Welcome to On Track Retail Coaching – Your Partner in Building Exceptional Sales Teams.
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Modern Sales Leadership, for Modern Times!
We're not just about training sales techniques. We're here to harness the collective talents of your existing Team, supercharging them to deliver the "WOW" Customer Experience. Our sustainable solutions are designed to drive top-line revenue, profits, and EBITDA while maximizing job advocacy. Let's empower your Sales Teams to create a wave of success and prosperity, one Customer interaction at a time.
From Good to Exceptional…
With the right training and coaching, good people become exceptional Team Members. They become the driving force behind the "WOW" Customer Experience that keeps Customers coming back for more. And guess what? This will also help your business retain top talent. Top-line revenue and profits are in vision!
Sure, you could try doing all the sales yourself... but why not build an Exceptional Team instead? Let's keep them On Track!
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Coaching – The Sales Leaders New Superpower
With the ever-evolving landscape of retail, Sales Leaders, Managers and Team Members are busier than ever. Every interaction between a Manager and their Team must inspire, motivate, and energize. Remember, 60% of what Sales Leaders say needs to connect deeply with their team, enabling them to see their own potential. This way, when it’s time to coach them, they’re all ears.
Coaching isn’t a one-time event, it’s an ongoing process. It needs to be a priority for every Sales Leader, Manager, and Supervisor. And no, you can’t just let things slide to make your day easier. That’s a shortcut to creating negative standards and stagnating performance.
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Sales Leaders, Managers, or Supervisors are meant to work through their Teams – not around them. Too often, Managers spend time on tasks that should be delegated to others. Your Team Members are your most valuable asset – you need them more than they need you! The path to getting results lies in effective Team Leadership. Daily Coaching is the key!
Coaching: Unlocking Potential and Maximizing Performance
Coaching isn’t about dictating what needs to be done, it’s about how things are done. It’s about helping Team Members discover answers for themselves, empowering and motivating them to find solutions within. As Sales Leaders and Managers, your job is to help your Teams succeed – and coaching is the vehicle to get there.
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As Sales Leaders or Managers, your job exists to help your Teams succeed.
Coaching encourages Leaders and Managers to adopt their coaching style, with their unique Team Members communication and motivations.
This will build a coaching and sales culture, within your Team.
Building a Coaching and Sales Culture: The Path to Success
Imagine a Team where Sales Leaders and Managers coach their Team Members as a required part of the job, focusing on developing individuals within their current roles while preparing them for future opportunities. A Team where Leaders trust their Team Members and communicate effectively. That’s the power of a coaching and sales culture – and we’re here to help you build it.
Benefits of Coaching: From Empowerment to Performance Enhancement
Coaching isn’t just about the individual; it has significant business benefits too. It leads to improved job performance, motivation, job advocacy, and reduces Team Member turnover. But that’s not all. It enables individuals to take responsibility for their actions, make their own decisions, and envision a career path. And maximize top-line revenue and profits!
When to Use Coaching?
Whether it's Inspiring the Team, enhancing performance, building work relationships, reducing top-talent turnover, developing individuals for future positions, or enhancing learning – coaching is the answer. Coaching is a vital element in Modern Sales Leadership!
What Coaching Is Not
Coaching is not about telling Team Members what to do, nor is it a mentoring or counseling session. It’s a functional process aimed at empowering individuals and Teams to achieve their full potential.
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Coaching
Coaching is a form of employee training, and development, planned or impromptu. It is a Managers and Supervisors responsibility to coach daily. It may be as simple as a 30-seconds to 3-minute conversation every day, with every Team Member. Byproduct of this daily coaching is enhanced engagement, communication development, and relationship building with Team Members.
Things To Keep In Mind
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Communication: Sales Leaders and Managers must have established a unique method of communication with all their Team Members for any coaching to be effective. This is a foundational step in effective coaching for top sales performance.
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Trust: If not present, coaching may not stick. The Team must trust that they are being coached for the right reasons and that the Sales Leader or Manager is sincere.
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Put the Team Member at ease: This step is important when the coaching session is based on new Team Members, and or poor sales performance. Tell the Team Member what they are good at to open conversation, always encouraging them.
