January 25th, 2012 — 5:30am
When a customer says “We’ll place this big order, if you can rush it.”, sales usually feels pretty enthusiastic, because that means extra commission, and company growth.
When sales calls production to share the good news, production is not so enthusiastic. For production that means extra effort, and changes in plans.
My take on this classic tension: The entire company must be unified around giving customers what they want, subject to two limits.
1) Say no when saying yes to one customer will hurt another customer. Don’t say you’ll rush Tom’s order if it will make Jim’s order late.
2) Say no when saying yes will give away profit inappropriately. Don’t give a customer half price just to get the order.
Look for a way around those limits even if it takes extra effort or creative planning. When it’s possible and profitable for production to do what customer Tom wants and what customer Jim wants, no limit has been reached. Say yes.
Sales must advocate courageously for the needs of the customer, and at the same time show an attitude of respect for the perspective production brings to the table.
It’s our job to inconvenience ourselves to serve our customers well. Anyone who has a pattern of saying no to avoid extra effort doesn’t fit a culture of customer service and must change or exit.
January 24th, 2012 — 5:30am
In my companies we make plans for each year’s growth, but honestly, most of the growth comes from new ideas we didn’t foresee in our planning.
We don’t have a bank of awesome but unused ideas to copy/paste into the annual plan. When we come up with a great idea, we try it right away. That means at any given time we’re out of great ideas, but not for long.
By being curious and paying attention, by building on top of the last improvement, by listening to our customers, we always come up with another improvement idea.
If you don’t have a list of “10 things that will change the game this year”, that’s probably ok. Wade on into what you’ve lined up so far, and keep your eyes open all the time for insight, inspiration, and opportunities to improve. It’s amazing how a year of continuous improvement adds up to a big leap forward.
January 20th, 2012 — 5:30am
This cartoon is so me.
So much of what we fear can’t really hurt us.
January 19th, 2012 — 5:30am
The book “Confidence” by Rosabeth Moss Kanter is about winning streaks and losing streaks. The big idea of the book is that winning creates more winning, and losing creates more losing.
The reason? Winning creates optimistic expectations that more winning is possible. When players and coaches (or employees and managers) believe that more winning is possible, they work harder and take more initiative, and that creates more winning. Also, it’s easier to recruit great players and get support from investors when you’re winning, and hence more winning follows.
The same things happen in reverse with losing streaks.
One application: Don’t lose twice in a row.
Broader application: Create a culture of confidence where team members feel a shared sense of winning.
If you’re in a losing streak: Actions speak louder than words. Create visible evidence of a turnaround that your team can see and believe in.
January 18th, 2012 — 5:30am
When there’s change in a company, most employees think about it in terms of job security.
As an owner, I’m usually focused on the change itself and the exciting benefits I see for the future of the company. When I communicate I need to remember that employees may see it as a threat to their job security, even when I know there’s nothing to worry about.
As a manager, err on the side of sensitivity to job security concerns. And if possible, help employees see where job security truly comes from.
Job security comes from happy customers. If the customers aren’t happy, no company can provide job security. If the customers are very happy, the company will grow, and that increases job security.
Job security comes from individual performance. High performers should feel very secure in their jobs, and low performers should be very worried about their jobs.
No employee should be surprised to find out their job is in danger unless the company was surprised by an unforeseen event. And no high-performing employee in a high-performing company should live in fear of randomly losing their job. Employees deserve to know where they stand based on known and predictable factors. I think good managers provide that.
[It’s been pointed out to me that a lot of managers let people go for other, less-honorable reasons than those mentioned here. Unfortunately, that’s true. If you are a manager, you don’t have to be one of those. If you are a high-performing employee who works for one of those, I hope you feel empowered enough to look for a job at a healthier company.]
