Seven sporting lessons on managing your staff to win

By David Brown

I’ve often drawn comparisons between running a business and coaching a sports team. While business measures in profit and sports teams measure in scores, the important thing is that a measurement of performance and an outcome is taking place. Both must keep their customersor for a sports team fans - happy, especially for those who may decide to shop elsewhere (some fans aren’t always committed for life!), and both need to rely on their staff or personnel to get the results they want.

I often find that relating a business situation back to a sporting one resonates well with some owners. They often can’t see the point of something that relates to their business until it is portrayed in a language that they can understand as a fan or sports coach themselves.

As such, I’ve identified a number of comparisons from the sporting world that help illustrate the best areas to work on with your staff. Here are seven of them I’d like to share with you today:

1. Set clear expectations: Wide receivers score touchdowns; strikers score goals and batters round the bases. Sales staff need their targets too. Clearly define the expectations for the role of each employee, including sales targets, customer service standards, and job duties. Let them know what you expect from them and provide the necessary resources and training to help them meet these expectations.

2. Provide regular feedback: Athletes gets pointers from the coach, and you need to constructively give regular feedback to your employees on their performance. Praise employees who are doing well and offer guidance to those who could do better. Identify areas where they can improve and provide specific actions they can take to improve.

3. Encourage teamwork: Find a sports team where one person does everything, and you’ll

David Brown

see a team that won’t win. Retail is a fast-paced industry and workloads can be overwhelming. Encouraging teamwork can make a big difference. Foster a culture of collaboration, where employees are willing to help each other out during high-volume periods.

4. Invest in training: A successful sports team puts more time into training than playing. This isn’t possible in retail, but providing continuous training to your employees is critical in any industry, and especially important in a retail environment. Invest in ongoing training for your staff so they can keep up with the latest trends, technology, and customer service techniques.

5. Celebrate successes: Your team needs their victories and trophy moments too. Employees who feel appreciated are more likely to stay with a company long-term. Celebrate employee successes, reward your team on reaching sales targets, and acknowledge their hard work. This creates a positive work environment and motivates your employees to achieve more.

6. Build relationships: Onfield results are best when the players know and trust each other well. Getting to know your employees, and having them know each other on a personal level, can help create a positive work environment too. Engage in casual conversation, take an interest in their hobbies, and ask them about their families. Building positive relationships with employees can help create a sense of community and a better dynamic in the workplace.

7. Lead by example: After a poor start to the season culminating in a 4-0 loss, new Manchester United manager Eric Ten Hag dragged the entire team out for a punishing early morning run the next day. But Ten Hag didn’t just punish the team, he put himself through the run as well, earning huge respect from a squad of stars who had been bickering like prima donnas. Needless to say, they turned their season around. Being

Jewelers Building, downtown Boston. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he worked as a salesman covering New England and Upstate New York for a jewelry wholesaler. Upon the retirement and closure of that company, John ventured out on his own with his wife Frances by his side.

“He went wherever most of the sales reps were not,” Jack describes of his father. “He would go wherever it was the coldest in the winter, like Minnesota and Wisconsin, and the hottest in the summer, from the Carolinas down south. Less competition. Back in the day when you didn’t make appointments, he didn’t carry business cards, telling retailers, ‘I’m here now’.”

John continued to travel, albeit shorter trips, until he passed away in 2004 at the age of 72.

Jack and Ed also marvel at the business acumen of their mom, who died in 2020 at the age of 83. “I learned a lot from our mom about how the business ran, like purchasing, receiving, talking to customers, and dealing with vendors,” says Jack, who in 1988 had the opportunity to help in the family business, quickly shelving the idea of pursuing a career in real estate. Four years later Ed joined the company.

Both contributed to the family business as kids - sweeping floors, emptying buckets and boxing things after school and during summer vacations. Today, Jack oversees operations and Ed handles product development, marketing, merchandising, and sales.

“From the beginning, the company was built on a single guiding principle, earn the trust of your customers by always telling the truth,” the brothers echo. “They taught us that trust had to be earned and then maintained. It’s hard work, but it’s the only way we know how to operate.”

Turn & Margin

Developing collections that turn fast and offer mint margins to independent jewelers is paramount for Kelly Waters. Among its compelling collections, Bella Cavo is the industry’s largest selection of flexible and stackable sterling silver bracelets and rings. Made in Italy, the designs are easy to sell because they’re so easy to wear. While Black Label is a line of platinum bonded sterling silver and vermeil with simulated gemstones that offers a big look for a surprisingly affordable price. The birthstones category, says Ed, embodies turn and profit, and Kelly Waters’ line of sterling silver birthstone jewelry is a proven bestseller sold in more than 1,000 jewelers nationwide. “Everyone knows about birthstones. The category is simple to understand and scalable with displays that can be built out. The best part, the margins for retailers are nearly 70% and more in some cases.”

Moreover, Kelly Waters latest colorful enamel collection, handcrafted in sterling silver with simulated diamonds and gemstones, has really taken off in sales since it launched last year. They call it “Joyful Glam” for good reason, Ed describes.