Interpersonal Business

Vol. XCIII

Dear Manager,

While I believe we’d all agree that effective communication is essential to any strong organizational structure, it’s also, more often than not, poorly accomplished. Effective communication takes precious time and resolve to accomplish. Shortages of both seem to be a way of life in today’s business! In addition, this is an area of management we wouldn’t normally consider to be “in our face.” Yes, for many it is a function that falls through the cracks. Not just on an occasional basis, but as a point of reality, on a perpetual basis. How might we begin to restore this priority to its rightful position within our company?

In working with a variety companies, it’s become obvious that all managers have communication forms and forums that they feel are most effective in translating their thoughts. While some prefer personal meetings, others do so by phone, email, or in formal written correspondence. While we can agree this art is essential, its form is much less important than the accomplishment of its goal.

As our organizations grow, so does the corresponding responsibility to reevaluate needs versus reality. Failure to maintain open channels will only lead to false perceptions among your greatest assets: the key relationships that are essential to your company.

Who Are Your Core Assets?

Most organizations retain three forms of core assets: their staff, their customer base, and their strategic business relationships. While one or more of these resources may enjoy effective communication, does each receive the communication and degree of visibility that meets your collective needs? My own analysis suggests that all parties fail at some level to meet the minimums in reaching optimum communications.

It would be much more likely for a manager to have an in depth communication with one in ten of these designated priority relationships on a recurring basis. And many of the communications taking place would revolve around a specific issue, topic, or crisis; general discussions are much less likely. What’s on the minds of these “significant players” is essential to the ongoing success of your organization.

With their shared priority for our collective success, what input might they provide of significant value if given the opportunity? Do they currently feel as if their voice is being heard, and that a forum is available for them to contribute to their own constituency’s success? Could the perception exist that management simply doesn’t want the input?

A Forum is Now at Our Fingertips!

How can we effectively and efficiently swing that office door wide open? Like it or not, we continue to evolve into the instant gratification world of email. While this holds an equal degree of potential and missed opportunities, with proper structure it’s a very user-friendly form of communication. It should never replace our priority for personal communication, but it can be a first step in enhancing and motivating participation.

Most, if not all, Internet service providers have the ability to arrange for a second address within your personal email account or corporate website. I’d suggest this new address be opened for the sole purpose of improved communication between key managers and those priority relationships discussed earlier. You might even
name it TALK TO US @ —-.com or CONVERSATIONS OVER DINNER@—-.com. And how is this any different from my current email account, you ask? When an individual logs on to this account, they understand there are priorities given to the message, and standards to be maintained in its use. Ground rules are essential to its effective use and should be stated (and monitored) upfront, if not on the masthead of the account. The ground rules should include:

• The objective of this forum is to create a positive and productive link between management and its key partners (personal concerns and issues should obviously be communicated on a more personal basis; this is NOT a venue to bitch and moan).
• The communication of ideas, suggestions, and opportunities are the foundation of this new vehicle intended to enhance the product and workplace in which we share.
• Correspondence should be limited to a single paragraph of a hundred words or less and must be to the point and well thought out.
• Each correspondence will be reviewed and responded to on a timely basis.
• It’s possible (and should be stated) that it’s likely the communication will be shared in open forum in the hopes that optimum value can be realized.
• No idea or concept will be trivialized or demeaned in any way.
• This is your opportunity to shine; your communication and valued input is essential to the use of all of our professional resources and will be appreciated and acknowledged.

I’d recommend that the announcement of this vehicle be orchestrated as a “bold and exciting commitment to draw these varied relationships to an inviting place of shared ideas.” You might even consider using a formal invitation to announce your concept. Participation is essential and should be highly encouraged. Ideas and concepts should be forwarded to interested parties for their thoughts and personal observations and, on occasion, to this focus group as a whole.

On a monthly (or weekly) basis, you may wish to reward and announce the ideas of the month with an intimate dinner (promoting other forms of communication!) for two to be given to the most recent and valued inspiration. Announce the individual and how the concept provided will be implemented to benefit all parties. Keep the forum exciting, active, relevant, and fun.

