I have long decried that one of the factors that inhibits the ability to write a good strategic plan is the lack of “strategic thinking” that typically goes into the planning process. If a practitioner is not spending serious time and effort on the thinking part of the equation, there is the possibility they can do the planning part of the process (the methodology, the framework) superbly, only to create a flawed plan because it was based on poor information and ideas. Then I realized that was another major issue that I simply had not been stressing enough; the execution of the plan.

Everybody knows that even a brilliant plan that is poorly executed is almost worthless. And there can be no denying that every strategic planner in the world will jump up and down about how important it is to “execute to plan” – but then it struck me – almost none of them make planning for effective execution part of the strategic plan!

What I am suggesting, and will now add to all of my classes, is that a strategic plan is NOT complete, until you have also written a clear, specific, and measurable and detailed “Strategic Execution Plan.” A carefully constructed document that spells out precisely how the plan will be executed; what will be measured and how; what success and failure looks like, how you will review and track the execution, and what the rewards and punishments around those key measures.

It has been my experience that most organization spend very little time doing any real strategic thinking, then spend a lot of time, energy and money on an elaborate “planning retreat” that focuses heavily on process, and then walk away from the plan and simply expect that they can pass out the plan and it will be dutifully implemented by their people. I say no, not unless just as much energy, time and effort goes into creating a system and a process for ensuring effective execution as well.

I now see planning as a three part process: Strategic Thinking + Strategic Planning Process + Execution Planning/Process. This is why I have decided to utilize ExcellenceUniversity’s Execution Boost Support System with more of my clients this year. I’ve come to realize that you can be incredibly innovative and have stunning ideas that you run through a wonderful planning process, but without the detailed and specific systems in place to ensure execution, the plan will simply go up on the shelf as credenza-ware, only to be pulled down for next year’s planning retreat – dusted off – and push all the dates out 18 months. That is no way to use a strategic plan – and I encourage everyone reading this now to consider developing a Strategic Execution Plan as soon as possible.

Wow, that is a perfect statement because it gets right to the heart of why I am typically called in to coach someone. The executives I coach are bright, talented, bold, creative, entrepreneurial and driven… all truly valuable traits. But taken to the extreme, these same traits can make these sorts of folks very hard to manage and direct. What’s more, if they cannot learn how to control their behavior and fit in more comfortably in a senior role, the very things that made them successful up to this point in their career, can actually lead to their demise.

Here is the kind of things I have heard numerous leaders tell their key managers:

1) Know and run your business incredibly well. Make your numbers and keep your customers happy. If you cannot successfully run the business you are in charge of, in the end nothing else matters. So priority number one is always: run a smooth, flawless operation that has a solid strategy and strongly contributes to the corporation.

2) No surprises. I expect you to handle most of your business issues on your own, but if you do have a big problem let me know about it right away. I cannot help you if I do not know what is going on and trying to hide bad news from me will only hurt all of us much worse in the end. So I need courageous communication and 100% honesty, I have to be able to trust completely that you are telling me everything that is important – the good and the bad.

3) Be able to take and give frank feedback. Yes we are friends and I respect you a great deal, but this is business. If I have to give you some uncomfortable feedback or make a hard decision that negatively impacts your business, do not take it personally, simply understand that it is what is best for the entire company and work hard to deal with it effectively. Conversely, I also need to know if you feel I am making a mistake or have over looked something. You need to be able to deliver tough news to me without fear of retribution. It is a two-way street on this one.

4) Surround yourself with the best people you can possibly find. Not only is this a solid strategy for business success, it is critical to business survival. If you are the smartest person in your division and the one that “has to do it or it won’t get done right” you are putting all of us in a very dangerous position. You need a deep bench of extremely talented people to help you succeed and ensure a smooth succession should it be necessary for someone else to step into your role. Always having to be the “Hero” is not a good tactic and will eventually lead to burn-out, stress and failure.

5) High IQ is not enough, you need a high EQ as well. Once you build a team of superstars, you have to be absolutely superb at motivating and supporting them. Leadership through intimidation, bullying, threats, and pressure will not succeed in the log run. Yes, you might be able to make your numbers and grind out profit for a while, but in time you will lose the support and trust of your employees. It is clear, people never give their best when they feel like they are getting beaten up. The leader’s job is to build a world-class team and then coach, direct and motive them to deliver world-class performance.

