Regardless of the outside factors influencing your business -- and we know there are many – it is your vision and leadership that really matter to your employees. Case in point, Carlsbad-jeweler Dale Condy, owner of Gems of La Costa, beat back the doom and gloom by creating stickers with a red circle and slash through negative sentiments like “Doom Gloom.” According to an article from SignOnSanDiego.com, Condy began wearing the stickers and posting them in his store. The bad-news bashing sentiment has caught on, as he’s given out hundreds of stickers and is even getting requests from people out of state.
That’s the kind of attitude that sends a positive leadership message to both employees and customers. According to David Peters, Jewelers of America’s resident education and management expert, the two are intricately connected and it’s your job to “mentor and align” your staff and clients.
In order to lead your staff and store, Peters says to keep the following tips in mind:
- Act as a Mentor: As a mentor and leader, you serve the employee. In these more challenging times, you must lead by positive example.
- Define Your Message: Mentors are learning coaches and trusted advisers. With that in mind, the message you convey to your employees (“doom and gloom” versus “we can get through this”) is key.
- Have Staff Project the Message: The hard-won knowledge and advice passed to the employee gets “paid forward” to the customer.
In terms of aligning your leadership to customer reactions, Peters adds:
- Deliver on Promises: Customer trust and loyalty is built by consistently delivering on promises. When implied promises delivered through marketing and advertising match the customer’s experience, trust develops.
- Be Consistent: A leader must ensure that what the store promises and what it delivers are aligned and consistent from employee to employee.
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