Delegate. Seriously.
There is nothing more frustrating than to deal with companies where every employee decision is dependent on a head nod or emails from his director. Non-delegation operations, no matter how simple they are, foment an inoperative culture that is no longer compatible with the reality of the current market. This culture not only represents delays in problem-solving, but also increases the disbelieve in individual values and rejects the responsibility/importance that a link has in a company chain.
Being a leader is not the same as making all the decisions. This attitude will make you overload and you will start making decisions without noticing all details necessary to make the best decision for your company.
In the e-commerce space, this type of management has direct and visible repercussions – loss of new business opportunities simply because there was no green light to do anything; loss of sales because new values didn’t reach the customer in time; low customer satisfaction levels – repercussions that have a direct impact is the company book sheets.
Know that if I can switch one product with another, it’s not supposed to be a decision to be made by a director. Knowing the discount amount I can give to a customer in a purchase should not have to go to the director. Knowing what type of promotion or service we can have should not have to go to the director.
Imagine your company sells a product and that product just won an international prize or made the headlines in a TV report. If you don’t give your store managers the ability to make fast decisions, you are losing the opportunity to make a profit out of “free advertising”! In such case, you should allow store managers to highlight the product and give the potential customer the sense you are up-to-date with information, that the product they are looking for is available and can be bought with a simple click.
You can’t afford to lose time sending Emails and waiting for replies!
Delegation is not just a way to increase your sales, but a way to give your store manager value. Almost every store decision a store manager makes is based on statistical data they should already know. Making a decision that can increase the sales of a given product should not require approval. The same goes for promotions, stock flow, customer service issues, etc.
Delegate, from top to bottom. Let store managers delegate for when the directors are out.
Obviously, not all information can be shared across the chain of command, but this information can be filtered. Yes, the support team has no need to know company costs or have access to global reports, but they should have access to metrics that allow them to make immediate decisions when they are on the phone giving support to a customer. Knowing if they can allow a return, even if not obliged, is an example of an event that shouldn’t require internal approval. Don’t be afraid to delegate to your E-Commerce director most of the tasks. Give him guidelines and metrics ranges he can act without the need for approval. Give him the freedom to choose promotional products, create customer segments, shipping costs to be applied, politics to be implemented, to articulate with the rest of your company so they can find the best solution to increase your sales. Don’t be afraid to give only strategic orientations in your company. Let your team work in an autonomous way. What are you afraid of? After all, they are the ones that deal with the situations and find solutions every day. They are the ones with the most detailed information. They are the ones that know what to do based on past events and future expectations.