Ask Andi

We have a manager who is struggling to get a new employee up to speed. We’re afraid we might fail this new employee by letting the manager make training mistakes at the employee’s expense, but we don’t want to step in and undercut the manager’s authority. What should we do? P.S. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen new employees under this manager fail.

Thoughts of the day: Turnover can be costly. Many managers lack training on how to make the transition to management. Identify the kinds of mistakes your manager is making. Set up structure to work with the manager on what she has to learn.

Make sure both you and the manager recognize the cost of turnover. Training eats up profits as the manager is diverted from making her full contribution while the employee  learns the job, does things inefficiently and makes mistakes which have to be corrected. Repeating training basics with another employee, because the last one didn’t cut it, just prolongs the agony.

One set of mistakes that early stage managers make is to set the bar too high – expecting too much too soon, and not delegating enough. These mistakes go hand in hand. The employee is asked to do something, makes a mistake, and the manager, who wasn’t comfortable delegating, pulls back and stops delegating.

Teach your manager that something less than perfection is okay! Focus on making progress.

• mistakes are okay – it’s how people learn.
• stay out of the problem and let the employee fix the mess that he or she just created – so that more learning takes place.
• teach each employee it’s not okay to keep repeating mistakes – progress has to be made.

Discuss with the manager that there’s a difference between being someone’s friend and being their manager. It can be a tricky balance for inexperienced managers. They need to know about what motivates the people working for them, without getting caught up in personal drama.

Check on the manager’s basic communication skills. Managers need to be able to provide corrective feedback in a way that the employee can hear it and act upon it.

Set up structure for the manager:

• training plan for the employee to follow: expectations for the new employee, what the employee should be asked to do, and how fast should he/she should learn to do new things.
• weekly reviews between manager and new employee: what went right, what went wrong, what to try next.
• weekly meeting between you and the manager: what the employee did well, where improvement is needed. Ask for facts and specific examples. Agree on what to do next.

Hearing what is happening in the manager-employee meeting can be crucial to evaluating where training problems may be coming from. Periodically sit in on meetings the manager is having with her new employee. Just be careful not to get in the way, or appear to take over from the manager. If you have things to add, make notes and share them afterwards with the manager – don’t interrupt during the meeting with the employee.

Talk with your manager about her responsibility for insuring the employee succeeds. She can have one hiring failure, maybe a second one. But if employees are failing time after time, that’s probably the manager’s problem, not the employees’. That’s something the manager has to fix if she wants to continue to grow in your company.

Suggest classes and books. Lay out a training plan for the manager. Make it clear she has as much to learn as the new employee does, in order for both of them to succeed.

Looking for a good book? Ten Mistakes a Manager Should Avoid, by Aditi Chopra.

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Wondering if it would be useful, or a distraction to build an advisory board? How do I figure this out?

Thoughts of the Day: It’s useful to have outside perspective. Set goals for what you want to accomplish. Decide on frequency and venue. Get your documentation in place upfront. Be prepared to live up to the board’s expectations.

If you’re tired of going it all alone, one way to add company to the table is to set up an advisory board. If you are willing to take their advice seriously, the right board members can help you to sort through, prioritize and deal with the challenges and opportunities your company faces.

Look for people who have had experience being on other boards. Ask candidates to advise you on what the board should be doing. Get them to tell you how they would run it if they were in charge.

Look for people who can think quickly as they blend together concepts and ideas. You want people who can assess situations, are willing to be outspoken, who have the energy and desire to debate ideas vigorously and cooperatively. Focus on forward thinkers, who can help you decide on what to do to close current gaps in the company while simultaneously moving the company towards the next level.

Figure out what kind of support would be most helpful. Strategy and direction? Contacts and leads? Raising capital? How to handle employees? What to do with IT? Where the industry and competitors are going? Marketing, operations or sales challenges?  Make sure your advisors have experience with your industry, and with companies in your size range.

Look for people with a history of being accountable. They know that the advice they give matters. They think things through carefully, but don’t wait for someone else to surface issues.

Define how often you want your board to meet. Quarterly? Monthly? Know where you plan to meet. At the company office? Offsite? Figure out how long the meetings will last. A couple hours? Half a day? Full day? More than a day? Make sure your board candidates are in agreement as to your venue and timing.

