MOLLOY ARTICLE
#11
Get Great...
…with great coaching and great practice.
How do you get good? Practice good moves.
How do you get great? Practice great moves – a lot!
“The secret of winning is 'deliberate practice'…” says D. Goldman in Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence. “An expert coach takes you through well-designed training over months or years… [Effective] practice always includes a feedback loop that lets you recognize errors and correct them … That feedback comes from someone with an expert eye… Every world-class sports champion has a coach. If you practice without such feedback, you don't get to the top… ”1
Good coaching and good practice cannot take us to our next level of performance. Practicing good skills will just keep us stuck at “good.” Greatness requires great practice of great skills with great coaching and great effort and great feedback – then more practice… This coaching, practice, and feedback, must be consistent.
Do you want your team to achieve greatness? Yes? Are you sure? Then, as a team, you must practice great skills with great coaches who help you push past old, comfortable habits into a whole ‘nother level of pro’ performance. These advanced skills, behaviors, and attitudes will feel unfamiliar, even uncomfortable, until, with regular coaching, practice, and feedback, this advanced level of performance becomes second nature.
What two things help great baseball players achieve a .300+ batting average?
Great coaching and expert feedback – and quality pitching machines for quality practice.
What two things help great service advisors achieve an 80+% closing rate?
Great coaching and expert feedback – and quality pitching machines; called practice ‘bots.2
A practice ‘bot is a tremendously effective tool that, like a baseball pitching machine, helps your coaches help you and your team practice great moves, a lot – until it is second nature to be consistently great. Great teams help more people – which enhances professional progress and profit. Your business grows exponentially as new and occasional customers are transformed into long term clients. Sound too good to be true? This is real!
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Here’s how simply and easily the AI practice ‘bot program works within our training and coaching format:
The first thing in the morning, service advisors and leadership (yes, that includes you) warm up by calling your own dedicated practice line. For six minutes or less, you practice using the approach to more effectively handle common calls with an AI ‘bot programmed to respond to you like a new customer would.
This is batting practice. Same pitch. Same swing. Same pitch. Same swing. Same pitch. Same swing.
Then, at least twice a week, all team members (and frequently, you, their leader) engage in coaching sessions to understand the language in the approach (what we say, how we say it, why it works…) and how to use the approach consistently in responding effectively to various combinations of calls. In addition, once a week, you and your coaches and leaders participate in performance management / performance leadership sessions.
This is live coaching. Different pitches. Different swings. Touch each base as you make a home run!
Combine great batting practice (‘bot practice sessions) with great coaching (live coaching sessions)…
Now, follow that up with great performance feedback (listening sessions, ‘bot practice review, tagging, and written recorded call feedback) from our coaches, call assessment professionals, your own leadership and team coaches. Now you have a performance improvement plan that actually helps good teams become great.
Let’s reframe D. Goldman’s prediction: “With great pitching machines, great coaching, and great play by play feedback, you and your team surpass old performance expectations and are consistently, predictably great.
©DMolloy/TCantrell