When a Good Staff Isn't Good Enough
How's your manager doing?
Are they good at what they do? Do they know the drill? Can they implement what you give them?
If you answered yes to these questions, then you may have the wrong manager.
Good managers in retail simply aren't good enough. Retail needs greatness today. Greatness comes from leading, not from following orders. Greatness comes from upsetting the apple cart, not from the status quo. Greatness comes from being proactive, not from being reactive.
I've run across several managers in my travels as of late. Great people. Nice. Lots of history with the company. But can they be a leader if they were thrown into that leadership role? Can they create a customer-centric environment when that may have taken a back seat?
Leadership leads you to a focus on the customer above all else. And great managers know that. Those shelves that need restocking? Well, it doesn't matter that there are three of an item instead of five. That Wednesday to do list item of dusting shelves can wait. The changing over of feature area #5 can wait as well. In fact, nothing is so important as a customer who walks in the door who deserves nothing but your complete attention.
Now's the time to find out if your store leader has the skill set to create a focus on the customer. Give up some of your responsibility (you're too busy anyway as the owner) and let someone else run the show. You'll know right away whether they can handle it or not.
If they can't, then you need to find a manager who can. And there's no better time to look - there's a lot of great talent out there given that tens of thousands of retail stores have closed over the past couple of years.
How are you testing your store's leaders to ensure you're providing the ultimate customer experience?
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