Mistake # 85: The consultant is working on it

Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong way of thinking.  I’ve worked with many consultants in my life. Some I even learned from so much, that they became mentors (two, in particular). However, when you have consultants that really don’t have something specific to do, but are on the monthly company expense report, it’s really hard to justify.

Being a consultant right now could be very lucrative, since many companies have reduced hiring and controlling their activities by hiring freelance work.

Being a consultant right now could be very lucrative, since many companies have reduced hiring and controlling their activities by hiring freelance work.

When you do hire a consultant, I suggest that you at least follow these tips:

* Have specific outcomes monthly on what you expect that individual to perform.  It seems like a very obvious tip, but you would be surprised on how months go by and you are wondering what that individual is actually doing out there!

* Ask the individual to put together a monthly report on activities with specific deliverables attached, along with their invoice. This will monetize the value of this individual on what he/she is performing.

* Speak with the consultant weekly to answer questions, ask questions, identify if he/she is on track—or on the wrong track—to accomplish the assigned project. Just thinking that they are doing what they need to do could be a big problem in the end. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Finally, be sure to evaluate the value of the work the consultant has performed every 3-6 months. You’ll be glad you did!

Mistake # 84: The numbers just don’t add up!

Why is it that every company I’ve worked for has different sales numbers all over the place, and they never add up! I am trying to put together my progress report for the month, and there it is! Six different ways to look at one sales rep’s sales.

Why are they different?  Who knows. All I know is that I’ll spend another hour in the CFO’s office on Monday trying to have him explain which number I should use for my report. Again.

Martini anyone?

Mistake # 83: Text message in the wrong places

Are there etiquette rules out there for adults on text messaging? Anywhere? How about if you are at dinner with your boss and you receive a text message? Should you answer back in between bites of shrimp or prime ribs?

I say nay, nay. I was at dinner not too long ago and my direct-report received a text. He puts his fork down and answers away.  Head down to his lap to poke his fat fingers on the phone’s buttons, I’m still talking to his bald spot on his head. What’s with that?! Is that really necessary?! What happens when he’s at his desk and in the middle of a conference call on the office phone. Does he do that too? It’s unlikely that it is from a customer, because, let’s be honest, what customer would text message a representative for more information?!

Here are three rules for text messaging for employees:

* Text messages are like emails. Answer them when you can, but don’t stop the train to do so. Take a break and go out to a hallway or the work break room to answer your text message.

* Don’t text message in front of your boss. If you do, there are likely to be questions on how you are spending your time–at the computer answering customer questions, or on your phone answering your wife’s questions on what color she should color her hair.

*Don’t ever text message at dinner with clients or your boss. Ever. If you do, it will look like you are not paying attention to the conversation and you have other things to do tend to. “Dad, did u deposit my $ yet? I want 2 go 2 the muveez w/Jak!”

What are your rules for text messaging at work?

Mistake # 77: Keep it complex and accomplish losing market share

It’s been evident after the release of iPod and iPhone that Apple is stealing more market share away from Microsoft. It’s been reported last week that Microsoft has just closed one of the worst quarters in its history.  

Apple, led by Steve Jobs, shaved off most of the complexity and made things much more simple by focusing on cell phone and MP3 space, in addition to their PCs. Microsoft can’t handle the competition. It is still too complex and cannot retain a focus. And, clearly Microsoft is unable to meet Apple’s match on cell phone or MP3 products.

Google is also struggling. The economy, yes, has much to do with it since people and businesses overall are still holding back on spending.

Google, too, is focusing on too much, creating many divisions within the corporation by taking on libraries, maps, utilities, and other off-shoots that are making Microsoft look like a simple cookie jar.

So, as an iPhone user, Mac lover, and Apple advocate, I promote being just like Apple. Keep it simple, stupid! Stay good at the core of what you do, do it well, perfect it, and market it well.

As for Google, well… I still use Yahoo!

Stay focused!

Mistake # 76: Make it difficult

Seth Godin wrote in his blog about the reason why riding a unicycle is difficult. Not one, including me, likes to fail. It’s too hard, actually. It also requires mental preparation and focus. He advocates creating non-unicycle moments for your customers related to the products and services you offer.

It sounds so simple. But how often do we sell these to our customers without any sense of the customers’ perceptions? Is it too hard to grasp? The moment your product or service fails – just once – you are dead in the water.

It could also go the other direction, and be too good to be true! How do you create the balance between unicycle and non-unicycle products and services for your customer?

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 # 63: Don’t fire some bad customers

When do you ask a customer to take their business elsewhere? When do you finally draw the line when a customer sucks you dry of your time, and your employees, but the results do not pay off?

 

A customer emails and wants X, Y, and Z. I had questions, so I picked up the phone and left the customer a voice mail. I also sent an email following the voice mail, reiterating my questions. Five minutes later, I get an email back. No phone call, but an email with the answers.

 

The customer wanted a sample layout (I don’t want to go into too many details here and not reveal my employer), but instead of fulfilling the order, the customer wanted to ‘see’ the order prior to signing off on the order. It’s not something that I ordinarily authorize, but went ahead and did it.

 

Lots of back and forth (via email because she was not returning any of my five voice mails), lots of “No! I said I won’t sign anything until I decide if I am ordering or not!”

 

The result?  The customer sends back—well she blasts—an email to basically all sales reps in the company, myself, and the president indicating that she didn’t get what she asked for. There wasn’t a file layout in her sample and, besides all of that, we took too long.

 

Looking inside what we sent to her, there was a file layout. She didn’t look. My assistant called her (since I was traveling and did not want to leave a voice mail with flight announcements in the background). She said she didn’t see the file layout and decided to go with the competitor anyway.  This is even after I offered a 30% discount on top of all of that.

 

So, after at least eight hours of three persons’ time, the customer decides to go somewhere else. That’s fine with me!!