You might wonder, “Why not open a web-based newsgroup where all parties can interact and mingle?” Remember, you want to maintain an open and objective forum, one without a personal agenda or potential for grandstanding. Greater control and a sense of confidentiality will be provided when you have the first opportunity to review content, evaluating its potential for further review.

This is a relatively simple first step in beginning to meet the communication potential of an organization. Encourage participants to write down thoughts during the day to forward that evening. Knowing that their voices will be heard and responded to creates a much greater sense of participation and personal ownership. What more can an organization hope for?

Not only that, who better to provide constructive ideas and opportunities than those with vested interests: your priority relationships?

Personal Regards,

Keenan

INTERPERSONAL© is published by INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM, Keenan Longcor, Editor, ©2012. Duplication of this publication is permitted for both personal and business use. Excerpts may only be quoted with acknowledgment of INTERPERSONAL/INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM as the source. For re-publication rights, please contact the editor at KEENAN@INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM

Vol. XCII

Dear Manager,

What other profession allows us to live in this virtual world when it comes to our future, our fulfillment, and our destiny? Personally, I can only come up with one line of work – a professional gambler – and I can certainly relate to THEIR inspiration and motivation as it might compare to other professions!

Let’s cut to the chase. We’re competitive by nature and simply hate to lose. Let it never be lost upon others that we compensate for this by being terrific winners! See, in the end it all balances out…

The First “Virtual Thought”

Virtual thought is the incorporation of past successes and failures into the vision of the future. Though the phrase may be relatively new, the concept of “virtual reality” could just have easily applied to the entrepreneurs of past generations. As entrepreneurs mature in their profession, they fine-tune the ability to visualize, forecast and, with a high degree of certainty, to form conclusions based their mental insight. This allows them to transition their dreams from the virtual to the real world.

It’s this “informed state of mind” that fills many managers with great vision and supreme confidence in their chosen profession. This is not to suggest that a seasoned entrepreneur won’t make a bad decision on occasion. It suggests, however, that over time, and with personal development, there are decisions worth “betting the farm on!” It can be difficult for the untrained eye (mind?) of virtual thought to relate to or quantify the potential for success or failure.

Did I Reference The Element Of Risk?

You’ll note that in my original definition of an entrepreneur I referenced the dynamic of risk. As I’ve stated in the past, the very best business people I know are those who’ve experienced failure – perhaps significant financial failure – on a person level. Only through personal failure can an entrepreneur capture and balance both a virtual and authentic state of mind.

While there are many successful individuals with unlimited resources, without significant risk I wouldn’t consider them to be true entrepreneurs. Anyone can spend their way into survival, financially adapt their model, and eventually declare their entrepreneurial success! Cash flow in the real world vs. deep pockets in a dream world is what separates the entrepreneur from the free spender.

If this virtual state is the mindset for most entrepreneurs, it would also suggest that it’s in this state they’d find creativity, pleasure, and fulfillment. I’ve certainly found this to be true; both for myself and for fellow dreamers I’ve known. It’s the planning, positioning, and the preparation (yes, the virtual state), that provides anticipation and motivation.

Prior to making a personal commitment and investment in this virtual state of mind, we already see the reality locked in. We can almost touch and feel the outcome! Experience tells us we can and will transfer the virtual state to an authentic state. Similar to the guy who makes ten consecutive three-point shots, in this state of mind the risk has been mitigated with prior experience and a corresponding overwhelming confidence. Gimme the ball, gimme the ball, gimme the ball!

So is That “Professional Gambler” a Distant Cousin?

Certainly! Just as that distant cousin is a fellow hopeless romantic and entrepreneur! All aspects of business investment hold risk. The only difference between this and other forms of gambling is in their social acceptability and relationship to attaining “The American Dream.” Risk can certainly be quantified and minimized, but it can’t be eliminated. Virtual thought for entrepreneurs is only sustainable in a thought process of virtual success. The absence of virtual success would suggest the absence of an entrepreneur.

