By Kelly Ketelboeter
Recently my husband and I were out to dinner. At the end of our meal the server came over and asked, "You didn't want dessert, did you?" My husband and I just looked at each other. Was he really asking us a question? Or was he saying, "Hey, buddy, your wife definitely doesn't need dessert!" I prefer to believe he was asking us a question. Either way we did not want dessert. The server then went on to say, "They told us we have to ask each customer if they want dessert. Isn't that ridiculous? If you wanted dessert you would ask for it." I just chuckled as he took our check and walked away.
Then I got to thinking and it hit me. That's probably how a lot of credit union staff feel when they are asked to start cross-selling. Then I was struck with a horrifying thought. When our staff are cross-selling, are they saying the same thing to members that our server said to us? Our server was in fact attempting to cross-sell us dessert. But he only did do so because someone told him he had to.
This is a classic case of managers managing staff rather than coaching them to get the results they want. Just telling someone to cross-sell (managing) isn't going to be enough for them to change their behavior. In fact, you will get push-back and attempts at cross-selling like I experienced at the restaurant. Can you imagine a teller saying to a member, "You aren't interested in our checking account are you? I was told I had to ask every member." Are you as horrified as I am?! I hope so!
This is one area where I believe a lot of coaches and managers struggle. They don't understand the difference between coaching and managing. They are more comfortable managing because they are good at it. They don't see that in some cases it is appropriate and more effective to manage and in other cases it is more appropriate and effective to coach. So what is the difference? What does coaching look like? What does managing look like?
Coaching is the act of guiding people to reach their highest potential and achieve or exceed personal, team and corporate goals—for example, leading employees to answer their own questions rather than giving them the answers.
Managing is the act of handling, organizing or controlling something successfully—for example telling the employee what to do and, perhaps, how to do it.
As leaders, sometimes we need to organize, handle or control something. Other times we need to guide our people to reach their potential. In the case of our server, I believe his manager was trying to handle or control staff to get them to increase sales by cross-selling dessert. Obviously that back-fired.
I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the manager "told" the employees what to do. I can just picture rallying the troops before a shift starts and telling them, "Ask everyone you serve tonight if they want dessert. Be sure to have the dessert menu handy to show them pictures of our desserts and recommend something to them. Tell them they deserve to indulge today with dessert. Now let's get out there and sell some brownies!!
We'll never know what was really said to our server. What we can tell by his behavior is that it didn't work. In our case, it was obvious the server did not want to "sell" us dessert and only did it because he was told to.
How do you think the manager of the restaurant could have coached his employees on cross-selling dessert? One approach is to start the team meeting by asking a question and getting staff involved. This helps increase buy-in and the likelihood the staff will follow through. The manager could ask, "What can we do to entice our guests to indulge in dessert today?" Or "How can we entice guests to indulge in dessert today?" The manager might also explain how guests purchasing desserts is important to the vitality of the restaurant. Explaining why it's important helps the staff feel more connected to the restaurant's goals.
Throughout the shift, the manager can further support staff's efforts by coaching on the spot. He could ask, "How are your efforts working in helping guests indulge in dessert?" Or, "What's working for you in offering dessert to guests tonight?" The goal is for the manager to follow up on and identify the behaviors the staff member is applying in achieving cross-sells. This will show the staff that it is important and how their efforts are paying off.
In order to be effective we need both coaching and managing. The challenge is in knowing what approach is most effective for each situation. The more aware we are of coaching and management behaviors, the easier it becomes to discover the most effective approach. Likewise, the more we challenge our own comfort zones and try different approaches, the more effective our staff will become in improving members' financial lives.
Kelly Ketelboeter is chief operating officer and VP/national training for Michael Neill and Associates, Atlanta, CUES' partner in ServiStar™. Kelly penned the original version of this article for an MNA newsletter.
Read two articles by MNA's Michael Neill, CSE: "Stalking the True Sales/Service Culture" and "What Makes a Top Sales/Service Performer?"
Attend CUES' School of Sales & Service, featuring MNA presenters, Feb. 10-13 in San Antonio.
