“I’m at my limit.” What does that mean? What is your threshold for a job? The term threshold comes from, I think, well:
“The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, “Dirt poor.” The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.”
Got that from one of “those” emails shared by millions.
Anyway. Sales can wear you down, really in any part of the year. Well, we are coming into one of the busiest times of the year and frankly put, it may very well suck your will to live. You have spent the last 11 months getting ready for the last month of the year and all the joy it brings, right? Wrong. Traffic, finding a parking place, out of stock items, slow walkers…you know who you are and if you knew what we thought about you behind your back…slow down, vent, breathe…OK. You get the picture. It will be hectic. So hectic, it may get in the way of sales and service. You will see all of the joy of the season as you are being “managed” by the season. And so is the customer. Who, by the way, is the reason for being in retail sales. Both sides will be at their limit. What will you do if you are the retail store manager with, hypothetically, a team of four?
One, OK, you have a team. They will be stressed during this very busy time of the year; personally and professionally. What would make them less stressed when at work?
- Have a meeting today about what they will encounter. Especially focus on those who are new to retail. Be real and share the “what if’s”. Do not sugar-coat the things that will probably happen.
- Make sure the team member has their resources in order…where they find information, who to call if and when everyone needs to work. This should have been defined in October.
- Buy bottled water and pizza on select days when you know they may not get a chance to eat in a full lunch break.
- Observe activity on the floor and be very aware of when one of the team members may be close to “ripping the head off a customer”. That action, you know, the whole ripping part, does not promote good customer service.
Two, you have customers. They also will be stressed and dealing with the holidays; personally and professionally. What would make them less stressed when shopping?
- Same meeting with your team. Ask what they think about the customer reality during busy times. Ask them what they want when they shop when it is busy. Brainstorm.
- Have everyone role-play “awareness”. Sounds weird, huh? Not really. Play out the situations when you do have a line-up or people walking into the store and work the ways to greet or acknowledge everyone. I even heard on one occasion, when working in a store, a sales rep who said out loud to everyone, “Hey, everyone in the store. Thank you for being here. I know it is busy… we will get to you. Thank you for your patience.” Odd and very, very good.
- Maybe have bottled water for customer; or maybe candy. Think what might help them deal.
- And perhaps the most important thing…they showed up. With all that happens in the season and all the head aches, they chose you. They decided they wanted something you have, parking was a pain and then they came across the thresh hold. You know, thresh…on slate floors. Don’t you have that?
You do know there is no magic pill. It will be crazy and the team will be cracked and the customer may throw something at you. What you do as manager will define how your team will follow you, any time not just when it is busy. You define their following you-ness. Not a word…sorry.
Once, when I was a manager, I was truly shrecked (a.k.a. outside myself and ready to boil over). Someone who technically reported to me said “Do not send that voice mail.” I was venting to my supervisor while under stress. It was not the right message. I didn’t send it. By the way, my wife still does that with me, or is it to me. Not sure. I needed to breathe and think through the problem and what the team needed from me. I didn’t have the answer. I didn’t have the immediate “aha”. I didn’t have the right plan at that right moment. I just reacted and the team needed a leader to lead them. Get it?
Cheers