A powerful team really does achieve more.

Time and again businesses try to hire superstars and fail.  Even if they do succeed those people are often difficult to manage, cost significantly more than others and create rifts within the business.

Instead focus on how you can build a culture, service system and environment where good people do great things.

Synchronicity

If a business owner is ever going to get the opportunity to step out and work on their business they need to build a High Performance Team.

This skill, and it is a skill, is often just beyond the personal development of the business owner.

For many years I struggled with what my contribution to effective leadership was, but eventually my desire to build a highly successful business overcame my own doubts, fears, and attitude and I stepped up and learnt to be a good leader.

Most entrepreneurs simply don’t understand what it takes to lead a team because they are entirely self starters.

The fact is that if your team thought and acted like you they would not be working for you.  They would be out there doing what you are doing.

They are different to you.

And to successfully manage them you need to understand and approach them the way they want to be managed.

Nothing you do will change this.

So you will need to change.

Once this can be done your business will be able to operate with a…

Low People Skill Requirement

This means people cost less and are easier to manage.

In one example we replaced one supposedly “superstar” field sales staff with a group of in house telemarketers.  Within a year, with the right training, management and incentives they had tripled the sales of the field team at a lower cost.

At the beginning of everyday small business owners around the world ask the dumbest question, “How’d we do yesterday?”

Not that turnover isn’t important, but you will know that number rarely varies significantly in a mature business and even if it does one sparrow does not make a spring.

But there are things that every business owner needs to know about their business and those Key Performance Indicators will genuinely help guide them in managing the business and its performance.

KPI’s are normally systemic outputs – in other words if a team member follows the system there should be a measurable result from that.

• Average Sale per team member
• Conversion from lead to sale
• Number of new Loyalty Club Members added
• Floor time V’s Counter Time
• Number of Promotional Items Sold
• Number of High GP Items Sold
• Number of Hero Products Sold

Owners should train Managers to monitor KPI’s on a set schedule (hourly, daily, weekly) and discuss these directly with the team on the same schedule – real time performance monitoring and feedback.

All high performance businesses work this way.  Once this is mastered the business really can be run by “remote control” and you have freedom!