Revenue Journal®

It struck me recently that I have become a commerce code-cracker. Companies bring me in when something is stuck, when they can't figure out how to get from "here" to "there." They know what "here" looks like, and they know what they want "there" to look like. But, they have either tried to get from here to there, and failed, or they can't imagine how to get from here to there, knowing what they know. So they bring me in, and I set to work cracking the code.

I investigate until I understand where the problems are. It doesn't take long, because I have been doing this a long time, in many different situations. I know where to look and what to look for. When the solution is clear, I make recommendations.

What's interesting is how often the problem has been self-inflicted. Actually, thinking through the countless situations I've encountered, I'm realizing that "often" isn't the right word. The word should be "always." This means, of course, that if you don't mess yourself up, your chances of success are quite good. On the other hand, if you're like most people, it means that you're messing yourself up somehow.

The problems that I find fall into three categories:

1. Employees are having trouble getting something done, but managers don't know about it, aren't willing to hear about it, or don't want to fix it.

2. Customers are running into problems as they try to buy or try to use the product/service, but managers don't know about it, aren't willing to hear about it, or don't want to fix it.

3. The CEO is stuck in a destructive behavior pattern. Everyone knows, but no one wants to tell him, and/or no one knows how to get him to change.

Let's look at these problems one at a time.

Employees are having trouble getting something done, but managers don't know about it, aren't willing to hear about it, or don't want to fix it.

When employees first come on board, they are taught "how we do it here." They learn the method, and they follow the method. If they run into a snag, they ask someone about it - usually the person who trained them or a co-worker. The usual response is, "Yeah, it's always been that way, get used to it," (or words to that effect).

Very seldom does someone say, "Hmmm. That doesn't sound good, maybe we ought to tell our manager." The knee-jerk reaction is almost always one of resignation rather than investigation and escalation. This is the beginning of the decline in the new employee's morale. It starts with this first experience, and continues as the employee encounters more bumps in the road, and is told - and comes to personally believe - that no one cares.

Meanwhile, the boss wonders why the employees are not more productive, and why they don't believe a word they hear from management. The employees' personal experience with "uncaring" behavior is more compelling and real to them than the usual attempts by management to convince them that they care.

The solution, of course, is to actually care. To take the time to find out how things are going. To ask questions, and listen to the answers, and then figure out how to make it better. To be constantly looking for things that should be eliminated - things that are too time-consuming, expensive, repetitive, duplicative, inefficient, wasteful, silly, or boring. To ask employees to contribute to the solution, so they can "own" it. To give them enough freedom to improve it, while helping them be aware of the impact of those improvements on other processes, people, or systems - and the need to vet the idea before implementing it, just in case there are some unanticipated consequences.

Caring includes making changes when changes are required. Someone has to take ownership of the change, and to convince management that change is necessary. Management has to change if changes are required at that level.

This doesn't happen more often than it does happen. It's just human nature. We know better, but we don't bother. It's much easier to rationalize or find an excuse for not doing anything. There are so many easy excuses: I don't have time. It's too hard. I can't do it. Someone else should do it. I don't know how. They won't let me. I tried fixing this before and nobody cooperated. I don't have the right tools. I don't have the right people. I don't have enough budget. I have more important things to focus on.

I could go on, but you get my drift. Excuses are a dime a dozen. The problem remains, and leads to further problems. New problems crop up. Things get worse. When it gets so bad that revenues start to slide, they call me in. I start unraveling and following the tangled strings, and pretty soon it becomes obvious where the problems are. If that one problem had been fixed when it was first noticed, it wouldn't have gotten the company in hot water.

If I were the owner or CEO of a company, reading this article, as soon as I was done, I would make a list of the lowest people in each department of the company. Then I would make a point of chatting with each one of those people on a rotating basis - say, one person a week. I would start TODAY.

I would go to the first person on the list and let him know that I wanted to make sure that he had what he needed to get his job done effectively, and would sit and watch him work for a bit. I would ask questions until I knew what he did and how he did it. What are you doing now? How much time do you spend on this every day? What slows you down? Why are you doing that? Do you think there's a better way to do it? I would take notes.

Just the fact that the owner of the company was sitting with the lowest of the low, and taking notes, would send a powerful message to everyone who saw it - or heard about it. What would the message be?

Someone cares.

"The boss might come and talk to me one of these days. I better have something smart to say," your managers would think. "My people better not be able to say that I have prevented them from getting their best work done."

This one act, done consistently and with courtesy, would stop the excuses. No one would be able to convince the new, still-motivated employee that no one cares, because that employee would have experienced someone caring, with their own eyes. Personal experience always trumps hearsay. That new employee would be confident that if he or she found a better way to do something, someone would listen and someone would help.

Customers are running into problems as they try to buy or try to use the product/service, but managers don't know about it, aren't willing to hear about it, or don't want to fix it.

Customers aren't as accessible as your employees. They bought, and they went away (unless you're selling a "high scrutiny" product or service, and the relationship is ongoing). But you do have (or could obtain) their contact information, and you can call them. You can also use someone outside your company to call them; customers will tend to be a bit more open and blunt with a third-party person - assuming you pick the right person to conduct the interviews, and the person conducts the interviews the right way.

The point is, you have to call them. You have to do the same thing you'd do with that lowly employee. You have to ask questions. You have to listen and understand. You have to find out how easy - or difficult - it was to find you, buy from you, and use your product or service.

You have to take notes. You have to discuss with them how you might be able to solve the problem. Test your ideas. "If we did this and that, would it have been easier for you?" Listen again.

Then, you have to take action. You have to develop a plan, implement the plan, and successfully solve the problem. And then, you need to go back to those same people you called - even if they will presumably never buy anything from you again - and tell them what you have done. Thank them. Send them a personal thank you note or some kind of gift.

You cannot begin to imagine the effect this will have on your "word of mouth" reputation, or your future revenues.

Why? You will have proven that you care. Obviously, we have a theme going here. It's beginning to feel a lot like...caring. The real thing. Not a mission statement or glib slogan or "corporate identity," but the real concern of one human being for another. A concerned human being who has left the blah-blah-blah, platitudinous world behind, and who has taken caring action.

The CEO is stuck in a destructive behavior pattern. Everyone knows, but no one wants to tell him, and/or no one knows how to get him to change.

If you are already interviewing and taking action, you are well on your way to solving this problem. The reality you encounter in those employee and customer interviews - and the actions that you take as a result - will change your perspective. You will be less myopic, less prone to "management blindness," and have a better nose for trouble.

People will know that you care, and will not be afraid to tell you that you have a problem. They may even have the nerve to suggest ways to solve the problem, because they have seen you solving other problems, and they will see how you solved the problem. Any halfway sophisticated person will be able to suggest a solution that you will be most likely to accept. The more employees see you taking action to solve problems, the more they will know how you work best.

The smartest people in the world see themselves as eternal students. They assume that they can always learn something new about anything, including those subjects in which they are considered experts. Your employees and customers will know if you are that type of person, and will not be afraid to tell you if something needs improving.

Trying to get from "here" to "there"? Turn this article into your New Year's resolution, and you will start to crack the code. "There" will be looking more attainable every day.
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My next article will be published Friday, January 4, 2008. Happy New Year!