Also think through who in your company should be invited to attend all or part of the advisory board meetings. This should not be about you presenting everything to the board. You want to give your staff opportunity to present, get questioned, and have access to the talented team of advisors you’ve assembled.

You may have a specific employee with potential to grow, and no one in their field to look up to. Consider bringing onto the board someone with skills in that field who’d also be willing to mentor the employee. Agree on the extent to which that board member would work with the employee on a development plan.

Insist that all board members sign NDA’s. Don’t be casual. You’re about to turn over information about the heart and soul of your company. Make sure your board members formally agree to respect the confidentiality and trust you’re extending. Have these documents ready to go as soon as you sign up board members.

Plan on a package of information to be distributed 2 weeks prior to a board meeting. Financial statements: P&L’s, Balance Sheets, Cash Flow Forecast, are typical. Progress reports on specific departments are also useful. Someone should be assigned to take notes during an advisory meeting, and get those notes typed and distributed shortly afterwards. Keep track of next steps, who agreed to do what, and review that at the start of the next meeting.

Final notes. Be ready to take the board’s advice seriously. Plan to pay board members for participation – it keeps everyone’s attention focused on the value being exchanged. Budget time to plan for meetings, and to debrief with staff afterwards.

Looking for a good book? How To Build An Advisory Board to Grow Your Business and Increase Profits, by Advisory Board Group.

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I’m worried about my team of sales people. They don’t seem to be really focused. Sales results aren’t great. I’d expect the sales people to come in early, leave late, put in the hours necessary to succeed. Instead, they’re here by 9:30, out by 4:00. I don’t have the time to ride them about their hours. I don’t know what to do.

Thoughts of the Day: Focus on goals. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Build up capacity to perform. Weed out underperformers. Learn  how to hire for success in sales. Recognize that as a sales manager, you are measured on the results of your team – if it’s not working, you’re part of the problem, until you’re part of the solution.

Start with goals. Make sure that each person on the team has selected a set of goals that he, or she, believes is realistic, measureable and attainable. Ask each person to make an individual plan to achieve their personal goals – number of prospecting calls, types of prospects to call on, defined over a specific period of time.

Don’t worry too much about the hours. People can come in early and sit around, or stay late and waste time. At the same time, if people are working hard in the hours they’re at work, and they don’t get the results they want, putting in a few extra hours might help. It’s a balance.

Focus on productivity. How many new contacts are being made? Teach the team that sales is a numbers game. The more prospects they are in contact with, the more likely a sale is to happen. Combine that with skill building at honing in on prospects that have high potential to close, and moving the ball forward with those.

Check that each person’s plan is realistic. For example, if the sales person is currently calling on 1 or 2 new prospects / week, suddenly jumping to calling on 20 might seem beneficial. However that jump is unlikely to happen, and might become discouraging when the sales person finds out how hard it is to quickly and significantly increase an activity.

Focus on building up sales capacity, which is like building up stamina and muscle in the gym. Do a little more each day. Recognize when a plateau has been hit. Hire a coach to oversee the training cycles.

Assess each person on the team. Are there any team members who have not bought into their plans? Any who are not following the plan? Are you hearing excuses? Anyone looking depressed rather than energized by the challenge of achieving success?

Not everyone is cut out for sales. Some people get worn out by sales, and need to move on. Tolerating underperformers who are dragging down the energy of the team can eat away at the entire team’s will to succeed. As a manager, you want to focus on encouraging the best, rather than trying to save the weakest.

A sales manager’s job includes honestly assessing each team member. Talk with individuals who are having difficulty. Maybe they need to move on. Don’t let them stay stuck in a rut.

When hiring, look for attitude. Avoid victims. Find people who see themselves as winners, who can realistically assess a situation, and figure out how to make lemonade. It’s more than a drive to succeed. It’s an inner strength that comes through in good times and bad, focused on making the positive happen.

Sales is a game of independence and self reliance. To be successful, individuals have to be accountable for what they can, or cannot, achieve. Not everything is going to go their way. They have to have the inner strength and belief system to pick themselves up and move forward. Make sure each and every team member has, and keeps that attitude.

Looking for a good book? The Sales Manager’s Success Manual, by Wayne M. Thomas.

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John doesn’t have time to be the webmaster; he’s busy working with clients. We can’t afford to spend much on outsiders, but the website needs regular updating. When a prospect looks at the website I want them to see the right things. What should we do?

