Dear ,
This will surprise you.
One day I was hired by a motor oil distribution company to help them find out why sales were
slumping.
They were so excited -- here I was a "miracle worker" who would solve all their problems.
Or so they thought.
So I sit down with the management team. They brief me on sales, expenses, employees, logistics and all that fun stuff.
Seems fine. I'm wondering why there's a sales problem.
Then I sit down with the employees and
get the scoop on morale, management style, company culture, enthusiasm and other challenges they're facing.
And the Problem Jumps Out at Me Like a Creepy Clown at the Circus!
I call back the
management team together for an emergency meeting.
"Who is Derek?" I ask.
The Sales Director replies with pride, "He's one of our best salesmen. We probably wouldn't be around if it wasn't for him."
"Hmmm... ok... Fire him immediately."
"Say what?" the sales head counters with astonishment.
I tell him who and what the
problem is -- it's Derek (I changed his name for this newsletter). His negative, condescending and lazy attitude was infecting the entire company. The management made a star out of him because of his sales numbers and this made him feel invincible. The other employees all wanted Derek's approval and so they emulated his behavior.
Company culture was so
negative, I honestly didn't think they could bounce back from it.
And I told them that:
"f you don't fire Derek and do a complete 180, your company won't be around for more than a year."
The CEO disagreed with my assessment.
Well, I was wrong. It didn't take a year to shut down.
It actually
took about eight months (in truth, they had other problems besides Derek like cash flow).
Mind you, this was a company that was doing over $4 million in sales. Not bad for a small little operation that was only three years old.
So, What's the Lesson Here?
First, it's usually a good idea to bring in a fresh set of eyes to help you tackle whatever business challenges you can't figure out on your own (qualified eyes, of course).
Second, your business culture is much more important than your realize. It defines the ethos and gets everyone working towards the same goal (or away from the goal).
Third, it reinforces the adage, "Hire slow and fire fast." That's so true. I can say I've almost never been wrong following this
advice -- neither have any of my clients.
Fourth, no amount of salesmanship can overcome the negative impact even one employee can have on all the others. I'v seen this time and time and time again.
Fifth, and most importantly, always follow my advice ;)
Until next time...
