When I grew up in Illinois, I played in little league…for a lot of years. And I excelled in baseball during that time. I got to be pretty good and played every position. Pitching was nerve-racking (all I had was a fastball). Outfield was great, third base was my favorite and catching made me realize that this position is the leader on the field (also learned how humanly possible times one can jam a thumb). Now, like in all sports, there is a score. One winner and one loser. And please do not go to “you shouldn’t say that, it bruises a child’s confidence and their ability to achieve when they are 30.” Seriously, when I played, there was first place and everyone else. One trophy for one team. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe we should encourage our children that it important they get out there, do their best and no matter what they still have value regardless of outcome. Nevertheless, there is an outcome, a score and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. I lost some games. This is 38 years ago and my inner child was not bruised. It made me try harder. Imagine that. I digress.
As store manager, you are tasked with keeping score. Your store, your team wins some days and loses some days. The difference now is it involves sales. It has moved from batting average to average sale. It has gone from runs batted in to adding on. It has gone from strike outs to closing ratio. For those of you who don’t know or follow baseball, G O O G L E. In baseball, the coach is tasked with developing the skills of the team to score as much as possible to win. A store manager is no different. You practice very similar skills.
Practice before the game (e.g. training, role-plays, sharing a strategy to meet sales goals).
On the field during the game (e.g. giving feedback, moving on the fly, recording the statistics of each team member).
Reviewing after the game (e.g. sharing numbers, coaching skills, praising effort).
So what to do? As this will be in two parts, let’s focus this part on awareness. Consider…
Do you know your game and the numbers associated in your game? What numbers determine winning or losing? If no, ask someone. If yes, plan accordingly.
How are you keeping track? What is your system to capture the score and scores? How does time play a part?
Does your team know the numbers associated with the game? How about their score? And in what time frame?
Baseball is a game. So is retail. One is about scoring runs and the other relies on scoring sales. When I played in little league, I always knew the stats for the team and myself. In every year I played, I led the league in stolen bases. I had to work on my hitting. If I could get more hits, I would be on base more and the chances of me scoring were high because of my speed. My coach’s job was to know how to coach one or more behaviors to amplify the possibility of hitting, fielding and winning the game. That’s you.
FYI, part two will not have baseball references. I know that can be irritating.
Cheers