This guide helps music store owners train their staff to handle crises through practice schedules and readiness checks. Regular training keeps the team calm, prepared, and confident when unexpected problems arise.

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1. Training Schedules 

What to Do: Plan regular times to teach your team about crisis plans.

• Weekly Meetings: Spend 10 minutes reviewing part of the crisis plan.
• Monthly Training: Practice one full part of the plan, like how to talk to customers during a problem.
• Yearly Review: Go over the entire plan and update it if needed.

Why It Works: Regular training helps your team remember what to do and stay ready.

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2. Drill Instructions 

What to Do: Practice handling different problems with drills.

• Example Drill: A Power Outage
  
  1. Pretend the power goes out in the store.
  2. Staff practice helping customers without electricity.
  3. Someone calls the power company using the contact list.
  4. Team discusses what went well and what needs improvement.
• Example Drill: A Late Supplier Delivery
  
  1. Pretend an important shipment is late.
  2. Staff practice telling customers about the delay.
  3. Someone contacts a backup supplier.
  4. Team talks about how they handled the problem.

Why It Works: Drills help your team get comfortable with the crisis plan and find ways to improve it.

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3. Evaluation Criteria 

What to Do: Check how well your team handles the drills.

• Did they stay calm and follow the plan?
• Did they communicate clearly with customers and teammates?
• Did they solve the problem quickly and safely?
• What went well, and what needs to change for next time?

Why It Works: Evaluating drills helps you see where your team is strong and what needs more practice.

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Example: Training and Drills in Action

The Scenario: The store’s cash register system suddenly stops working on a busy Saturday afternoon.

What the Team Did:

1. Weekly Review: Earlier, the team had practiced writing down sales manually as part of a power outage drill. They used those skills to handle cash and card payments without the register.
2. Monthly Drill: The team had practiced how to explain technical issues to customers. They calmly let customers know about the problem and offered quick solutions, like receipts by email.
3. Evaluation: After the incident, the team reviewed how they handled the issue. They decided to add a backup calculator and printed receipts to the emergency kit.

The Result: The team’s practice made them confident and prepared, so they solved the problem without losing sales or frustrating customers.

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Next Steps 

How to Start:

• Create a training schedule and plan your first drill.
• Explain the drills to your team so they know what to expect.

Stay Ready:

• Run drills regularly and change the scenarios to keep things fresh.
• Update your training if new staff join or the crisis plan changes.
• Review evaluations and use them to make the plan better.

By practicing and learning together, your team will be ready to handle any crisis that comes your way!