Thoughts of the Day: Make sure you have a good structure. Keep it simple. Have an overall plan of what you want to accomplish. Lay out a schedule. Know what you’re good at, and where you need help.

Evaluate your website overall. Is it consistent? Can you add content easily? Is there a clean look and feel? If you’re not sure, spend a little money, get a professional evaluation. It’s liking having a good foundation for a house – so much easier to expand and remodel.

Start with spring cleaning! There’s probably old content on your website that could be deleted or updated. Streamline!

Invite readers to explore, but don’t try to put all the answers out there. Leave visitors with questions, so they have a reason to contact you. Find the balance between enough information to “hook” visitor, and not so much that they go away knowing everything they need to know, having no need to get in touch with your company.

Look critically at the way you display content on the website. Do you have the right concepts? Would a picture reduce the number of words you need? What’s the point you’re trying to get across – and how clear is that point?

Ask your customers and prospects what they think of the website. Listen carefully. Do they quickly identify with the message? Can they easily find what they need? Are they likely to contact you as a result of a website visit?

It’s impossible to update a website all at once. One of the mistakes I’ve often made is making a small project into a big one. Be willing to make incremental progress with the website. After all, a website is always a work in progress, it’s never done.

Make a list of the changes you’d like to make to the website. Identify priorities and group by type. Work on one area of need at a time – design, copywriting, strategy – and accomplish several items at once.

Decide how much you can afford to spend on a monthly or quarterly basis. Scale your projects to fit your budget. Budget time as well as money. Lay out a plan to work on the website regularly using a mix of outsiders and internal resources.

Perhaps you decide one quarter you want to work on updating content. Decide if anyone in your company has the skill to do copywriting. If you have a candidate, ask them to take a look at the existing content and make recommendations.

Don’t throw the whole website at them. Just ask for some ideas – what they might suggest for revisions. See what they come up with. If you like what they suggest, keep going. If not, consider hiring a copywriter.

Next month, let’s say you want to work on design. Any good designers in your company? If not, save your pennies until you can afford to hire someone good. Who’s good? Take a look at other websites. Find ones that you like the look – find out who designed those. See what else those designers have in their portfolio.

Whether you use internals, or outside vendors, it matters who you select to work on the  website. They create the face of your company. Take your time, experiment, choose carefully.

Now, back to the problem of John. You’re right, John has a full time job in the company, and it has nothing to do with website design and development. Figure out where John is most valuable to you. Schedule projects around John’s slow periods. Hire vendors who compliment what John can do, to work on the website when he’s busy.

Looking for a good book? Content Strategy for the Web, 2nd Edition, by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach.

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My service manager just passed a letter to me. It came from an irate customer. I think the customer is dead wrong, and just blowing off steam. What do you think I should do?

Thoughts of the Day: Whether your company is right or wrong, this customer just did you a favor. Think about the reasons listed in the letter. Decide who’s accountable for the loss, and make them become part of the solution.

Every lost customer is an opportunity to learn more about how your company handles itself. Consider this a wakeup call. Even if you can’t get this customer back, you can try to figure out who’s likely to leave next, and what to about it.

Because this customer just wrote a letter, the door to communicating is open. Seize the opportunity. Write back, and follow it up with a phone call. Minimize damage from this loss as you learn what to do to insure future customers stick with your company.

Let the customer know you appreciate the feedback. Say that it’s not the policy of the company to frustrate customers, and that you want to learn more about what happened. Even if the customer is in the wrong, find out why there’s a mismatch between customer expectation and your company’s ability to deliver.

Get to the bottom of the disconnect. Check out all notes on previous transactions. Ask yourself, and your employees a number of questions.

• Should your company have taken on this customer to begin with?
• Did the relationship shift from good to bad, and if so, what caused the shift?
• What did this customer need that your company couldn’t supply, but could supply in the future, and how could your company make money doing so?
• What would it cost to get the customer back, how long would they stick around, how much would they buy, at what profit? Is it worth trying to get them back?

Perhaps your staff didn’t understand how to take care of the customer. Or, they could have thought the customer’s requests were unreasonable and they acted to protect the company. Whatever the reason, make sure that employees understand the cost of the loss and become part of the solution for making it up.