The Flash Point of Success

It can become difficult for a seasoned professional to differentiate between a virtual and authentic state of mind. As virtual thinkers, the ultimate payoff – the flash point at which virtual and reality converge – may even go unnoticed. This is why we might find managers so focused on “the quest,” that they take their eye off the only prize: a successful conclusion. The pleasure all too often comes in the anticipated success and the process that comes in the virtual state.

Romance, Seduction, a Mistress and Excess!

All professionals can be seduced into a state of euphoria
by the mistress of success. Truth be told, as a group they can be pretty lousy at living in “the moment.” This is the greatest potential danger in excessive virtual thought. I’m not suggesting we stop courting this mistress; it’s the essence of ones being. After all, we’re dreamers. In fact, what separates the virtual thinker from the hopeless romantic? Perhaps very little!

We’re all well versed and trained in this virtual world. Let’s face it, it provides us with some of our greatest moments of pleasure and achievement. Ultimately, our final vision must be translated to meet our potential in the moment. True entrepreneurs don’t live in a dream world; they dream and act in the real world.

Personal Regards,

Keenan

INTERPERSONAL© is published by INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM, Keenan Longcor, Editor, ©2012. Duplication of this publication is permitted for both personal and business use. Excerpts may only be quoted with acknowledgment of INTERPERSONAL/INTERPERSONALBIZ.ORG as the source. For re-publication rights, please contact the editor at KEENAN@INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM

Vol. XCI

Dear Manager,

Clearly, excellence can be found in all areas of business. But are the examples as apparent as they once were? In the last decade, we’ve also seen dramatic socio-economic changes dictate the dynamics of many business sectors, including both the retail and service economies. We need look no further than the corner drug store (if you can still find one), the “service” counter at the local fast food restaurant, the travel industry, or the challenges facing field sales representatives. Certainly how society operates its service structures has changed.

Yes, there’ve been significant changes in my forty-year professional career. While I believe many, if not most, have been beneficial, others find me longing for former ideals. If, in fact, there are lost priorities, how has their absence transformed the landscape of American business?

Some of these transitions are no longer relevant in this new economy; others will find rebirth in “retro cycles” as brand new concepts (reincarnated from a Business 101 text!). Here’s what I believe deserves further consideration – a “blast from the past”- and a response from management. This is one view from the outside looking in.

Personal Accountability, as a day-to-day standard, seems to have fallen off the top of today’s priority list. Today’s managers are often finding themselves thrust into the role of filling in the gaps of “basic training” that were once taught and reinforced at the family dinner table. Current times now suggest that we enhance our translation skills, provide more clear expectations, and establish a single benchmark for each member of our team. Once this barometer has been formalized, and consistently monitored, much of our responsibility relating to establishing personal accountability can be sustained.

Training and Education has lost some its luster in most service industries; few pursue a four-year degree to prepare themselves for this sector of our economy (this statement offered up by an author with less than two years of college). As managers, we must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that our staff fully assimilates, and can orchestrate, the required elements of their position. Whether at the starting gate, or with tenured employees, we must remain diligent in the practice of training and full reinforcement of the fundamentals. The fundamentals are what made us great, and what will always save our bacon in the end result!

The go-go days of the 90’s have long passed. Those days provided significant and sustained growth in the service economy. Expansion came at a time of great velocity; a time when, very simply, less excellence was required. The internal structures historically required to shore up this level of growth of human resources were often abandoned during these freewheeling times. Lack of management structures created a corresponding expansion of individual and field level “freelancing.” This false foundation will eventually show an inevitable vulnerability: weakness due to lowered standards and expectations. A bedrock foundation, with consistent and clear professional standards, is essential to meeting long term, sustainable excellence in the marketplace.

