The busier the store gets, the bigger the impact (both positive and negative) the leader has on his/her staff and results. That’s why I hope you’ll invest a few minutes to read my ten quick holiday leadership tips,
- One of your most important tasks this week is to create a joyful work experience for your staff. A happy, energetic, and engaged staff is most definitely a competitive advantage this week.
- It is also essential to make your store a joyful and productive shopping experience for your customers. That's pretty much a slam-dunk if you've taken care of your staff.
- Stress could be your biggest impediment to being a productive leader this week. Keep talking with your manager, mentor, friend, spouse, or whoever, about how you're feeling. Talking it through almost always leads to lower stress and higher focus.
- Avoid excuses. Own what's happening in your business, good, bad, or okay. If you claim what's taking place you can also lead your team to even better results.
- If your sales are falling short, do you know exactly where your opportunities are? You can't change or improve trends without understanding the cause. Are one or two of your product categories off? Is your average sale or transactions down?
- Establish a daily action that focuses your team on improving the issue(s) you identified above. Too many managers/owners only talk about the desired result and not the actions needed to change the trend. The same is true for those having a strong holiday. Action is the key!
- Be sure your team continues to focus on Who and not What. (Or as you learned in this video, Whonotwhat.) One retailer increased their store’s average sale by 25% last weekend by making that shift. 25%!
- Back-ups at the register are more likely to happen during the weekday when there is less staff. Don't let the last steps of the customer experience be any less stellar than everything that came before.
- Share the working with multiple customers handout with your staff before this weekend. You can download it here, or read about it below.
- Last but not least, step up and be the floor leader your customers and staff need. A manager once told me that during busy times he saw himself as just another team member. I wanted to fire him on the spot.
You can't be just another salesperson or cashier. It doesn't mean you can't sell or ring every now and then, but you need to be leading and controlling what's happening in the store. Your team needs you to lead and coach them to success!
So let me ask, are you and your management team ready to lead the team to finish strong?
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