“You can’t succeed until you help others succeed.” Chris Thompson
The traditional management style is what I call the ‘bottle cap management style”, which is based on the attitude that one doesn’t want to lose their position or authority because they’ve taught someone else and they may be better at it than they.
The reality is that you, the department, the people under you nor the company can grow unless everyone grows. I covered in great depth in previous articles that the US Marine Corp’s training mindset is that the leader trains his replacement.
The big differentiator between good coaching and great coaching is ‘time’. How much time you invest with canvassers will be returned in results and revenue. Most managers don’t spend enough time with their canvassers. I’m a parent of 2 young boys and the greatest thing I can give them is time. In the time we share together I’m helping them learn new life skills kids need. In addition it makes my kids feel important. The same is true for your employees. They want to learn and also feel appreciated. When you give your employees time and the tools to succeed they’re happier and in the long run they’ll be producing more.
Follow this coaching mindset and you’ll be expressing two major things to your employees:
1. You’re important to me
2. We’re in this together
Training isn’t confined to the classroom
I’m a huge advocate of classroom teaching and training. In fact I recommend it before each shift with new and veteran canvassers. However, the real coaching happens when you’re in the neighborhoods. This is infield instruction
Coaching is a skill set. It’s a niche of management and is no different than any other skill set of managing like recruiting and hiring. The big difference is the amount of time you invest toward it. Unlike the other forms of managing that can be driven more by systems and processes this one differs because each person you’re coaching is different and how they grasp and comprehend the mechanics differs.
The classroom setting where you instruct and teach is the platform for giving them the ‘things’ they’ll need to do, but when you get out in the field it’s your chance to observe and see how they apply the mechanics and this is your chance to coach. There’s a difference between teaching and coaching.
I find the greatest advancement by canvassers happens in the field and many times the real coaching takes place between doors. It’s here where I give my canvassers immediate feedback and direction on what the mechanics are and what they just did. Immediate feedback is important because it gives the canvasser the chance to make the minor tweaks in their presentations.
Coaching in the field allows the canvasser to observe you canvassing and to see you applying what you taught them. By observing they learn from the minor nuances of your technique and learn from the things you take for granted and often do without consciously knowing and overlooking it to teach formally. Also, when you’re in the field training and coaching you will become a better canvasser.
The difference between a canvasser learning the mechanics and actually being able to apply them effectively and successfully is in the emotional connection they gain with the mechanics. And this can only be obtained through doing and experiencing the results of how they apply the mechanics. Think about it like learning how to drive a vehicle. A driving instructor can show you where the steering wheel is, the gas and brake pedal, turn signals, etc. They can even tell you how the application of each of these driving tools will affect how the car functions behind your control. However, you, as the driving student, can never fully understand how to apply the gas pedal until you do it for yourself. If I told you to press the gas pedal to make the car go forward, the first time you would probably push it to hard and feel the car lurch forward because you applied too much gas. It’s through the exercise of actually applying the gas pedal do you really understand how to properly apply the tool. It’s the same with canvassing. I can tell you the words to say, but until you actually apply them and experience the reaction of the prospect will you fully understand the power of the words. This is the emotional connection to the tool that I speak of. And every canvasser will ‘get’ it at different paces… at their own pace.
I often find with canvassers that because they’re confused with how to apply the mechanics, they confuse the prospect and if you confuse the prospect you lose them. When canvassers shadow me they pick up on all the nuances that I do instinctively that have the biggest impact on them. In coaching pick one thing and have them master that. The first door can be rough, but you work out one thing from that door and improve upon it at the next door and then the next and the next and by the time you’re at the end of the first shift the canvasser will nail it.
My Coaching style can be defined in 3 simple steps
1. Teaching the skill set
2. Teaching the mindset
3. Get off your assets (you learn and get results by doing)
The skill sets are all the mechanics of what the canvasser has to do to be successful, to get leads and set appointments. The words, the tone and voice inflection, the body gestures and the techniques they apply to be a canvasser. There are many X’s and O’s that can be applied but a big part of the process many overlook is the mindset of the canvasser. Where are they mentally when they go into the job and how they feel emotionally each day they go into the neighborhoods? Success is 80% inspiration and 20% perspiration. It’s based more on when they feel they can succeed rather than having the right tools.
Finally it’s what I call “get off your assets” and apply what you’ve learned. There are 2 quotes that come to mind. The first by legendary sales trainer Earl Nightingale who said, “Fear melts when you take action towards the goal you really want”; and the second by financial advisor Robert Allen, “As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say, I just watch what they do.” This applies to both the canvasser and you as the manager. No amount of talk and goal setting can impact one’s success like actually getting off your ASSets and doing; and by doing you’ll learn more (Oh yeah, I mentioned that earlier).
Every great coach knows what separates good canvassers from a great canvasser is the person’s mind set and their desire and drive to succeed. Robert Alan’s quote says it, what they do speaks more than what they say they will do.
I’ve given you several directions and ideas for improving your ability as a canvassing coach as well as specific areas to focus on with your own training and coaching. As with all my live coaching calls I include specific stories and examples from actual private coaching I’ve done with canvassers and I encourage you to review the audio CD from the Silver Level Telecoaching call associated with this article. You’re looking for the call from June 25, 2014. If you have any questions regarding this month’s subject or content and how it can be applied to your specific canvassing efforts I want you to send them to me. You can do that via my online page at www.AskTheCanvassKing.com or call my office telephone number at (216) 588-1337 or email me directly at cthompson@canvassking.com. If you think your canvassing situation or company culture could benefit from my strategies and techniques I’ve provided, then you definitely want to contact me. There is no situation or environment that this won’t work in and I’d be happy to coach you too, as a member.
In conclusion, the one thing I want you to take away from this article is that coaching never ends. Of all the things I do the greatest reward for me is walking with canvassers and coaching them to get better and make more money for themselves and their companies.
There’s never an opportunity or situation where you and your people won’t need coaching. This is why I write these articles every month and hold the Telecoaching calls personally every month because you can always use the information and material to help yourself or your team. If you take nothing else away this month, take that away. Until next month…