I am often asked, when I facilitate our training course on how to effectively coach your team, how often should I be coaching my team. My answer is, well all the time! While said in jest as I know this is simply not possible, coaching your team on a regular basis is super important.
There are varying levels of coaching, we teach a simple process for retailers on how to coach their team to improve their customer service and increase their sales. Once team members have been trained in the expectations and what they need to do to lift both focuses, it’s up to store and assistant managers to follow up to ensure team members are putting in place the right behaviours where it matters the most – on the shop floor with customers.
Therefore, how much do they need to coach? That is dependent on the ability of each team member and how quickly they can consistently get to the required level. Some team members will need more coaching, others less. To me the role of the store leadership team is to work with all of their team members to help them be the best they can be and this will require different levels of coaching.
A recently published article titled “Gallup finds a silver bullet, coach me once per week”, really caught my eye as this sounded to me like a great coaching goal. It turns out they found that once a week coaching sessions either in person, on the phone, on zoom or even via email, immediately changes the culture of the business. Now this level of coaching is different to coaching your team on service and sales and will involve a longer conversation, but it just goes to show how important regular coaching sessions are.
Unfortunately, it is often all too easy to overlook having these coaching conversations, yet they are so powerful and tells your team that they are important and you are wanting them to succeed. The secret to what should be discussed? Gallup says simply “Goals!” The silver bullet conversation is about progress on goals and winning with customers.
How often are you having coaching conversations with your team?
Roger Simpson – CEO, The Retail Solution and Author of “The Ultimate Retail Sales Experience” With over 35 years’ industry experience, Roger Simpson is recognized as Australia’s #1 Authority on customer ROI in the retail industry and as a global expert on staff coaching, customer service, and selling skills.
