Mistake # 74: Don’t hire sales savvy people

The news of the day (yesterday, July 3) was that Sarah Palin is resigning as governor of Alaska. The news of the week for me was that I had hired and just brought on board two incredible sophisticated sales people for my team.

Unfortunately, I had to fly to a particular metropolitan area to fire an individual a week ago and could not announce one of these new hires until I had let the other go.

Letting people go is always painful.  I did the best I could knowing that this individual has a family with family needs, and, let’s face it: who wants to be let go? It’s never a good thing.

However, I was totally convinced that this person was working another business on the side. I just wasn’t getting the production and results we needed. Plus, he was always arguing with me.  Being Italian, I love to banter when things just go right. But there was a difference: he was fighting me every step of the way.  He said he knew the industry and he said he had contacts. I saw no results of either. Plus, he couldn’t put a proposal together to save his life. He had an MBA. Go figure.

So now I have two knowledgeable, driven, and motivated people who know the industry, brought in a bank of contacts with them, and jumped in with only an inch of learning curve needed to run out there and bring it in.

Maybe I have hired one of Fast Company’s top 100 creative people in business!

Already my stress level is down 150%.

Mistake # 73: Fail to manage information carefully and securely

We have said it a million times:  “We are on information overload.”   In fact, we have been talking about this for more than a decade. In an article in Information Week in 1995, it appears that it was only going to get worse. It is.

As businesses grow, we have a variety of complex business partnerships.  As a result, we have issues that develop in order to secure these relationships. Primarily

This may be good for streamlining business, but it is hard to secure. While organizations focus on the technical controls around network connections, they forget about the people, process, policy, and contractual controls necessary to secure these relationships – technologically and internally within personnel so that competitors do not intervene.

Then you have the issue of offshore outsourcing.  Is sending logins and intellectual property overseas safe – just to ensure cost savings? What are the risks?

And, let’s not forget weather events. I happen to be in tornado country and the opportunity for a tornado to wipe out a computer system is likely. Not high odds, but likely.

I don’t recall the source, but after 9/11, there were voice lines and more than four million data circuits that failed due to infrastructure overload. Mobile cell phone calls were blocked, causing communications system failures.

Businesses that lose data from natural disasters are forced to fail, and/or close their doors. Businesses need a thought out plan in the event of natural disasters in the event something happens to their computer servers. I haven’t done the research, but it would be interesting to find out what the percentage of those companies that definitely have a written plan.

I’m overloaded. My head hurts…

Mistake # 72: Can an ‘old’ company create a “start-up culture”?

MySpace is going to start conducting layoffs in an effort to get back to its “start-up culture.” MySpace is directly facing Facebook on gaining ground and members. MySpace is even being compared to—OMG!—AOL!! LOL!

If the site’s performance is relatively poor, how does cutting down staff to do the work going to make it a viable rival? It also claims it has more members in the US compared to Facebook, but do you know anyone who is still on MySpace?!

How does a company create a “start-up culture” within a company that has been around for awhile? Do you ask that people sleep under the desks at night after putting in twelve to sixteen-hour days?

I don’t think it can happen. A company loses its momentum for starting up after a certain period of time. It launched in August 2003. Nine years is a lifetime in the social networking world.

But, what do I know…

Mistake # 71: Give customers a reason to complain

There’s always one in the crowd. Some people will complain just to complain. Some customers whine and will not let up until you cry uncle. Others will wallow quietly in their misery on something your company did, how your products failed, or how their expectations weren’t met.

For example, in a customer complaint letter to a company that produces feminine products, she was horrified when she say on her maxi-pad was printed on the adhesive backing: “Have a Happy Period.”

She ends her letter with:

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending bull ****. And that’s a promise I will keep. Always.

I applaud her for her charm, her wit, and her journalism. I wonder what the company did in reaction to this, particularly since it was PC Magazine’s 2007 editors’ choice for best web mail-award-winning letter.

 I think I have dealt with customers that continually strive for that award…

Mistake # 70: In search of that right sales rep

Executives and upper management are always in search of that one “magic bullet.” They are constantly agonizing, “what if we did this?” “What if our strategy was that?” “What if we streamlined to this?”

 The actuality is that there is no “one way” of selling. There isn’t even magic behind it. In today’s economy, there really is only one answer: get the hell out there and sell. Yes, it’s hard work, and, yes, it’s not easy.

