dressing the part is an integral part of garnering your company a favourable reputation.

On CoursePark.com, a blogger known simply as Josh writes that “the clothing you wear can cause you problems when you’re in public. You need to be careful when you choose the clothes you wear because people have a tendency to judge others in this manner. You need to make sure you’re not showing too much skin and you need to be careful with the shirts you wear and what they say.”

So evidently, it’s not just at events and meetings associated with your job that you need to be concerned about your appearance. The truth is that giving off a good impression of your company will require a lot more than dressing appropriately. You’ll need to be mindful of the different business practices you employ – including the ways in which you go about spending your leisure time in public.

Here are three ways to positively represent your business:

1. Be very mindful of what you say. We all have opinions. And most of us feel encouraged to share them on our social media profiles. However, in some cases, the sharing of your views can contradict the professional image of the company you represent. It’s important to be mindful of each and every public interaction with others that you have. Saying the wrong thing could negatively impact the impression that people have of your business.

This is true whether you’re on social media or not. “The things you say can cause you problems with your business,” insists Josh, “You must be careful when you choose the words you use during your conversations. You don’t want to use offensive language and you don’t want to talk negatively. It doesn’t matter if you’re online or in public the words you choose could cause you more problems than it’s worth.”

2. Properly train your employees. In order for your business to develop and maintain a sparkling reputation, you’ll need to have all hands on deck. In other words, your entire staff must be unified in its mission to represent the company in the same positive way. Your customer service regimen should be consistent throughout your employee base. The better the training, the more successful you will be in running a company that is well respected.

This is strongly communicated by Erick Simpson of SPC International. “Before you can properly train your employees it is important for management to define your company’s ‘business’ and mission,” he writes, “With this information in hand you can then relay these values and services to each employee…Your goal is for each employee to not only understand their role and responsibilities within the company but also have them represent the company accurately in public.”

3. Be mindful of your actions as well. The old saying “actions speaks louder than words” continues to ring true. You can train your employees to follow your lead, but if you’re not practicing what you preach, it can be very damaging to your bottom line. “If you’re yelling and screaming at someone in public your customers or potential customers may see that as a terrible thing and they may feel you’re the wrong person to do business with,” says Josh.

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s blog as we continue to explore the topic of positively representing your business. For information about how you can utilize Synergy Marketing’s great promotional products to represent your business, call us at 1-877-748-9884!

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