“This store is not
performing well! You are not making the
effort to sell more! The point of sale is a complete disaster and it hasn't been
managed the proper way! You are losing your customer orientation! What are you going
to do? I want solutions, now!”
Yes I know, you must think that maybe I have just
dramatized the situation, but believe me, I have witnessed feedbacks like this
from some managers when they visited the stores. Why don’t we review another
situation?
“I have been reviewing
the figures, and the sales are far below the target, that is a 30% regarding
the comparable period for the preceding year of sales, specifically they have
been falling in frozen and fresh products, the point of sale has a worrying lack
of product, I have accounted more than 15 missing sku´s….What is the problem
with this issue? I am concerned about your customer KPI´s. Customer traffic has
been decreasing 10% in comparison with the same period the previous year,
besides I received two complaints from our customers. I think you are losing
your customer focus, it should not have happened, so we agree we have a problem
and this store is underperforming, then how can we work to get solutions?”
In both stressing situations, a manager has the
authority to express his own opinions about how the store is run, why it is not
working properly and they are not achieving the goals. Which of them could be
the best at driving the team to results and why?
We are always expressing opinions, it´s
something normal and necessary; the problem is that we don’t realize that an
opinion is different from a fact. I can say that John is 1’80 meters tall, it
is a fact and I can add that John is a good man, it is an opinion, because
maybe someone could think that John represents the evil himself, the difference
is that in the first case I can take a measuring tape and easily demonstrate
that fact, in the second situation, this issue is a bit more complicated.
Then if we know that, why are always confusing
them? Why do we express an opinion as if it were a fact? “Anne didn't make a
decision in the last meeting”, a fact, “She never makes decisions”, it is an
opinion. Is it the same? How do we know that Anne is not making decisions in
other situations? “The sales have fallen 30% in comparison with the same period the previous year”, another fact
“You are not making the effort to sell more”. We don’t know what the problem is behind
the drop in sales; maybe there are other factors and not a bad management. “The point of sale has a worrying lack of product,
I have accounted more than 15 missing sku’s”, another fact. “The point of sale is a complete
disaster and it hasn't been managed in the proper way”an opinion. Well, before stating
this, we would need to check all the aisles, maybe we discover that somewhere the
products are properly set, for example.
We are expressing opinions with each other
every day, with ours bosses, colleagues, family, friends and we even give
opinions about ourselves. How many times have we thought about things such as
“I’m stupid” “I’m not able to do it”?
We are talking to each other all the time and
our language is action because our own opinions affect the others, they show
how we are and how we feel, they have the power to change our reality and to
change the conditions that surround us, and we don’t realize it. Have you tried
to confront and test your opinions before expressing them? When you do it, you will
discover that you can’t prove them so easily.
Coming back to the example of the beginning,
what would be your answer? What kind of opinions can help the team get the best
result? The general ones that hurt them or the opinions based on facts and
focused in the concrete problems? Both situations show opinions, but both have
the power to build a different reality for your team.
What about you? Have you wondered what is the
reality that you want to build in your company, in your personal life? We have to think about it.
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