6) Be able to make the tough decision in a timely manner. As your business grows so will the size of the decisions you need to make. Get a good team behind you that will be brutally honest with you, ask for lots of help, then make the best decision you can with the information at hand. Do not slow down the process – fast, flat and flexible is the goal.

7) Think and act strategically. Firefighting problems, even if you are great at it, is not the way to run a business. Put out the fires and keep them out so you have the time to think long-term. You need to have a good handle on where you and your business should be in three-to-five years, not simply struggling to try to make budget this quarter.

I am sure I have missed a few, this is just the things I have been hearing repeatedly from the top executives I work for. I welcome your input and ideas.

Hope this helped — John

This is one of the biggest issues I face in all of my consulting and training assignments. It is what we refer to in our firm as the “Knowing-Doing Gap.” Companies know what they are supposed to do, they have a solid plan to dominate their market – but creating a performance-oriented culture of disciplined execution that can effectively implement the plan seems to be a challenge that few can conquer. If that were not frustrating enough, when you step back and look at the financial implications they can be staggering. Inability to execute to plan is likely responsible for the overwhelming percentage of lost revenues in most large organizations.

The solution to this dilemma is simple, but by no means easy. As much as I hate to admit it, the only cure to this problem is: Process. The leader must put into place a detailed system; a defined and repeatable process for identifying, clarifying, prioritizing, assigning responsibility, implementing, reviewing and rewarding against specific goals and high standards of professionalism. Consistent and effective execution does not happen by chance. Again, holding a two-day offsite to build a strategic plan is a great idea, but it is merely the very first small step in a long and arduous process of making sure the plan is well communicated and effectively implemented. Only with a highly focused system of goal setting, monitoring and management to the goals, can any leader hope to keep her people on track and successful in taking their business plan and making it a business reality.

Oh, and by the way, the greatest hurdle to making this process work will be your own employees. Why? Well, it has been my experience that when you remove all of the places for people to hide and you actually hold them accountable for doing the work they promised to deliver – that they will rise up in anger and fear and attempt to subvert or destroy the system. This is because for the most part people equate monitoring and tracking as a way for management to “catch them doing something wrong” and punish them. But let me tell you a story that might turn that thinking around. Several years ago I was leading a national sales meeting form one of my top clients and the CEO was rolling out a brand new software system to help “track and monitor” the activities of the sales team. As he stood at the front of the room and spoke about the new reports and systems and processes the mood went from bad to worse. You could see the expressions of the salespeople go from concern to fear to disgust. It was about to erupt into a full-out revolt when the CEO said something that turned them all around in seconds.

Hey, hang on a second here. I want to make it clear this system is NOT about punishment, it is about help. We are not going to track you all year and then wait until your review and then use it to beat you over the head and not give you a raise.” He then looked them in the eyes and continued, “We are putting all of these checks and balances in place so we can help you. We are going to monitor you closely so we can see at the very first sign of trouble that you might be getting off track so we can rush in with help and support and training and whatever you need to keep from getting into trouble. We want to use this to make sure you can maximize your commissions and make the most money possible. This is not about punishing you after you have failed – it is about making sure we are here to support you so you never get into a place where you could fail.” This is the key to disciplined action, a specific, measurable and repeatable process for helping you people successfully implement the plan and share in the rewards.

Here are some things off the top of my head:

