How to Sabotage Your Company in 5 Easy Steps

How to Sabotage Your Company in 5 Easy StepsnnAs told by one of his employees, this owner of a not-so-small company misplaces paperwork constantly. He will look for whatever it is he’s lost for no more than 5 seconds before pestering anyone to find it for him.nWe’ll call him Rick.nRegardless if they are on the phone, or in meetings, or in the midst of reports, they are to drop everything and find his lost papers immediately.nWhich usually doesn’t take long and are found either on top of his desk, by the coffee machine or in the file where they belong. nRick is also computer illiterate, which doesn’t stop him – nor should it – from holding private and government contracts worth a few million, but…. nWhen the girl manning the only computer that receives all the company email, along with all spam and junk mail, is absent, he will take it upon himself to print every single email. nHe will then bring the entire batch and drop it off on someone’s desk and say things like, “They’re telling us our Bank of America account has been compromised – you better take care of this right now!”nThey don’t have an account with Bank of America.nWhen the printer was last out of ink, he asked how he could set the printer to print off another printer.nAnd to save money on postage, he decided to have someone call the bank to ask them to start emailing the company’s invoices to their customers. True story. nSometimes, it takes us a short amount of time to ruin what has taken us a long time to accomplish.nRick may be an extreme case of someone very efficient in tying his own shoelaces together, but we fully believe… All company owners and managers, including your humble authors, are to one degree or another experts in sabotage. We do it frequently, effectively and sometimes purposefully. nWe take steps that are contrary to the core values we live daily from our businesses. But most of us do not realize it.nIn other words, we make the sale in the morning, and by lunch we have convinced our new client to change his mind.nThen we spend all afternoon pouting.nThis short article is designed to shed light and understanding on the fine art of sabotaging our companies.nThe complete eBook is available at LeadersTable.com (June 1st, 2009).nWe have identified the 5 most effective steps to accomplish this as: n5. Continuing the Thrill of Roller Coaster Marketingn4. Silencing the Voice of the Marketn3. Saving Your Moneyn2. Ignoring the Numbersn1. Providing Mediocre Customer ServicennAfter all, if we're going to trip on our own shoelaces, let's do it gracefully and with style. nIf we’re going to sabotage our companies, and yes, we will do it, let's acknowledge it and understand how we're doing it.nAnd then we’ll know how to bring remedy to the problem.nnnnn5. Continue the Thrill of Roller Coaster MarketingnnI love roller coasters. Specifically the wooden ones that rattle the brain for 5 breathtaking minutes. nUp and down at blinding speeds. It’s like having a fast paced argument with gravity – a great concept for amusement parks. nBut not for marketing and advertising businesses. nBy not having a means to measure campaign results objectively, the whole process mimics these thrill rides. nBroadcasting our name and brand to the masses is necessary. Doing it via TV, radio, print, internet or other means can be very effective. nIf we spend $2,000 per month to advertise, n• Do we know how much our firm is reaping from the investment?n• Do we know if that particular ad was effective or not? n• Could slight changes to the title, offer, price or the guarantee, create better results?nThe answer is ________________. nWe typically do not know. nBy not knowing, we continue month after month to charitably fund these well intended vendors with the hope that this roller coaster ride will stay on the incline. nAnd thereby we sabotage our companies by discarding the upside potential that automatically comes from having mechanisms that measure and provide objective results from our campaigns.nIt is always better to know that we wasted 2k, than to not know how effective we were. The 5th step in sabotaging your company is inconsistent marketing. 4. Silence the Voice of the Market. Imagine living in 19th century anywhere, not knowing that a severe thunderstorm, tornado or hurricane is coming towards you. nAs much as I love the history of that era, I’m sticking with modernity. nYet in business, when it comes to foreseeing future market trends, we approach it as if we have absolutely no access to weather.com before this weekend’s trip to the beach. nWhile the internet may be a good source for clues, the best tool is the market itself. nYour market. Your staff, your vendors and your clients.nDaily, they are offering us advice and guidance to the future. After all, they’re called the “market” because they create the market.nOne great characteristic about them is their willingness to critique. If we ask their opinion on anything, they will give it. They seldom hold back. So consider them to be your consultants.n• With the proper question, will your staff not point out ways to improve your overall culture? n• Will your vendors not keep you updated on new technology if you have their interest in mind? n• And clients, will they not offer ideas that will eventually provide better service for them?nGranted, they will all gladly list the many negative qualities of your management style and lack of paid vacation days, but