Is Your Team Focused on the Process?

Is Your Team Focused on the Process?

I worked as a Division1 college track & field coach for 10 years and oftentimes, I had athletes who were in peak physical condition with a strong desire to achieve their goals but time and again, many fell short. Why?

There are of course, many reasons, but the one that resurfaced again and again is that athletes would get to the starting line and all they could think of was“I must run (a certain time).”The pressure would build and they focused so much on the final outcome, that they completely forgot to execute the process required to reach it.

When the focus is solely on outcomes, the stakes feel overwhelming and at the first sign of struggle or failure, the athlete completely shuts down.

What does this have to do with your car wash? Quite a bit- but let’s focus on membership sales.

So, you have the goal of increasing your membership sales? That is great! But when your team constantly hears “Sell more” they step up to the pay station feeling a high level of pressure. They get nervous or frustrated that their boss is always harping on them to “sell more, sell more, sell more.”That pressure builds. Frustration rises. And what’s the result? A half-hearted, uninspired,“meh” kind of sales pitch. And then what happens when they don’t make the sale? Motivation and confidence drop—because in their mind, they’ve failed to meet the goal of “sell more.”

Instead of simply telling your team to “sell more memberships,” ask yourself: have you actually taught them how to sell more memberships?

Shift the focus from outcomes to process. Instead of “sell more,” have your team focus on specific selling strategies and skills that, when executed consistently, naturally lead to more membership sales.

Start simple. Have your team focus on one step in the sales process and execute it every time they interact with a customer. For example, consistently using a sales script. If they follow the script each time, that’s a win—regardless of whether the customer makes a purchase. Why? Because consistency compounds. If they stick to the process, the results will follow.

Process-focused team members and managers experience less stress, stay more motivated, and ultimately sell more memberships.