1. Do you truly understand exactly who your target customer is in great detail? You have to have a very clear and detailed picture of specifically who you are trying to entice. Age, race, attitude, income, hobbies, TV and reading preferences, where do they get their info, which media do they trust, how do they make their buying decisions… everything you can possibly understand.
2. What are the top 2 or 3 logical and emotional reasons for these people to be involved in your organization. You have to answer the question: So What? Or another way marketers put it is you have to be able to explain to them…WIIFM = What’s In It for Me. You need to be able to get in their head and look at the situation from their POV — then deliver an offer that is so incredibly focused and compelling that they jump off the couch and come
   running to be involved.   Along with that — you also have to understand who you are competing against for mind share and share of wallet (and it is not just other similar products and services — Harley Davidson motorcycles are
   the number one competitor to the swimming pool industry… think about it – a Harley and a pool both cost about $15,000!)
3. Typically when you have a small budget and a tightly defined market — you go after the “Key Influencers” who are the upper 1% of the people that set the trends for the rest. Who is everybody listening to? Rather than
   trying to get to 1,000 people — get to the top 10 who are incredibly well connected — and get them to tell 100 friends each — and you have your 1,000. Also — most people are getting sick of marketing and
   advertising — I suggest that the future of marketing is going to rest strongly on “WOM” — word-of-mouth — you do not believe an ad — but you do believe your friends.
4. Lastly — they message needs to be very easy to understand and 100% congruent across all media. You want to send a clear, compelling and concise message — to exactly the right people — over and over again (over a long
   time period) — from multiple sources. That is how you make every marketing dollar count.

Hope that helps!

So with all of that said, I wanted to send you along some comments and ideas… some things to think about, as you start your sales career.

1. Get used to rejection (at least for a while). When most people start off in sales, they typically get about ten “NO’s” for every one “Yes.” There are many things that contribute to this dismal close rate, including a lack of sales skills, a lack of preparation, and a lack of confidence… but one of the biggest problems is trying to sell to the wrong people (folks who are simply not a good match for your product). Lots of sales people will tell you it’s a “numbers game” that if you just knock on enough doors, see enough people, make enough cold calls – you’ll make your numbers. That may well be true – but it is a terrible way to go about it. Trying to sell like that takes a ton of time and makes you face loads of rejection from people that honestly have no reason in the world to buy for you. Trust me, that is no fun.

A key idea that great sales people know is this: Highly focused targeting of potential clients + superior sales call preparation = much high close ratios/ bigger commissions/more referrals/ long-term customer relationships.

2. All sales breaks down to three key questions:

• Do they have a real problem? (and do they even know it??)
• Do I have the right solution?
• Am I talking to the right people?

If the person really does have a problem; and you truly do have a superior solution; and you believe you’ve done a completely thorough job of presenting your product and addressing all objections… and they still won’t buy… you are likely talking to the wrong person (no authority, no budget, not willing to take any risks) and need to either find someone else in the organization to talk to – or move on to a different customer who will buy from you!

3. The ONLY way you will ever be successful in sales is to be completely HONEST and always try to do what is in the best interest of the customer. Period. Never worry about making a sale – worry about helping your customer. Do not worry about your commission – worry about the ROI for the customer. Do not worry about how well you are doing – worry like crazy about how you can help your customers do better. There is an old saying that I believe is 100% accurate: “If you just help enough other people get what they want, you can have everything you want.”

4. In sales, even before they buy the product – they have to buy YOU first! This does NOT mean you should try to be a slick schmoozer – this is what crappy sales people do – they rely on building a “relationship” to close deals. People do NOT buy from you just because they “like” you. They buy from you because they TRUST and RESPECT you and believe that your products and services will deliver the promises you make and give them the results they desire (financial return, fun, esteem, security, profit, sex appeal, market share, safety, piece of mind… whatever problem that are trying to solve by buying from you).

The goal is to become a: TRUSTED ADVISOR

How do you do that? Here are just a few suggestions…

• You must be an absolute EXPERT on your products and services (and I do not use that term lightly – I seriously mean: expert).

• You must be extremely well groomed (dress similar to, but just a little bit better than, your best target customers). Unless you are selling drum sets to rock stars, it is best to be clean-cut, polite and exceedingly professional. This does not mean stiff and in a pressed uniform – it means you look and act like your customers – so they feel comfortable when you are around them.

• You must always be on time and ready for the meeting (even if they are not).

• You need to have a VERY solid grasp of the general business trends affecting your clients. Read the paper every day and a few business/trade magazines each month.

• You need to become as knowledgeable as possible about your client’s business. The more you know about how they do business, how they make money, who their customers and competitors are — the better job you can do of helping them. You cannot help someone you do not understand.

• You also need to become and expert on your competitors. What do they offer, what are their prices, where are they better / worse than you – how are you clearly differentiated?

• Make sure you always follow-up and do what you say you will do. You MUST be dependable.