 The one caveat, or qualifier, is that you have great sales people. It makes all the difference in the world.

I’m still having problems with one sales rep that keeps claiming he knows this industry and has been in it for a long time. He has. But, instead of actually selling – picking up the phone, sending emails, meeting people face-to-face, he conducts all of his work by email. Back and forth all day long. He works remotely and it’s unclear of how he spends his time. But, I do know that he only communicates via email. Although I discussed it with him, he continues to work in the way he feels comfortable. Further, he fails to tell me how he accounts for his time and what his daily activities are. And, yes, the sales reflect his style.

Another rep that works remotely spends most of his time focusing on the details. In fact, he gets lost in the details. So as he is drowning in details for one client, another client gets away.

 A third rep that works remotely is constantly on the phone, emailing, and digging up ‘dirt’ to get to the next client. I am a big believer in multiple ways to get people’s attention brings in clients. Send them something, leave voice mails, emails, and set up appointments.

The bottom line is that it really doesn’t matter if the sales rep is remote. It’s who you hire and how they spend their time that matters.

Mistake # 69: Die from lack of sleep and burnout

It’s so easy these days to burn out. With companies downsized to the bare bones, many employees are doing too much with too little. There is no way to catch up on work and deal with the piles and heaps on the desk, along with the pages of emails waiting to be tended to.

I, myself, have not had a vacation in ages. I define vacations as taking no work or no computer along, planting a chair in the sand on a beach (preferably in the Caribbean), a drink with an umbrella on it in the right hand, and a book in the left hand. There I sit for approximately eight hours. It’s hard work, but at the end of the day, there is always happy hour to look forward to.

The last real vacation I had was almost 14 years ago. In fact, I was reprimanded for not taking any vacation this year – three weeks total. Not one day. Why? Quite honestly, it just wasn’t possible. Actually, there’s no good time to take a vacation. So, I need a vacation and a week of sleep.

You can’t die from a loss of vacation, but can you die from lack of sleep? Slate posted an interesting article based on a study indicating that apparently you can.

It’s Sunday, I’m going back to bed, and taking a two-week vacation in June. Really!

Mistake # 68: Plan changes to the sales reps’ commission structure (but don’t mention anything just yet…)

Ugh! Don’t play around with the sales reps’ commissions. You’re libel to get your hand cut off, or some other appendage. Management wants to change the commission structure so that it is “best for the company”.   What?!

I haven’t worked for a company yet that groans every time they take a peek inside that budget and  see just how much they have paid in rep commissions.

But, remind me just one moment, don’t the sales reps bring in the cashola? Aren’t they the ones that pay the salaries for everyone else in the company?

Sometimes I feel as if I’m losing my mind…

Mistake # 67: It’s all about being reprimanded

Have you ever yelled at your boss? Have you accused your boss of not liking you? One of my direct reports did it to me on Friday when I told him that I could not figure out how he spends his day. He had not followed up on a number of clients, and his sales were abysmal this month. So, he took the defensive route and started telling me that I don’t support him, that I don’t like him, and that I have issues with him.

Well, when you cannot prove to your boss that you are doing all you can to keep your sales up, never ask questions, and produce piss-poor quality work, then, yep—it just might be the case that I don’t support him, don’t like him, and have issues with him!

Mistake # 66: Create confusion at all levels

Do you have a boss that gives you a mandate, only to have his superior give another mandate and another direction? Welcome to the club! I was on a path of purpose, and putting together the process and procedures of a workflow (which followed much discussion from chief executives), only to be pulled and told that I was doing that wrong and needed to go in another direction. This creates a waste of time spent on a task, derailing efficiency and effectiveness. 

 

Need I say more?!

Mistake # 65: Spend a day discussing the day-long meeting

Houston, Houston, we have a problem. The managers want to spend a day to discuss what should  be discussed at the day-long meeting. Hm. Do we really need to do that? To have a meeting about the meeting in order to plan the meeting seems…redundant?

 

What happened to the days when each individual manager could actually shut their door and outline their plans for discussion. Or, just take out that old-fashion thing, called a pencil, and write it out. Then, go back with the more 21^st Century thing, called a computer, and bang out the content to fill in the blanks.

 

You can’t do it all, and the group tends to tackle too much at one time. Put things in smaller segements so that decisions can be made effectively. There. Short and sweet.

 

Happy Easter!