When sales is charged with getting customers, and operations isn’t charged with keeping or replacing lost customers, a revolving door can open up. Work comes in the front door, and quickly goes out the back door. Sales costs increase as word gets around that your company has problems keeping customers. Opportunity to disperse the cost of sales across multiple orders is gone as customers quickly pack it in.

Instead put performance review measures in place that make people in operations take the hit for lost customers. Have a hand-off process between sales and operations when new customers come on board. Once operations accepts the customer, it’s their baby to keep.

Consider if there’s a need for training. Do people in operations make the connection that customers pay for their jobs to exist? Do they have the skills to communicate effectively, especially when there’s a problem? Can they conduct diagnostics and create alternate solutions?

Make operations responsible for the solution. You may want someone outside of operations to do the direct research with the customer, to avoid head butting and to get accurate feedback. Once the feedback is in, however, turn back to operations and ask how they’re going to make up for the loss. What can they do to expand other customers? Do they need to cut back personnel to preserve operating margin?

Looking for a good book? Strategic Customer Service: Managing the Customer Experience to Increase Positive Word of Mouth, Build Loyalty and Maximize Profits, by John A. Goodman.

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Need help dealing with the bank. Next few months will be tough. Cash flow is already tight and taxes are coming up. If I had a bigger credit line to draw on, I’d be more comfortable, but my bank says there’s no point applying.

Thoughts of the day: Pay attention when the bank tells you there’s a problem. Short on cash – do you know why? Cut out costs, then push on sales to get past breakeven. The economy is turning up, but don’t expect gifts.

Money is available for companies that can prove they’re a credit worthy risk. Banks have loosened up from the days of 2009-2010. Many banks are focused on what is their best customer. It’s worth your while to find a banker who understands your industry.

Banks look for a few things. Three big ones are collateral, profits, and a Quick Ratio. Inability to meet a bank’s standards indicates your business isn’t as strong as it should be.

What’s a Quick Ratio? It compares Current Assets / Current Liabilities. Current assets include cash, checking and savings balances, inventory and accounts receivable. Current liabilities include accounts payable and lines of credit. Banks expect you to have twice as much (200% or better) in current assets as you have in current liabilities.

What can you do to improve your lending profile? Put money into a savings account every week – start small, build up. Don’t pay down credit lines too quickly – instead term them out – that pulls all but the current year’s portion of the term loan out of Current Liabilities, thereby improving your Quick Ratio. And it gets the loan paid off. Be willing to pay taxes – it’s a demonstration that your business is profitable.

If you’re short of cash, ask why. Sales down? Costs out of line? Too much overhead? People not paying their bills? Too much spent on upgrading – facilities, equipment, etc. – in too short a period?

Take control! Don’t spend a dime more than you have to. Cut back on space, supplies, excess equipment, extra hours of work. Every dollar saved brings you closer to having a profile that the bank will appreciate.

Ready to get creative? With rising gas prices, consider telecommuting, watch your electrical usage, and make sure the office is energy efficient. Go through vendor bills with a fine tooth comb. Don’t be afraid to question things.

Make sure that you get paid every cent that you’re owed. Some customers play the game of negotiating discounts at the end of a job. Stand firm.

Cleaning up accounts receivable is like finding money. Charge interest. If older customers delay payments check their credit rating. New customers – always check their credit before extending terms. If anyone is a poor credit risk demand significant upfront deposit and final payment before you deliver, or be willing to walk away.

Send out invoices weekly, or even daily if they’re big enough. Use email instead of snail mail. Call customers to confirm receipt and get a payment date.

Raise prices. It’s time! Shift marketing dollars to internet based strategies – they’re often less costly, and much more efficient to implement. Whatever you do, don’t cut out marketing – it’s the key to future business opportunities.

Go after new sales, but be strategic. Target profitable accounts. Ask for more upfront – if you’re used to getting 10% down, ask for 25%; if you get 30% down, ask for 40%.

Having cash available will let you sleep better at night. Use cash reserves to free yourself from time wasting activities. No more time spent figuring out how to pay today’s bills. No more running around to collect payments because you can’t wait for someone to mail the check in.

Prove to the bank you’ve cleaned up your act. Ask your banker for suggestions of what they look at. Then build it for them and for yourself. If you don’t understand what they’re looking for, or don’t know how to get there, don’t give up, get help.

Looking for a good book? Making Cash Flow (Managing Your Money) by Christine Thompson-Wells.

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