I am having a serious customer problem. Four people have spent the past seven days working on this account. Yes, we had mistakes. Yes we jumped into fix-it mode, changing procedures and the way we do things to better serve. But, there was a minor discrepancy — and not anything to do with what we delivered — where the customer became unglued (again. Screaming and threatening over the phone to us (again). The stress levels are at their highest. The nerves at their extremes. And we cannot, obviously, deliver to the best of this customer’s ability.

Tomorrow will be another packed day on dealing with with the continued madness. Here are a few suggestions I am trying to take:

(1) Don’t argue with the customer. Ever. Give facts and details on what took place the decisions made at the time. Take the blame no matter what.

(2) Compensate the customer for the poor experience (which we have already done).

(3) Change the approach immediately on procedures, performance, and how to reach your customer’s expectations.

(4) Identify who is the communicator to the customer. You? Your rep? Your CEO?

I’m about to say my Hail Mary’s for tomorrow…

OMG, no! Even if you have second thoughts on if an incident is harassment, if you even have any inkling that you may have caused harassment, don’t, please don’t keep it to yourself.   It is absolutely the wrong thing to do. You need to fess up and talk to your supervisor or HR Director.  I’ve heard of one employee who thought that if he/she just waited to “clear things up” it will all go away. Well, it didn’t, and it only got worse.  And, because the employee did not talk to anyone about the incident, thinking it would “all go away” is what made the incident get to a boiling point.

There are several state government websites that define and advise on what happens when you have an employee who is conducting harassment of any types, or even if you, yourself, believe that you have been harassed.

Let’s just hope that none of us have to deal with these issues. Be respectful out there folks!

Coffee, anyone?

Yes, folks, you read that right. A sales rep did not hit quota four months out of the eight and wants commission or compensation changed in order to bring in more money. It’s sort of hard to believe. Now she is talking about getting a second job in order to make ends meet. Well, if she would just grow sales, she would make commission and all of us would be happy! Jeez!

What happens when you don’t get specific projects turned in by your direct reports? I have a laundry list of at least ten specific requests to a sales rep, and he never turned these in. It’s beginning to mount. I’m addressing these with him next week.

How can someone do that? What happened in the previous jobs? Pathetic.

This is an interesting one. I have a sales rep who put a quote together for a client – in the body of an email! No logo, no format, nothing. It did have a signature line for the client to sign. Honestly! I could scream!

I hope so. I mean, your company and what you do rely on the integrity you provide to your customers. Just think if you were perceived as another Bernie Madoff?!  Ugh!

In a recent article in CareerJournal.com, Stephen Covey stresses that you should (1) learn the skills that will earn you greater trust; and (2) don’t over promise what you can deliver. Particularly during these lean times with less resources and  short personnel, that is great advice.

I have a direct report who completely screwed up with a client. He just didn’t have the answers and instead of making sure someone was on the call to help answer the questions, he delayed and delayed, not knowing how to get the answers (or not looking) and after a week the customer calls the President and complains. So, I had to un-$@$#% the problem and  transferred the account over to someone else.  The customer is now a happy camper.

Fast Company provides a no-brainer way to fix a sales problem!

The company I work for conducts two annual performance reviews on direct reports. Neither are tied to compensation. I spend an inordinate amount of time on these with clear examples, facts, and offering suggestions for my direct reports to grow. What I get is garbage. No one spends time on these. No one provides examples on what they achieved, or challenges they have overcome, nor described how they did it. It looks like they spent a total of maybe 15 minutes on them.

I have advocated that these move to once annually and be performed on the individual’s anniversary date. I realize that the company goals may not coincide with the timing of these, but for me, it makes it easier to spend time on each individual. Otherwise, I’m cramming a half dozen reviews into two weeks!

Eventually, when the economy grows, they can be tied to compensation. For more information on performance reviews, Compensation Today blog provides a terrific overview.

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!

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?