Weakness in mid-level management has provided limited quantifiable rewards for many organizations. While a good number of these individuals wanted to become “a manager,” too often they hadn’t developed the people skills, hadn’t the proper training, or hadn’t enough experience under their belt to fulfill the objectives. Without realizing it, upper management may have inadvertently set them up to collectively fail. These individuals were often sent into battle with no basic training. Mid-level management absolutely has the potential to excel in the areas referenced above, but only if they are first properly mentored to provide the best possible example to those they are being asked to manage.

A mixed bag of economic and motivational priorities within our staff has, in some cases, diminished the potential of the workforce in the service/retail sector. Employees are generally expected to be both loyal and devoted to their profession and employer. For various reasons, including the predominance of second incomes, this is not always true. While many employees continue to exhibit this devotion, it’s also likely that one’s priority has shifted to meeting ones personal needs first.

This is the culture in which we live. Individuals are looking for a full-time job with a full-time salary and increased flexibility. This has certainly become a difficult issue for many industries. As the financial requirements to support “excellence” continues to escalate, the retail and service sectors no longer have the ability to thrive because the competitive margins simply don’t exist. As managers, we must better quantify the “devotion factor” in the outline of job descriptions and in evaluating talent. An all-star can always be found; the best managers “hunt them down” without compromise.

The dynamics of how and who provides goods and services in this economy has been set on its proverbial ear! Think of it in terms of the changes in your industry and your organization, both anticipated and unforeseen, over the past decade. Where does your office buy its supplies, where do you buy your son’s bike, where do you buy your favorite ice cream? The independents in these and hundreds of other service/retail sectors have vanished. Management must now assume its own position of excellence.

Excellence in management will accept, adapt, and flourish in managing and maximizing the potential within these new standards and guidelines

This month’s issue was not intended to be an indictment of the business world we live in. It’s more a reflection of societal pressures and corresponding changes in ideals that I believe have totally and irreversibly changed the retail and service sectors. In the end, excellence will prevail.

Personal Regards,

Keenan

INTERPERSONAL© is published by INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM, Keenan Longcor, Editor, ©2012. Duplication of this publication is permitted for both personal and business use. Excerpts may only be quoted with acknowledgment of INTERPERSONAL/INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM as the source. For re-publication rights, please contact the editor at KEENAN@INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM

Vol. LXXV

Dear Manager,

With this issue I’d like to look at this topic and the necessary “equalizing balances” in terms of quality vs. quantity. I can’t think of two more equal, yet by nature more conflicting, aspects of business in today’s marketplace. With the advances of the world economy in full bloom, quality vs. quantity is clearly the dynamic that will determine our future, and the future for generations to come, if the U.S. is to retain its competitive edge.

A number of years ago my daughter left college after her junior year to move to the Silicon Valley and join the “dot.com rush.” While my feelings were mixed, I genuinely supported her decision. Katie is one who will always land on her feet, and I felt this would give her some of those life experiences we all need. Jeez, to be 20, making $60K a year, and with the title of Project Manager to boot … doesn’t get much better than that!

It was an amazing year, twelve-hour days, six or seven-day weeks of intensely focused time with members of what became “a new family.” Exhaustion, poor eating habits I’m sure, with only infrequent visits to the gym to ease some of the stress. I think we’d all agree: a bit too much quantity, too little quality. Just before her one year anniversary, it became obvious that yes, the price had become too high. Katie gave notice. She yearned for her former life and the more simple pleasures found in college. She’s moved back to Seattle to finish up her degree. She truly appreciates so much more what she’d nearly lost: the quality of life she had forsaken. As you may have predicted, weeks later her former company locked its doors.

Ah yes, how the “pendulum do swing” from one extreme to the other, both individually and organizationally, in these times of high drama for American Business. This evolution in the marketplace has certainly affected the gift, stationery, and home furnishing markets. The smoke and mirrors of the collectable industry is in the tank with the influence of the Internet and its “clean air and pricing policies.” The greeting card industry is just now admitting the impact of the virtual greeting card, and for every new and independent retailer opening in this category there are three that will close. Only those who innovate and adapt will survive.

