Do you know what starts mid-October and goes all the way till mid-December? We like to call it… the Sprint to Summer. Today we’re sharing the top 3 things we’re advising our clients to focus on NOW from a learning strategy perspective, so their team has what they need to finish out the year strong AND get a head start to make 2024 the best yet.

• Get summer sales ready
• Put L&D in the spotlight
• Prepare your 2024 L&D plan

Get summer sales ready

December / January is the peak season for a lot of retail organisations and you want to make sure you’re maximising opportunities from both a sales and service perspective. In reality, sales and service culture are the same thing, so the key is to ensure your teams are clear on the process of moving from order taker to sales maker.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What level of service do you want to provide?
• What systems or processes are in place, or need to be, so that each team member knows exactly how to deliver the perfect brand customer experience?
• What training is needed to make sure product knowledge is razor sharp and team members know how to handle multiple customers or activities at peak times?

Recommendation: if you need help with these, our bespoke trainings on sales and customer service culture can help you maximise your summer sales.

Put L&D in the spotlight

If you’re not in the retail sector then this time of year is likely to be quieter, which makes it a great opportunity to refocus on engaging your team in development and training. You might want to:

• Revisit performance development plans and action one item
• Identify individual or team skills gaps and work with us to figure out how to plug them
• Look at underperforming leaders and what you can do for them now, so they are ready to be more effective in their role next year.

Recommendation: The 8-week Gutsy Leader program gives underperforming leaders the coaching support they need to get out of their comfort zone, try out new skills, ideas or concepts, so they can gain confidence and be more effective in just 2 months.

Prepare your 2024 L&D plan

When 2024 rolls around, you’ll want to hit the ground running. And a huge advantage of doing your L&D planning now is that you can acquire the budget or resources you need in this quarter, and not have to fight for it later.

Here are some things to think about now so you can be sorted for then:

• What are the company-wide development needs?
• Where are there any specific skills gaps?
• How are you going to tangibly address those needs and gaps across the next 12 months?

Recommendation: if you don’t have in-house L&D staff or resources, think about outsourcing. We deliver bespoke L&D solutions that can include skills gaps assessments, on-demand training modules, live workshops, or leadership programs and coaching, but hurry as the first few months of 2024 are filling up fast.

The pull to summer is strong – we totally get it. But before you stash the computer and reach for the boardies, bikinis or thongs, there’s some key things you can do so that when the holidays do get here you can head off knowing you are all set and prepared for a great re-entry on your return.

And if you need help to get that in place, we’ve got your back. We are on deck until Christmas Eve, so if you’ve got any Q4 L&D training needs, give us a call and we’ll get you booked in. Or, if you’d like to find out more about the specific recommendations we made in this newsletter, hit reply of call us on 1300 110 165.