ASRW 2008 POST-SHOW EDITION
Coaching: The Art of Encouraging Performance

By Bob Chabot, Contributing Editor

LAS VEGAS – If you’re looking for a strategy that can drive your business forward in tangible, as well as intangible ways, consider the impact that coaching can have on those you deal with – customers, shop owners, employees, and others. Steve Beck, president of Beck Corporate Management Solutions, spent a few hours with a small group attending the 2008 Automotive Service and Repair Week (ASRW) introducing the concept of “coaching for impact” that progressive businesses are employing today.

Coaching is a toolset that can be used by owners, supervisors and managers multiple times each day to encourage and assist their people to get to the next level in performance and customer service. Essentially, coaching unlocks individuals’ potential to maximize their personal performance, be it customer service, running an automotive shop, or working on the vehicles of customers who drive a shop’s revenue and client relationships.

“Success isn’t like a puppy,” Beck states. “It isn’t going to greet you at the door, jump up into your lap, and lick your face.” He adds that success can be cultured and nurtured by using coaching to encourage improved performance within your business model on an everyday basis.

Coaching is a goal-setting, interactive process
Times have changed in today’s work environment. Telling someone “just do your job” is old school and is likely to be ineffective, decrease an employee’s motivation to care and perform, and may lead to undesirable workforce turnover.

Unlike the past, there is a sense of entitlement that permeates today’s workforce. Employees are cognizant and motiviated by the credo, “What’s in it for me?” Provide them with fodder – and it often isn’t cash – and their motivation, buy-in and ensuing performance can resolve concerns and drive a shop’s progress forward. Don’t, and they’re likely to walk, says Beck, or worse, begin to inject apathy into their performance. After all, if they don’t feel you care about them and what they need, why should they care about you and what you need?

“Goals need to be written down,” Beck says. “Otherwise, they’re just in your head. We call those dreams.” In addition, he adds, written goals need to be SMART:

• Specific and focused on a single desired outcome.
• Measurable in quantitative and/or qualitative terms defined before acting on them.
• Attainable with at least a 50 percent chance of successful resolution at the outset.
• Realistic in addressing the concern.
• Time bounded by a deadline date to meet the goal.

In learning to coach people and guide them in writing SMART goals, three questions can help imbed accountability into the process and ensure that people know you seriously care about resolving concerns by achieving meaningful goals are:

• What are you going to do?
• By when are you going to do it?
• How will I know you have done it?

“When we tell information to employees, after three months they retain only 10 percent of what they were told,” Beck notes. “When we coach employees on arriving at information and solutions themselves, after three months they retain at least 65 percent of that information. The bottom line?  Inspect what you expect to happen; otherwise you’re just blowing smoke.”

Coaching goes beyond prospecting; it mines nuggets
Coaching cares. It looks for future potential, not past performance. It treats team members as if they are whole, resourceful and already have the knowledge and the solutions. The key is unlocking and accessing that information is learning by asking powerful questions that provoke introspection and responses you can capitalize on.

“In lieu of money, employees want three other things – recognition, acknowledgement and training,” Beck explains. When was the last time you thanked each and every individual employee in a heartfelt and specific manner?”

Then drill down for more detail as needed with follow-up open- and closed-ended questions, that define the problem and facilitate written goal-making. With practice and commitment, coaching can also lead.

“The opposite of love isn’t hate,” observes Beck. “The opposite is apathy, and that can be like a silent cancer inside a business.”

Your people need to know you care and are fair. Therefore, it is important to not dwell much on the past, and even more so, not to dwell on just concerns or criticisms. Whether a group or an individual, begin with what is going well. Gradually narrow the focus down to the concern. Write SMART goals to address the concern(s). Then end the dialogue by moving away from the focus issue and talking about other areas that are going well.

Consider the following examples of how coaching can unearth valuable nuggets that can impact your business:

Coaching a group – Suppose as a shop owner, you’ve received customer feedback that indicates many customers feel their vehicles are taking longer to be repaired than they expected, based on information (i.e. expectations) conveyed to them when setting an appointment or dropping off their vehicle. In a shop meeting, the owner could outline the concern and ask the team members to write out a personal goal to correct the concern by a certain date, using the SMART format. These could be shared with the group, but in any event, they should be collected by the shop owner, monitored in the days ahead for progress, and then evaluated at the target date.

Coaching an individual – Be it performance reviews or a serious issue regarding with only one individual, the “How am I doing?”  technique can have dramatic and focused impact. Layout the problem as their coach. Then lead them by asking, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how am I doing in addressing this concern?” Regardless of their answer, then ask, “What could I do better?” Work with them to write out a SMART goal for you to achieve it by a set deadline. Next, ask them, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how are you doing in addressing this? Regardless of their answer, then ask, “What could you do better?” Then work with them to write out a SMART goal they can achieve. Setting, monitoring and evaluating follow.

Coaching your customers – Try the “How am I doing?” technique with longer term customers to mine feedback, build relationship and get referrals. Begin with saying, “You’ve let me care for your vehicle for a number of years. Thank you.” Pause; don’t speak until they do. Then tell them, “I could really use your help. May I ask you a question?” When your customer agrees, then ask, “On a scale of one to 10, how am I doing in taking care of you?” Whatever they answer, thank them and ask, “What is one thing I could do you make our relationship better?” Thank them again and ask, “Who do you know [where you work, at your golf club, at your church, etc.] that has a vehicle that needs the care you get here?” Get the contact information and uses the nuggets to propel your business forward.

The absentee boss or unresponsive employee – Is your shop owner effective when present, but absent too often?  Do you have a supervisor or an employee who seems apathetic? Try this recipe. Take him or her aside and quietly say,  “Our customers are suffering.”  Then wait for a response. If the person engages and asks for an explanation, express your concern; if there is no engaging response, evaluate if you (or the employee) are working at the right shop.

Coaching drives improvements in performance that drive your business forwards. It can also foster voluntary suggestions from employees and customers that can improve shop performance. Are you ready to turn them on?

(Source: Beck Corporate Management Solutions)