Skype Demonstrates Employee and Customer Care

Motivating Employees and Boosting Customer Productivity ---My Visit to Skype in Tallinn, Estonia

By Terry L. Brock

Dateline: Tallinn, Estonia. I’m in this Baltic country that can boast the fastest growing economy in the EU – 11% last year. They are doing a lot of things right such as cutting taxes and reducing regulation at the government level. At the same time I visited a company today that is doing a lot right to keep employees happy and committed while boosting the productivity of their customers.

Today I visited the largest office of Skype with 300 of the company’s 500 world-wide employees. Skype is the Internet service that allows people to talk for free, make video calls for free and chat for free. They are the undisputed leader in Internet telephony. They have earned that position in only three years by doing some important business functions right.

Here are some of the things they do that you can also do to keep employees and customers delightfully involved with you. All of this contributes to the bottom line for business growth.

Skype Makes Work A Fun Experience. This might seem like “so 1990’s” but it still is important. Happy employees stick around longer, are more productive and help boost your bottom line. Skype makes work fun. They provide a game room complete with pool table, PlayStation 3 and more. They also provide a sauna for employees right on the premises (this is a Nordic country, after all).

See these principles and more in video by going to: http://tinyurl.com/29menc. This way you’ll see the actual location and rooms of Skype’s offices in Tallinn.

Skype Makes Employees Responsible. This is a critical flip-side of the above “Fun Experience” admonition. Yes, it is good to have fun. But in true hard-working Nordic style, employees must get the work done first. They don’t punch a clock. Employees can be at work under a very flexible schedule. The emphasis is on responsible adults getting projects completed successfully in the time period agreed upon in advance. No more watching over their shoulder by bosses. No more “you’re on company time” kind of 1950’s mentality. And yes, these employees are productive and very profitable for the company.

The average age of employees for Skype at their Tallin office is 28. These people are not going to put up with the traditional way of doing things. I was out of place with a coat and tie! They wear very casual clothes---but again, they are extremely productive and profitable. That is what matters in a brain-driven, ideas-matter-most world. Focus on people being happy and hold them responsible to get the job done. Then let them choose how they want to get that job done.

Boost Customer Productivity. This is where dazzling technology and products come into play. Skype does this by providing absolutely free communication from one Skype use to another anywhere in the world. I regularly use their audio both in the States and out. I can make calls from my hotel room on this trip back to regular phone lines in the States for about 2 cents per minute. That is unbelievable compared to the outrageous fees from before. I called a client of mine in England, from Russia 2 days ago for the same rate. Years ago, I remember paying $54 to call Hong Kong from Japan for a 6 minute call. Times have changed---a lot!

As you can think of ways to boost your own clients’ productivity, they will reward you with their business. They would be foolish not to. Work hard to make business easier and more profitable for your customers and you’ll always have a good job.

Villu Arak, the chief of Public Relations at Skype in Tallinn, told me that they use a lot of multi-chats. This is more productive than regular email for serous projects. People who are significant to solving a problem or working on a project can have their comments inserted into the multi-chat where appropriate. This service (of course it’s free---it’s from Skype!) lets users track what has happened in a multi-chat over a period of time. Productivity is increased and profits increase.

The benefits of video deepen relationships in business. More than just a voice on the line, you can now see the other person, watch their physical and non-verbal reactions and respond. I use it to help clients assemble certain technologies, show new tools for business and more. Video Skype is a secret weapon for the relationship marketer who wants to help customers and get results.

These principles can help you and me in our businesses. Skype is doing a lot right and helping over 200 million customers. We can all learn a lot from them.

Remember to see these principles and more in video by going to: http://tinyurl.com/29menc. You’ll love it!

Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and regular columnist for Business Journals who helps businesses market more effectively, leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their days using the time-honored rules and the right technology tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Copyright © 2007, Terry Brock, All Rights Reserved Internationally. No portion may be reprinted or used in any way without prior written permission