isn’t that what we need to hear? nNot taking the risk to not only hear their answers, but to respond to their advice will continue to stagnate our growth. nStart with one question if you want to stop the process of sabotaging your company, and in due time you’ll catch up to Kodak’s list of over 7,000 implemented employee suggestions. nThe 4th step in sabotaging your company is not listening to your market.n3. Save Your Moneynn“Batteries Included”, said the package.nThat’s correct. No one should be required to purchase batteries for a product that needs batteries. We believe it should come completely equipped and ready to use.nThis is the way we view our company’s personnel. nWe view them as complete packages. If they need batteries, we may be willing to recharge them a bit, but not to provide new ones. nAfter all, it is their job to do their job.nSo we go on expecting our personnel to rejuvenate themselves and improve their skills in order to do a better job day after day.nBut notice this, there really is a difference between:nWorking in sales for 20 years Vs. working in sales one year, 20 times.n(Sales is not the point. It is lack of training.)nBy saving our money and not investing in our team members with improvement for their skill set, through ongoing training for their craft, they will become stagnant. Particularly in lean times when sales are down.nThey will surely, without realizing it, keep the company from growing, since they themselves are not growing.nAfter all, our competitors don’t mind us holding steady, they just don’t want us to increase market share. The 3rd step to sabotaging your company is not developing your teams.nnnnn2. Ignore the NumbersnnHunting quail demands more patience than most other game. These birds are small, can remain calm and camouflage in with the bush like green on leaves.nIn a similar manner, amongst the many numbers a company must watch regularly, there are few that go as undetected to the human eye as these pheasants in the wild. The numbers we all look at and are concerned with every hour of the day – AND SHOULD BE! - have to do mostly with paying the bills. These include: nn• Gross sales n• Profit & loss reports n• Number of prospects and clients in pipelinen• Expense reports n• Numerous others. But the numbers that are overlooked, mainly due to unfamiliarity, are the ones that will equip every owner and manager with tools to grow his company exponentially. These have to do with growing the company. These numbers include:nn• Average Amount of Client Transaction.n• Annual Transactions per Client.n• Cost per Lead or Cost per Client. n• And the most important of all - the Life-Long Value of your Clients. It’s the old irony of being too busy to work on the business because we’re too busy working in the business.nnnnThe 2nd step in sabotaging your company is ignoring key indicators.nnnn1. Provide Mediocre Customer Service. Nothing drives customers away more than treating them with mediocrity at its finest. nOne may stomp their feet and raise their voice with exclamatory adjectives about "Great Customer Service" written all over their brochures, but have you called your front desk lately?nIf the receptionist is not answering the phone the way Cindy answers hers, you are limiting your income potential and perhaps causing your prospects to NOT consider you when the need for your services arises again. nCindy is the first gatekeeper for one of our 50 Dream Prospects. She is one of the most professional receptionists I have ever encountered.nRemember the 1930's? Of course not, what am I thinking.... nPick up any season of The Waltons at your local library and notice when John Boy picks up the phone, he is greeted by a kind lady. Her role, as a switchboard operator is simply to connect two phone lines.nCindy understands this switchboard operator concept very well. She knows that callers needing direction will not spend more than 5-30 seconds with her. Yet she accomplishes her task with a demeanor that causes you to react with excitement.nThe irony of it all is that it doesn't take much effort to be excellent. nThe lack of professional customer service is so prevalent in our culture today, that when people smile, when they ask questions, when they listen, they will easily stand apart from the ocean of sharks anxiously waiting to devour would-be clients.nRemove Cindy from the front desk, and as sure as the sun will rise in the morning, your customers will easily find their way to some one else that will treat them with the respect they deserve which well surpasses mediocrity. nThat is what they want. But they don’t want it only from your receptionist, they expect it from everyone who represents your company. The 1st and most crucial step to sabotaging your company is to provide mediocre customer service.nConclusionnnNow that we know the 5 easiest steps to sabotage our companies, nContinuing the Thrill of Roller Coaster Marketing Silencing the Voice of the Market Saving Your Money Ignoring the Numbers Providing Mediocre Customer ServicenConsider these three questions:n1. Do you intend to remain a healthy, viable company in the next three months? n2. What about in the next 12 months? nWe will assume your answer to both questions is resounding yes. n3. In three months and 12 months, what new or improved characteristics do you want your company to have?nnnnTake time to address these questions. Knowing the answers will help you stop sabotaging your company today. n