A fantastic store experience is seamless. It’s so good it often goes unnoticed. Employees are motivated and attentive to guests. The store is stocked and fully staffed. Customers can get what they need and check out quickly.
The store feels electric because everything is clicking just right. Although it looks easy, it takes a monumental effort to get here.
After running retail stores for two decades, I know something about team building in a customer-centric environment. The most crucial attribute of store leaders is often overlooked.
The executives at the top want an operationally sound manager running stores. Fair enough, it’s important. It’s a piece of the puzzle — absolutely. CEOs need competent store leaders to prioritize tasks, implement policy, and go fast. They need leaders to do all this while providing an outstanding customer experience.
Yes, of course.
However, the attributes you may not be looking for in leaders are the ones that will make retail stores soar.
Here’s how to hire the right leader for your retail stores. Here’s how it will impact your business, boost your success, and delight your customers.
Attributes of a Fantastic Store Leader
Great retail leaders are interested in their team members. This genuine curiosity is where fantastic leadership starts. It doesn’t begin with a spreadsheet; it begins with people. It doesn’t begin with customers; it begins with team members.
It begins with a leader obsessed with connecting with other people and going to great lengths to ensure their team is well-informed, cared for, and continually challenged.
Success is the result when employees feel valued.
The culture that the store leader creates will ripple through every department. This environment will leave customers delighted and will keep them coming back. They will tell their friends.
The retail leader you’re looking for will see value and potential in every team member. They will seek feedback and field questions. They will be present on the sales floor and work alongside their team.
When you find a leader like this, pay them well, listen to them, and give them a runway to go really fast. They know their people and their customers better than anyone.
“…the last few years have highlighted the criticality of people leadership, leading with empathy and effective collaboration…” — Spencer Stuart.
Empathetic Leaders Inspire Dedicated Employees
After the right leader is in place, the store will become more organized, and employees will become invested. It may seem miraculous at first, but here’s what’s happening.
Store leaders who put their team members first and value collaboration will create more engaged employees.
What engagement looks like:
- Turnover will decrease.
- Employee engagement will increase — fewer call-outs.
- Team members will refer their friends or family to work in the store.
- Employees will become interested in moving up with the company.
- Customer service will be excellent.
Employees who feel valued will be open to training and implementing company directives because they understand that someone is looking out for them if they work hard.
Relationships are reciprocal — all relationships.
Store leaders who understand the work of partnerships and provide a place for their teams to thrive will produce outstanding results.
Focused Effort
Leaders who build communities within their stores will develop other leaders. They will understand the unique pain points of their customer, and they will be agile and able to help executives solve more significant problems: product selection, merchandising, and increasing their average ticket sale.
Servant leadership works across industries, and retail stores are no different.
Take care of people. Treat them well. Listen to their ideas. Help them grow. They will, in turn, make the shopping experience for the customer extraordinary.
Too often, CEOs are focused solely on numbers.
- This year has to be better than last year.
- The average ticket sale needs to be higher.
- Customer satisfaction must be better.
But when leadership is seen as a whole, the intangible qualities of the store leader are the foundation of success.
“Mindfulness is the amplifier of all other soft skills as it cultivates the awareness and discretion to know how to respond in a centered, balanced way across diverse situations.” — Forbes.
These attributes lead to store success: humility, resourcefulness, mindfulness, dedication, empathy, compassion, influence, transparency, and honesty.
Hire based on these qualities, and the stores will thrive, customers will remain loyal, and sales will increase. People are the heart of any business, but retail is a special case. Retail is people. Building authentic connections with people daily is the spark that lights our way.
That’s how you get leadership right. Spend time getting it right. The future of the business depends on it.
Based in Southern California, Kit Campoy is a former retail leader turned freelance writer.
She covers Retail, Leadership, and Business.
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