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Find out what they already know: There may be wasted words, and time if you are coaching the Team Member on what they already know. Hold them accountable for their own knowledge. You want to link the "coaching" to what they already know and correct any misconceptions that could get in the way of learning. Ask questions to find out what they know and fill in the gaps. Start questions with, who, how, what, where, when, and tell me. This will lead to conversations.
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Present information or demonstrate expectations: This is the point where you deliver the content of the training/coaching.
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Evaluate learning: Test whether the Team Member understands the information or can perform the skill. Ask them to “Show you” they understand. Or have them explain the coached information, to your satisfaction before ending the conversation. This is a key component! There needs to be an understanding conclusion to the coaching conversation.
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Provide feedback: Let the Team Member know what they have successfully learned and what they still need to learn. Encourage successful behaviors at every step. Team Member results will guide your coaching efforts and intensity.
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Evaluate performance on the job: On occasion check to see whether the Team Member is using the knowledge or skills for positive results. Gradually increase the interval you check in with the Team Member. The Team Member should eventually take responsibility for their performance or skills.
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Repeat: Repetition enhances understanding and retention.
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Reward: Provide praise or other rewards for successful use of the knowledge or skill behavior on a regular basis. This can be as easy as acknowledging them within the Team. This shows you care.
Sales Leaders and Managers can set expectations more clearly… through coaching. Modern Sales Leadership today is about enabling people to succeed, and that means providing them with the guidance, resources, feedback, and support they need to do their jobs well! Sales Leaders and Managers must be the example for coaching to be respected, and successful by your Team. This develops trust as well.
4-Essential Parts of Sales Coaching “Performance” is… Communication
Sales Leaders and Managers who coach Team Members for sales or metrics performance must be a good example of the coached information. This is the only way a Team Member would take it to heart and the coaching sticks. Remember, the entire Team may be watching. Being a good Customer Experience and Sales example, is a behavioral means of communicating to the Team. This is the most effective example of expertise. Remember… behaviors do not lie… words may mask the truth.
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Affirm Value
Ensure the Team Member understands that they are a valued part of the Team. If you want to open the door to meaningful conversation, tell the Team Member about the good things and behaviors they are doing, and what they bring to the Team. Opening with critical comments can cause individuals to become defensive and, when that happens, little conversation will happen. The conversation door will become heavy.
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Listen for Understanding
Get the Team Member’s point of view on a topic. With your assessment of the situation, you need to keep in mind their perspective. If their perspective is not discovered by the Sales Leader or Manager, the behavioral changes might not be to your expectations. Asking questions will help to gain more information on how the coaching is going to take place. Do not force a Team Member to jump to your side of the fence. Help them understand why your way is going to benefit them personally.
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Focus on Issues
Address the situation. Do not make it a personal attack. Talk about what behaviors the Team Member needs to exhibit to improve performance in detail. Ensure the Communication Preference form is utilized by all your Team Members, so they hear what is being coached, and take it seriously.
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Gain Agreement
Discuss the plan for improvement. Prompt the Team Member to tell you what the expectations are and how they are going to achieve them. When the Team Members tell you about the expectations in their own words, there is a much higher likelihood it will stick. People are naturally inclined to do what they say, when it is their own words. Be specific as possible. Talk about what must be improved and give a firm timeline they agree to achieve the objectives. Specifically, give the Team Member the direction they need to focus on, and have them follow up with you. They must believe this is their plan as well for success.
Sales Leaders and Managers must develop coaching skills to achieve greater levels of responsibility to direct their Team to higher levels of performance, job satisfaction, and advancement.
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Coaching is a duty to perform every day. It may not even be recognized as coaching by the Team. It may seem and feel like an organic, casual conversation, which is how you know it is going to be productive. Although, the Sales Leader must manage what the outcomes are, and be deliberate in this conversation. Be patient however, it may take time for the process to generate results. Practice makes perfect, be persistent and watch behaviors and your confidence improve.
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All your Team Members are working partners, and you must treat them with dignity, respect, and as the most valuable resource they are. Coaching is a process that, when performed daily, you will become very skilled at. At the same time, you will learn more about the abilities of your Team, learn how to stretch their skills, and have them become a larger contributor to their personal and business success.
