Every business has goals of some kind, even beyond the basic need to make enough money to keep the lights on this month. Usually, a business hopes to grow, to bolster its reputation, and to genuinely satisfy everyone involved day-in and day-out. These kinds of goals are often broken into smaller, actionable steps, like selling a certain quantity of a product each month, encouraging each customer to leave a positive review online, or figuring out how to supply employees with all the tools they need to do their jobs effectively. If you want your employees to help your business achieve its goals, you need to set the right expectations for what they can do to help make that happen.
First, let’s understand that the reason for goals is that we need a way to measure our success. After all, success should not be a gut-feeling or a hypothetical—it should be something quantifiable, something provable. To the layperson, this might seem easy: all you have to do is take a look at the sales figures, right? Sure enough, that is definitely an important measure of a business’s health, but it’s certainly not the only one. Sales figures need context; alone, they can’t reveal why something is working or not.
When it comes to setting expectations for employees, it’s key that they’re given as much context as possible. Your business’s objectives need to be clear and easily understood. Managers need to explain what the business is trying to accomplish, and why. For example, your restaurant wants to sell more appetizers. Employees should be instructed to offer these to every diner each and every time, and to offer these by name and in tempting ways beyond the boring, “Can I get you started with anything?” Give your staff examples to follow. As for why, a larger sales ticket means a bigger tip, and a more complete experience for the diner overall.
Next, you need to be able to measure their efforts in a way that shows a lot more nuance than what the sales figures show. Let’s say you set a goal of making customers feel welcomed when they visit your business: how will you determine whether employees are succeeding at this? The ledger won’t have that answer. Sales may increase or decrease quarter-over-quarter, but how could you ever attribute those gains or losses to the specific efforts of your employees?
In order to capture that information, you need feedback. There are multiple ways to do this, including customer surveys and mystery shops, but either way, you need data beyond the final sales receipt. It’s not enough to know that the employees are making the offers, you want to know how they’re offering. For example, we at The Brandt Group always require detailed notes from our shoppers in regards to their interactions with employees. As we accumulate data on behalf of a client, we’re able to identify trends that will help their managers train more effectively by focusing on what’s working and what’s not.
Feedback is data, and you need that data to measure how well your business is attaining its goals. Offering your employees concrete examples of what they’re succeeding at (or not) is the best way to train. No more hypotheticals or gut-feelings. With feedback from something like a mystery shop, a manager can say, “This is what happened. Here’s what we can build on for next time.” Better training will result in happier employees. It also presents your business with an opportunity to acknowledge and reward your hard-workers for their efforts.
If you want your employees to help your business achieve its goals, you must communicate your expectations clearly. You must have a way to measure their success in a way that’s nuanced and fair. And finally, you must use that feedback to train and encourage your employees to keep doing their best. When you’re firing on all cylinders, the rest of the customer experience will take care of itself.
Interested in implementing these strategies into your business? Let’s work together to improve your business’s customer experience, your employees’ job satisfaction, and your profits!