• Always say “Please” and Thank You.” Ask for the business – and when you get it make sure the customer knows how much you appreciate their trust in you. What is the best way to do that? Deliver what you promised them. Make sure your products and services meet AND exceed their expectations. If you do this – you will never have to “sell” again because you’ll be covered up by happy customers that want to “buy” from you. (And refer you to all of their friends and associates).

• When you make a mistake (and you will – we all do) do everything humanly possible to rectify the situation immediately and begin a massive campaign to regain the client’s trust.

• Read at least two sales book every month. Yes, I am dead serious here – or you can substitute audio CDs or seminars – but you must do this religiously. Much of your success will be tied directly to how well you embrace the idea of lifelong learning.

• Spend at least an hour every week studying your competition. What are their new products, services, offers, deals?

• Spend at least one hour every week working on creating better questions, figuring out how to handle objections, developing new ways to demonstrate/explain your products and services and why (specifically) they are superior.

• Be absolutely phenomenal in your time management and organizational skills. Become a master at planning your work and working your plan. Have a clear system to track your appointments, important projects, follow-up calls, emails, notes and client information. This is the lifeblood of your business (after all – sales is basically “You Inc.” – you are the CEO of your own one-person sales corporation) do not neglect this, or let it slip and get away from you – organization and time management are critical for success in sales. (By the way – when you get really good at sales and are generating serious cash-flow, you can simply hire an assistant to do all of this for you – so you can focus all of your time and energy on the other items on this list!).

* I could list another 250 – but this is a good start.

I am going to tell you that VERY few sales people are willing to do the things on the list I have just given you. Oh, they might admit it is a good idea to do these things, but only a very, very small fraction will ever take the time and effort to truly earn the position of Trusted Advisor to their customers. But I promise you the few who do handle all the things on that list are extremely well compensated and enjoy the fact that they get paid to help people.

5. For the past 10 years I have been asking people in my sales classes to describe the “typical’ sales person. Here is what they say:

• Rude, pushy, manipulative, lies!

• Does not understand or care about me

• Does not understand their own products or services

• Wastes my time

• Pressures me

• Talks too much – and does not listen

• Only cares about making the sale – not what is best for me

So, you want to be a great salesman? Just do the complete opposite of that list. I am totally serious. Be the complete opposite of what most people think a salesperson is and you will do wonderfully.

• Never lie to a customer – NEVER.

• Be polite, kind and genuinely caring.

• Take the time to truly understand your customer and their unique needs / concerns.

• Be an expert on all of your products and services (and those of your top competitors too). And I absolutely mean EXPERT.

• Never waste even a minute of your customer’s time. Always be extremely well prepared.

• Do not pressure or manipulate your customers in any way (they can smell a stupid sales “technique” from a mile off). Focus all of your energy and talent on helping them. Remember: Technique is NOTHING – intent is EVERYTHING.

• Ask very good, well planned and highly focused questions – then be an extraordinary listener (and take great notes). Here is the mantra: If you want to sell — ask, don’t tell.

• Do ONLY what is in the best interest of the customer – even if that means sending them to the competition.

If you do these things with every customer, in every sales call, you will do just fine, I promise.

6. How to handle objections (it is too expensive, I do not think it will work for me, I don’t use services like yours). The first thing to do is ask several good questions and try to uncover the “real” objection – what is actually the issue? Once you discover the true objection you have two choices:

A. If it is valid (they really do NOT need your product – or a competitor’s product would honestly be much better for them) then help them make the right choice. Even if that means picking up the phone and calling your number one competitor and setting up an appointment for them to meet.

B. If the objection is not solid then you should have an absolutely wonderful, honest, and logical way to clearly explain to the customer why they should reconsider their concern. You need sit down and look at the top five objections you will likely get over and over – and you must develop superior answers for those concerns that are so elegant and well-thought out that after you have gone through it with a customer they look at you and say: “Wow, now that you explain it that way it completely makes sense, that is not a problem for me at all, thank you.”

KEY POINT: You cannot do this on the fly. You can’t make something like this up. It takes lots and lots of time, thought, effort and refinement. You know what the main objections you are going to get almost every time – and you should have a 100% solid “home run’ answer in your back pocket that you can trot out and run past the customer to show them you are extremely capable, confident and prepared. That is what a Trusted Advisor is supposed to do.

