It is run at a pace that maximises its effectiveness as it changes the focus from operations to sales and service.

The purpose of this entire programme is to provide the managers of your business with the tools they need to help them grow as a retail professional and to have a more productive staff.  Your staff is the vehicle to success, so helping them to become succesful in their own right, is in keeping with the company's people philosophy of training and promoting from within.

Overview

Introduction

This course was created to provide a clear understanding of professional store management in today’s retail environment, and how store managers can affect customer service and performance.

Initially we explore the framework of the course, including potential constraints and barriers, the importance of standards and how they relate to management style.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• Why standards represent the foundation of a successful retail business, and why they are often one of the biggest constraints.
• The concept of variation and deviation.
• The difference between a constraint and a barrier.
• The focus and format for the course.

The Store Manager

Running a store requires many individual responsibilities, which, if properly executed, can help managers surpass the store’s sales productivity goals while minimizing costs and maximizing customer service.

This chapter clarifies the store manager’s many responsibilities and duties—the different hats you typically need to wear and the related behaviours necessary to complete the job successfully.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• Why store managers are vital to formulating and executing retail strategies for meeting performance goals.
• The concept and usefulness of a manager’s Job Responsibility Checklist.
• How a customized Job Responsibility Checklist can help clarify performance expectations and develop core competencies.
• Why a strong belief system is required for lasting improvement in customer service and sales.
•  What it means to work for your beliefs and how to manifest them.

 Sales Goals

Store managers are typically asked to do more business in their stores this year than they did last year. In other words, they’re asked to produce sales increases.

We cover the importance of establishing sales performance goals, including minimum standards, fair expectations, equal opportunities, key performance indicators and easy-to-read performance dashboards.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• Which metrics are key performance indicators and why they matter most?
• The goal of a sales manager.
• What makes a store goal-oriented?
• How to establish fair sales goals for individual salespeople.
• How to create and use easy-to-read sales performance dashboards.

Managing Variation

A store needs rails for behavioural standards and performance goals. But it’s up to the manager to create an environment where salespeople want to perform, rather than have to perform.

A closer look at individual management style—the core elements that often define a good manager and how they can affect a manager’s ability to move salespeople successfully from variation or deviation back to the rail.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• Why correcting variation and deviation may require different tactics.
• Why variation and deviation exist in most retail stores.
• How the elements of management style can affect accountability.
• The concept of Have-To (hard rail) and Want-To (soft rail) behaviours.
• How a balance of discipline and motivation can help eliminate Have-To concerns and gain compliance with Want-To behaviours.

Sales Metrics

Understanding sales metrics is a top priority and can be invaluable to Managers.  Metrics identify where action is required to improve sales productivity and effectiveness.

This chapter focuses on the crucial role of sales metrics in performance management, building a sales career, achieving sales goals, developing new dashboard tools and utilizing those tools to assess individual productivity.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• How metrics help drive performance management.
• Where metrics fit into building a sales career.
• Why and how metrics can help stores achieve their sales goals.
• The metrics and dashboard tools that help assess individual performance.

Behavioural Standards

A store’s performance in sales and its ability to get operations done efficiently depend largely on the discipline of its staff regarding standards and responsibilities. Therefore, behavioural standards for sales and operations need to include specific responsibilities.

In this chapter we’ll examine the role of behaviours and responsibilities in determining success, including the need for an operational rail, strong discipline, non-negotiable store standards and a culture that stimulates motivation.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• How behaviours drive metrics by affecting sales performance.
•  How the struggle between operations and sales relates to discipline.
•  What constitutes an operational rail and how to establish one.
• What non-negotiable store standards are and why they’re essential.

Coaching

Effective coaching is an ongoing process of praising, correcting and reinforcing behaviours, so every salesperson remains on track and performing at the highest possible level.

A focus on the coaching process, both in formal meetings and on the sales floor, including the important role of positive and corrective feedback, consequences and strategies.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• Why ongoing coaching is a necessary part of employee development.
•  How coaching in weekly meetings and on the floor can improve poor behaviour and strengthen good behaviour.
• The difference between positive and corrective feedback and coaching.
• How consequences can help drive sustained behavioural change.

Progressive Discipline

If salespeople consistently fail to meet minimum sales or behavioural standards, even after training and coaching efforts, progressive disciplinary steps may be needed to get them back on the rail.

The specific steps a manager can take to correct undesired behaviour or poor sales performance when coaching proves ineffective, including finding out what’s happening, corrective action, disciplinary action and termination, if necessary.

Learning Objectives: To Understand…

• Why non-compliance with behavioural standards or performance minimums may occur.
• The goals of progressive discipline.
• What progressive steps to take when coaching efforts don’t work.
• Why the goal should be correction to avoid termination, if possible.
• How management style impacts the effectiveness of progressive discipline.

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