Clearly this is a reflection of our society’s infatuation with the Sam’s Clubs, Targets and Costco’s of the world, making it very, very, very clear that “this is where America shops!” Quantity would seem to rule this contest, though in reality the independent retailer’s lack of innovation has resulted in no current growth. Those who are growing do so at the expense and market share of another. Similarly, in the absence of innovation, manufacturers have no choice but to follow their customers.

The president of a sales agency recently asked me how best to protect his interests in these difficult times. He felt the need to shore up his agency with additional new manufacturers, but realized he’d do so at the expense of available time and capacity for his current manufacturers. When you’re running scared in business, most any path of least resistance can seem incredibly appealing.

Capacity is a very real and ongoing concern for both manufacturers and sales agencies in this and other industries. Productivity has been enhanced, but in this industry many are still writing orders by hand (a slow and mundane process of decades past), instead of using hand held, automated order writing systems. I know of one agency that experienced a forty percent growth in sales once these devices were implemented.

The increase was neither the result of a better-trained sales force, nor of a hot or explosive marketplace. It was simply a reflection of increased capacity. My first response to this agency president would be to run, don’t walk, to the implementation of this form of automation for his agency. While it won’t solve the underlying problem, you can be assured that if or when the gas runs out of the engine, at least you’ll be holding the fuel pump!

My second piece of advice would be that quality over quantity has survived the test of time in American Business. Certainly the dumping of quantity from overseas and domestic markets has taken its toll, but in the end, quality always rules. Think of it in these terms; would you prefer to be known for your quality, or your ability to produce quantity? It would seem to be fairly clear. Even if the pendulum is currently swinging against you, it will swing back. With time, quality always comes back into favor.

In conversations with my sales associates, I would always suggest that while I could find them three additional manufacturers to represent, I couldn’t find them the additional four days each month to support the manufacturers’ rightful needs and expectations. While it was common for many sales agencies to represent thirty or more manufacturers, our agency represented fifteen.

It was clearly important to our agency that we play a significant and visible role with our manufacturers. I wanted to be more than just “another rep agency” in these primary relationships. In good times, I wanted our agency to be acknowledged as a potential leader; in difficult times I wanted our agency to be in a position to receive the benefit of the doubt. Strong and mutually beneficial relationships, ones founded on quality, are becoming less common. I wanted to stand out among the masses, making it that much more difficult to form a negative conclusion relating to our organization.

I also found this policy to be revealing as it related to our internal sales trends. Invariably, even with our limited number of manufacturers, the bottom three consistently represented less than three percent of our total sales! Can you imagine how these ratios would translate to an agency with thirty or more manufacturers? What potential for quality exists for the manufacturers at the bottom of that heap?

One of the greatest challenges for agency presidents, their staff, and sales people, is the sheer amount of administration, follow up and maintenance required to stay on top of so many manufacturers. This was a daunting task for our office and each of its staff members. Forget quality for a moment. How much more capacity, let alone stamina, can I provide a dozen clients compared to thirty? Clearly, this single commitment established a sense of quality, clear lines of communication, and years of security for our organization, in the good times and in the bad.

We as managers must remain vigilant in these highly productive times to not overextend our staff’s capacity. We must maintain the standards of quality consistent with our prior success. In times when quantity vs. quality is in debate, this may be your greatest opportunity to throw all of your resources behind your own position of strength in the marketplace. You will not just be noticed; you will stand head and shoulders above your competitor.

Personal Regards,

Keenan

INTERPERSONAL© is published by INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM, Keenan Longcor, Editor, ©2011. Duplication of this publication is permitted for both personal and business use. Excerpts may only be quoted with acknowledgment of INTERPERSONAL/INTERPERSONALBIZ.ORG as the source. For re-publication rights, please contact the editor at KEENAN@INTERPERSONALBIZ.COM