Okay, I am going to stop here. I could go on for another 20 pages, but I think this is a good start, especially for someone who is just getting into sales.

Now, let me make a prediction. If you show this list to some sales people, even some who have been doing it for a while, they will likely admit that these ideas are sound —- but that they do NOT do them.

They will say they don’t have time to do all of this (as they are too busy trying to “make their numbers”), they’ll say it is different for their products or services, they’ll claim they are much better at building relationships then all of this sales stuff – they will have lots of excuses.

All I will say is judge them by their results. If they have a very high close ratio, huge income, happy clients and lots of referrals – and do not do these things — then please sit down and talk with them and learn everything you can from them. But I doubt you’ll find many truly successful sales people who ignore the things I’ve just shared with you.

Ah and to live up to my own challenge here are my stats.

• I have been in sales for about 17 years.

• I have owned/run five companies where I was the only sales person – and thereby responsible for brining in all sales and new accounts – for the entire organization.

• I do not read two business books every month – I read three to five… a week and listen to 3 or more on CD every month — and I also read 12-20 business and trade magazines every month.

• I am absolutely terrible at organization – but I have two full-time assistants that set all of my appointments, calls, conferences and travel schedule – I have not signed a check, made a plane, car or hotel reservation or filled in my own calendar in five years. Thye handle all of those things so I can spend all of my time reading, studying, meeting with clients, working on solutions, sharpening my sales skills…

• I am currently running at about a 95% close ratio – and the only time I do not close a opportunity is when I feel that I cannot deliver a truly superior product, or rarely when the customer can simply not find enough money in the budget to afford our work.

• The reason my close ration is so high is that 99% of all of my business comes from referrals. My current customers send me new customers – who typically do not ask any questions other than: When can we get started? Believe me that is a wonderful place to be, but it has taken 10 years of hard work — and always delivering superb results — to get to a place where my clients sell for me.

• And lastly, to commissions. Just like all professional sales people I work on 100% commission. I earn only what I sell. I would not be so brash as to put down a specific number, but let’s just say the personal income from all of my sales  (products, services, speeches, books, consulting, training, advertising design work…) is quite significant and probably puts me in the top 10% or 15% income bracket in America.

I sure hope that helps, but I also recommend you go out and ask every other good sales person what they think. The more your listen and learn – watch what works well and what does not – the sooner you will come up with your own sales style. Something that fits you and your customers and is in line with the way you want to do business. That is when sales will really get fun – when you create your own way to sell and you build a strong base of customers that like you, trust you, depend on you and are happy and willing to buy from you and strongly recommend to their friends that they buy from you too. That is truly the position of Trusted Advisor – and the foundation of a wonderful and rewarding profession in sales!

I wish you great success in your selling efforts — John

Here is a re-cap of what we discussed today: Execution

1. FOCUS — get your top managers focused on the 1 or 2 absolutely key items they must deliver.  What we have called the “no excuse” issues. These are the things they simply MUST achieve.  Also, help them get their “to do” lists shorter. What is not important? What can you say “no” to — in order to keep them clearly focused on consistently delivering on the top issues? Make sure they clearly understand what is expected of them – and that they have all of the support and resources necessary to meet their obligations.

2. Run superb meetings. Short, focused, with a specific agenda, clear outcomes, written goals and commitments.  Do NOT waste any time — focus on the key things, discuss what is important, assign tasks, gain clear commitment, write it all down — and them hold people 100% accountable for disciplined execution and delivery of promised results.

3. As part of holding people accountable: delegate away some responsibility for putting on the pressure.  It cannot be only the leader that is hammering for results.  It needs to be the entire management team ALL holding each other accountable.  At this stage it might not be realistic for you to get 100% support from all of your team, but at least you can build up a core group of people who support you and will step forward in the meetings to assist you in strongly holding people accountable for missing their numbers, not delivering on their promises. The pressure needs to be strong and from numerous directions.

