From my experience, having run over a thousand coaching courses for store managers over the past 25 years, the performance of the store comes right down to how well the store manager performs. They are, after all, the face of the business to the customers as well as being responsible for the performance of their team. A great store manager will make all the difference.
I’ve met some fantastic store managers over this time and thought I’d share some of the key common characteristics that make them successful:
- They lead by example – great store manager’s customer service skills are among the best and boy can they sell as well.
- They are excellent communicators – they don’t just use the message board to pass on information as they know most of their staff will glance over any information here. They use different ways to ensure their messages are understood.
- They set clear expectations – knowing this is such a critical area, they emphasise the importance of standards and procedures. Using their excellent communication skills, they ensure their team knows exactly why and how to meet these expectations.
- They follow up to ensure expectations are being met – they realise that over time even the best team member will slip, they reinforce the expectations daily.
- They are resilient – great store managers know that things don’t always go right, so when things do go wrong, they work out a solution pretty quickly.
- They have an amazing in-store culture – which they work on to maintain. They do this by being consistently fair with all staff. They call their team members when they slip up, and provide support to help them achieve their goals.
- Plus, everything else that needs doing! – great store managers have excellent time management and prioritisation skills, so they are super organised.
I hope the above points help you to identify your store managers that are amazing and provides some tips on how the others can improve to be their best.
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.
