As a Regional Manager or an Area Manager, your visits to stores should be focused on improving store performance. Often, I see area managers visiting stores with absolutely “no purpose or why” other than ticking off their checklist to say they have visited that store which they are required to do within a specific period.
Since they are visiting a store with no purpose; they are very unlikely to impact sales, operating standards, customer service, employee morale or anything else that can positively affect the performance of the store.
Let’s look at 11 simple methods to increase your store visits ROI by at least 25%:
1) Before every store visit ensure you have planned your visit whether it is an arranged visit or a surprise visit. This includes the following:
- Review the store’s Quarterly Business Assessment. Consider what were the
- franchisees/managers supposed to be working on; what are their quarterly objectives?
- Reviewing your last visit’s minutes
- Reviewing and analysing the store numbers; including how the store is performing in relation to the rest of the stores in the same region
- Identify the specific purpose/reason for your visit. Are you going to focus on sales, service, hygiene, marketing etc? The more focused you are, the more successful you will be
- Identifying what are your top 3 concerns
- Identifying what are the franchisee/manager’s top 3 concerns and if you have any feedback about any of them
- Preparing questions which will assist you and the franchisee/ manager to move forward
- Any good news, positive feedback that you have received about the store. This can include staff birthdays, other staff celebrations etc.
2) Set your intention to focus and be “fully present” during your visit to a store.
We understand that you are responsible for many other stores; but if you want to positively impact a store’s performance you need to set your focus intention. Only once you are truly focused will you be able to really understand the goings-on of a particular store and be able to add significant value.
You will also pick up on things you possibly missed out before as well as coming up with creative ideas to improve the store’s performance. The franchisee/manager will pick up on your energy whether you are truly focused and present. If the franchisee/manager picks up that you are not truly present; their attitude in one way or another towards you will demonstrate this.
3) Switch your cell phone off or best-case scenario on silent.
As per the previous point of being “fully present”, this will not be possible if your phone is ringing often and you and the franchisee/manager are being distracted all the time. If you have to answer an important call, excuse yourself; then only answer it. It is just a common courtesy.
4) Bring energy to the visit.
As people, we are attracted to energy. As a leader, you are either giving energy or you are taking it away.
5) Set aside time to interact with staff and customers.
This might mean assisting a customer with a sale, chatting with customers and staff etc. Set an example to the staff where they see you not just as a head office person who shows up every now and again, but as someone who is capable of doing their job and that you like doing it as this is important to them. This assists with breaking down barriers between head office and stores. It also demonstrates to the staff that you still “have it”.
6) Being present also means demonstrating intentional listening when the franchisee/manager has any concerns.
It does not mean that you are going to accept everything that they say, but what it does mean is that the franchisee/manager will feel that you support them. Often all they require is that someone hears them out and understands their challenges. As Steven Covey said his number one habit in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is “Seek first to understand, then to be understood”. This point on its own will possibly have the biggest impact on your store visit’s ROI.
7) Provide feedback or reports away from the store.
Once you have completed your store visit and want to provide feedback, support etc., the best is to try and take the franchisee/manager out of their store for lunch if possible or even for a cup of coffee somewhere else. Often when you do a feedback session and as much as the franchisee/manager wants to be present; they are now being distracted by all the goings on in their store. If you take them out of their store, they will most likely appreciate being taken out and you have excellent quality time without the distractions.
8) When identifying problems, ensure that you are identifying the root cause of the problem.
In today’s economy, people are very quick to point out that customers do not have money to spend. While this can potentially be a reason, is the franchisee/manager doing whatever they can to improve sales, i.e. hiring correctly, training their staff, improving the customer experience, operational efficiencies, marketing etc?
9) Instead of focusing on what’s wrong, set your intention to “catch people doing things right”.
Whatever you choose to focus on is what you will see. If you catch someone doing something correctly, let them know that you appreciate them doing it correctly. A pat on the back is a few vertebrae up from a kick up the arse.
10) Ask for solutions instead of giving them.
When providing feedback and pointing out items that need to be corrected; instead of “telling” the franchisee/manager on how to correct the item, ask them how they think they can correct this. It shows that you value their opinion and they are a lot more likely to implement the changes and be committed as it was “their idea”. In one of my training sessions, an Area Manager said that they now see how they are missing out on potential output and ideas that drive the business forward on a sustained basis.
11) Remember you are visiting people, not stores.
The focus should not be the condition of the store, but the development of the franchisee/manager/staff. The key to improved store performance is improved people development. Make it a habit that every time you leave a store that at least all the managers know something new from when you first arrived.
If you follow the above points as a Regional or Area Manager you will most likely have a much bigger impact on sales, operating standards, customer service, employee morale or anything else that can positively affect the performance of the store and achieve a 25% increase in the ROI of your visits.
