How many of you have had to manage a disagreement with employees or customers? All of us, right? We work in shops, and we are around each other more than we’re around our friends most days. How many of you have had an employee that just is not listening or buying into the image that your shop needs? How do you navigate that when it arises? In the fourth installment of 7 Habits of an Effective Lube Manager, we will discuss how you can start to think win-win in these decisions.
If we look at what “7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” the inspiration for our list, says, it explains that we need to seek mutually beneficial win–win solutions or agreements in our relationships. Valuing and respecting people by seeking a "win" for all is a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation gets their way. Thinking win–win is not about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique; it is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration. So, I will go over some scenarios that you might see from time to time and then use this philosophy to create a win-win situation.
The most likely scenario that you might come across is a disagreement between two employees. The best way to defuse the situation is what I like to call the “dumpster talk,” where you take the employee or employees out of the shop and try and calm the situation and get them back in the right mindset. Sometimes, these take time, and you find out that there was just a communication issue or misunderstanding. In some of these cases, it can still lead to one of them continuing to feel a little out of sorts. Using this principle, find a common goal or ground for them to agree on. If they both feel as if their voice has been heard, they are more likely to agree to your solution. You, as the manager, need to find a way to bridge the gap between the disagreeing parties and bring them back together to take care of what matters—the customer. For example: “Hey, how about you mop the shop floor this time and Johnny, you can mop it next, regardless of who did it last. Then next time you can do it together and neither one of you is doing it more than the other. Deal?”
A harder navigation for you will be an issue with a customer. Customers are your lifeblood, but they are not always right in everything that they say or do. I know of a big issue that virtually all shops have encountered: the online coupon found with a Google search. The problem arises when a customer did not read the fine print that states your franchise or area that is not doing this coupon. I almost guarantee you that half of your advisors will point that out and have the customer just standing there wondering what to do.
How do you get a win-win when the customer has come to you for a discount, and you do not honor that particular one? Try this: “I am sorry, ma’am, that is not one of our coupons and that code is not in our system. This one appears to be for (another market). However, let me find a similar coupon code that we do have and see if we can get close to matching what you found online. Is that OK?” Just like that, you have found a way to close the mistake to a positive ending. You likely have a happy customer who will return to you in the future.
This was honestly the hardest of the habits to convert to what we do daily. We are not always going to be able to find “win-win’ situations. This one was more about slowing down our reactions to abnormal situations and making us think of an alternative solution. Next month, we will have a remarkably similar situation where we go over the fifth habit, seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Slow down, think. Sounds like a good philosophy for leadership.
