An idea for managers: ‘beckon the team before you push the team!’

The best managers I have had the pleasure to meet and study, not only know precisely where their company or team stands in relation to budget…they know about four other key factors:

• They know exactly what kind of service the customers must receive, at all times, no matter what

• They know whether the customers are receiving the service, or not

• They know exactly what kind of selling standards must be employed, to ensure that customers achieve the best results

• They know whether customers are being assisted by the use of selling standards, or not

These four points cover the reduction of customer pain experienced through service contact, and also the increase in customer pleasure to be derived from expert help. With this invaluable knowledge, managers are able to ‘beckon’ their team towards the market in a way that staff find to be attractive, tempting, enjoyable, commercially productive…and personally necessary for their own success. When the beckoning process is in place, which is continuous by the way, then the professional pushing action can begin. I say ‘professional’ because the pushing procedure is supposed to be helpful to staff, as selling standards are meant to be valuable to customers. To push staff in an unprofessional manner involves ‘going on’ about budget results, or finding fault in staff activity levels or their work practices…all of which creates fear rather than fervour. But no matter how much negative pushing is organised by weak managers, the staff know that the manager does not know about the four factors listed above…and so they also know that they are safe, no matter how much discouraging push they have to tolerate. Raised voices lose arguments and negative push loses morale first, then effort…and finally performance!

One question of interest is ‘how do effective managers know about the four key factors?’ The answer is that they work with both customers and staff, behind the scenes of everyday trading, to create a team approach to setting high standards of service and selling…and to getting consistent feedback on actual service and selling ‘performance’. If you read the last sentence again it becomes clear that good managers see customers as part of their team, and so they should have a say in how business is done. In this larger and more positive team environment, team members do not see the setting of standards as a chore created by management; instead, the activity is seen by staff as an acceptable and successful way to work with customers. When staff were at school they had to learn the three Rs (reading, writing and ‘rithmetic), and at work they should be encouraged to learn three new Rs: reason, rationale and results. Reason concerns why we should behave in positive ways with customers; Rationale refers to how best we should behave with customers…and Results is all about success enjoyed by customers, the business and the staff.

When it comes to commercial performance, leading managers keep staff informed on total sales progress, plus they spread accountability for achievement throughout the team…so that every individual is conscious of their goals and results. The best managers ask staff members a simple question on a regular basis: ‘as of this week, are you confident of making budget for the month?’ If the answer is ‘yes’ and the manager is confident that the answer is correct, then they let people get on with their work…but if the answer is ‘no’ then they spend time with people to ensure that ‘input’ is improved to reach the sales output needed.

To ‘beckon and push’ is the professional process used by good managers to invite and involve!