Frustrated because you can’t seem to hit your targets? Disappointed because it often seems like your staff just doesn’t get it? Tired of banging your head against the wall?
Before you jump all over your team again, ask yourself this simple but very important question … “How clear have I been in communicating performance expectations?”
When we’re not very clear about want we want or expect, we often don’t get it. Why? Because people are goal-oriented beings by nature. They need to know exactly what they’re trying to accomplish and why. When they understand and buy into this critical information, guess what? They try harder and achieve more.
But it takes more than making a grand announcement and waiting for things to happen. When it comes to your sales goals, you’ve got to lead the way. You need to talk about them every day, all day long. Ask each team member how she is progressing towards her own targets, and how the store is doing as a whole.
Why do you need to do this?
It’s simple. If you talk about goals, they’ll focus on goals.
So talk it up!
But don’t stop there … post your goals, reward your staff when they achieve them, and hold them accountable when they don’t. And while you’re at it, make sure everyone understands that ‘quota’ is a minimum expectation … not a ‘dream’ number that would be ‘nice’ to achieve once in a while!
Not sure if we’re really talking about you here? Then take this test with your staff – ask them to identify their individual targets and the store’s overall objectives. Then have them tell you where they stand against these goals. If they don’t have the right answers, they haven’t failed … you have!
Interested in hearing more about effective goal management? Click here http://tv.graffretail.com/get-managing.html
Blog Authors: Linda
Linda Montalbano is a true retail operator with a history of leading large retail teams to success. If you need a fresh perspective on what's going wrong in your stores, Linda is the one to tell you like it is and come up with a solid game plan to turn things around!