This week’s podcast is about using the downtime in your schedule to train your staff for any situations that could occur.
I remember almost 20 years ago when I took my first ‘official’ golf professional job. I had just finished caddying the 1999 Senior PGA Tour season and headed to Florida for the off season. I looked in the Yellow Pages (This was before Google) for a golf job and called the first golf course listed to find out what the PGA Section office number. They said, “We are looking for a golf professional, are you interested?” I said I was and went in for an interview at noon and was working behind the counter less than an hour later. (10-minute interview and paperwork took about 30 minutes)
There I was standing behind the counter, pro just went out for three hours of lessons and I had to figure it out. It took 2 days to learn how to run someone through the computer properly, I had no idea what events were happening and could barely find the first tee. I didn’t even know the golf course par until 3 days in.
Thankfully, I was able to catch on pretty quick. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the Ladies Golf Association announcing winning scores and handing out prizes.
But could it have been done in a better way?
OF COURSE, IT COULD HAVE!!!
Sending someone into a maze without a map makes the journey much more daunting. Unfortunately, the same happens to a new hire that gets “thrown to the wolves” on the first day. They might make it through, but it will be rough.
Training is the best thing that you can do to help your staff gain confidence in their ability and give your customers the best service available. Just spending a little time with your staff it gives them the opportunity.
The biggest resistance to training is that the company doesn’t have time/money to bring everyone in for training sessions. I agree, that doing a single session training for all people can be a overwhelming and sometimes a poor use of resources.
How about doing small training sessions during slow times of the week or rain days? Instead of watching tv or surfing the web waiting for a phone call, why not use this time to train the staff that is working? Will you get interrupted…sure. Will you have to say the same thing again to other staff members…of course. But you will be able to connect personally to the person you are interacting with which opens up a dialog for questions from the staff member.
Find Two or three quiet hours during the week and go over a couple procedures or the calendar. Do some role playing and give them an opportunity to be the customer. This will give them the chance to see you react to questions that they have had in the past.
Don’t limit this to your inside staff. Your outside staff is (should be) the first person and last person they interact with on property. Make sure that they know how important the impression they give to the guest will affect their experience. (positively or negatively)
Make sure that you go over all your pricing and services offered. There is nothing worse than customer asking about a program and your staff knowing nothing about it!
Cross Selling and Upselling should be highlighted. Introduce a Key Sales Item/Category. This can get your staff focused on turning conversations to the Key item and watch the sales numbers go through the roof!!
Show your staff online outlets for product information. For example, TaylorMade offers discounts for staff members if they pass tests on their product info. Other manufactures have similar incentives that can give them the confidence to sell the product in the store.
Lastly, Telephone etiquette is something that should be consistent across the board. I spent many hours listening to staff members answer customer calls.(Yes, the “this call is being recorded for training purposes” is real!) Make sure that your staff understands the procedure when there are 8 people in line and the phone rings. As long as it is consistent, you should be ok.
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.
Have a great week!
