Feedback Is The Breakfast of Champions? All the great coaches and players agree…. nothing can replace the benefit of high quality, real time feedback and coaching. But let’s face it, we have all been the recipient of a well intentioned piece of ” Constructive Criticism” that felt like a hard right hook!
Whether from bosses, spouses or friends, it’s not easy to hear about our shortcomings. And letting others know how they can do better is almost as uncomfortable. Feedback can stir up all kinds of self-doubt, defensiveness and career worries – and if handled poorly, it can cause more harm than good.
On the other hand, well delivered, consistent feedback and coaching can help people identify weaknesses and eliminate stumbling blocks in order to build on their strengths. That’s why Ken Blanchard called feedback “the breakfast of champions.”
And it’s essential. Operating without feedback is like driving a car with no speedometer, learning to cook without ever tasting your food, or playing basketball without a scoreboard.
Most sales organizations could benefit from gathering real time performance information and training their managers on how to give productive feedback. Done the right way, feedback can be transformative and redemptive and yes, improve sales results in a major way. Check out these simple guidelines:
1. Don’t wing it. The words you choose will matter. Practice what you’re going to say and how you plan to say it — and even consider rehearsing with a trusted partner. Your attitude, the accuracy of what you say, and the care with which you say it may matter as much as the specifics.
2. Lean positive. Every time you offer feedback, some (if not most) of it should be positive. Look for opportunities to praise successes even as you offer suggestions for improvement. Celebrating performance has a salutary effect on everyone and is much more powerful than disciplining shortcomings. Dispensing encouragement is infectious.
3. Be specific. There’s no point in telling someone they need to “ask for the sale” or “do a better job of building trust.” Give examples and specific suggestions for improvement. Replace “you need to ask for the check” with “here is a simple step by step sales guide that is working for others.”
4. Don’t limit it to a big annual event. Create a culture of regular and informal assessment. Don’t limit feedback to annual performance reviews where you bring people into a conference room. Instead, make a deal with your team to offer (and accept) real-time tweaks to enhance performance. Recorded Mystery Shopping is a great way to “catch people in the moment” — Mystery Shoppers can provide the sales person with an opportunity to use their sales skills in a live environment with a “real customer” and effectively identify weaknesses and opportunities to improve. Mystery Shopping can help the manager become the coach instead of the evaluator. Learn How You Can Have a Free Mystery Shopping Trial?
5. Keep it cool. Don’t use “high velocity” language. Labeling someone “lazy” or “inept” will invariably come back to bite you. And never shout, stand or be animated. People will recall how they felt, not what you said; so reduce the drama.
6. Don’t deliver it all at once. People can only process so many suggestions in one session. If you have more than three items for someone to address, group them under a general heading, like goal-setting, prospecting, or listening and offer a specific example of each with a clear suggestion and instruction for improvement. The most common complaint of sales people is that they just want to know what to do or say.
7. If it’s serious, say so. Occasionally, you may need to let someone know that unless they make specific changes, their job may be in jeopardy. If so, be direct. Let them know if something is getting in the way of their professional development, and that it could lead to dismissal if unaddressed. If this feedback is offered encouragingly – along with a plan to provide quality sales training and follow up – it can light fires that lead to improvement.
8. Follow up. By noting improvements on the spot, you’ll reinforce that you’re paying attention. Check in soon about the plan you made together, and as you notice efforts to improve, point them out.
9. Think of feedback as a gift. There are “no percentages” in giving a peer or organizational superior feedback about things to work on. In other words, there’s plenty of risk and no direct reward — it’s safer to do nothing. So if a subordinate has the courage to offer you that kind of input, thank them and make a special effort to reward their risk-taking.
10. It stays confidential. Feedback sessions are private. Don’t ever share the conversation with someone else. In giving feedback, you’re seeking to help the person and the organization. Nothing good will come from sharing one person’s issues with another.
The aim is to build a culture where people feel confident about sharing feedback without the fear that it will be taken personally. Honest, thoughtful feedback is an important and valuable tool for building a good team and a good business. With better feedback comes more trust, more team bonding, and more progress – that’s why it’s the breakfast of champions.
Will Nowell is the President of Peak Performance Mystery Shopping and the author of one of the Best Selling “ValueMatch Selling, How To Sell What Matters Most”.
Peak Performance Mystery Shopping is a premier provider of Mystery Shopping services. William Nowell has been providing sales consulting and training in the Housing and Retirement industry for more than 25 years. Will Provides sales consulting and training to more than 10,000 sales people and has worked with many of the top Home Builders in the country to help them upgrade their sales process to sell value over price.