4.  Celebration / Punishment. After you have gained commitment on clear and specific outcomes – and ensured that people have all of the support / help / resources necessary to meet their goals – when they do make the goal you need to lead the way in celebrating their success.  A public word of praise, going out for a team dinner or a few beers, a small monetary bonus or other valued reward.  If they work really hard and deliver stellar results – they deserve to get a big pat on the back and your sincere gratitude.  On the other hand, there must also be ramifications for consistently NOT achieving their goals.  Everyone misses or makes a mistake from time-to-time, but if someone is consistently not delivering on what they promise—there must be some sort of punishment. Otherwise, you are sending a signal that you are not serious, that people can miss deadlines, not achieve goals, not deliver on their promise… and nothing bad will happen.

5. Have a Plan B.  If there are people on the team that are consistently not delivering results, who cause problems and who are not helping the team move toward success, then you need to have a clear plan for how you will deal with that.  Step one is always to first look in the mirror and examine what role you are playing in them not succeeding. Have you given them all of the help, support, training, resources, information, assistance and guidance you possibly can?  Have you made it totally clear to them that they are NOT meeting expectations, specifically what they need to do to improve and what the ramifications will be if they cannot improve – or the rewards if they do? If you feel like you have done everything you can and they are just NOT making any progress, you need to spend some serious time finding the highest quality replacement you possibly can. If you do have to terminate the non-performing employee (especially a key manager) it is incredibly critical that you be able to replace them immediately with a truly superb new person. This might be an internal person or someone from the outside, but the key point is that they need to come in very quickly, hit the ground running, and clearly demonstrate to everyone that they will do a super job and really help the team. If you can make it a smooth and positive transition it will be very good reflection on your leadership.

The key word for this discussion was: PATIENCE

You said it better than I could have, if you are going to be in this business for another 20 or 25 years, you need to work hard at taking a longer-term approach and not rushing some things.  With a clear plan for the future and a solid grasp of your business and professional priorities, it is much easier to sit back and realize that everything does not have to get done in the next 3 to 6 months.  There are certain things you absolutely MUST focus on in the short term, numbers you have to deliver, projects that have to be completed, things that cannot wait and do deserve a strong sense of urgency.

However, there are also numerous important issues that would be better handled with a great deal more patience. Holding back a little, choosing not to bring it up in “this” meeting, not the right things to discuss at “this” time – or with “this” particular person. This does not mean you give them up, or have to wait for years and years — only for a few months or possibly a year – which is the blink of an eye compared in a 25 year career. Be prudent, be clever, be politically savvy, be patient. All things in time.

Which brought us to our final topic of what must you do to position yourself over the long-run as the perfect candidate for taking on more and more responsibility and power in the organization?  Together we developed the following list:

1. Understand your business extremely well. Be a true expert on your business, your industry, your market, your competitors, your products, your technology. Know these things intimately… at a deeper level that any other person in the organization.
2. Be clever in how you run your business and consistently deliver your numbers.
3. Have the ability to focus in on the key business issues and be a superb problem solver on those key issues.
4. Surround yourself with a team of very bright people that can help you solve the key business issues effectively.
5. Be a superb leader – that people truly want to follow.
6. Have the ability to be a strategic thinker, to see where the organization should be in 5 to 10 years, so that you can begin to position the organization now to meet the demands of the future.
7. Be politically savvy. Understand how to operate both personally and professionally in a large, bureaucratic, multi-national company. Have the patience and prudence to know what to say and when to say it – and when to be quiet. Do not be paranoid – be aware and have a strategy.
8. Lead a balanced life.  Work hard and play hard.  Have a quality home and family life, take vacations, stay fit, have enjoyable hobbies… pursue balance in order to avoid burnout.
9. As my client says: It is so damn simple!  Yes, it is —- but staying focused on these things – every day, in every meeting, without getting rushed and letting them drop… is very, very difficult.

The answer is simple, but by no means easy. The fulcrum for taking ideas and turning them into action is creating a performance-oriented culture of “disciplined execution.” An organization where people have a sense of urgency to get the most important priorities accomplished and where every person holds themselves and their fellow workers 100% accountable for accomplishing key goals.

The problem however is that this does not happen by fate, chance or good luck. It does not happen because you talk about it at meetings or send out a memo. It has been my experience that the ONLY way to create that sort of high-performance culture is to put in place a systematic and comprehensive process to measure, track, reward and discipline the behaviors and outputs that management desires.

This is exactly why I am so excited about the EBSS and have been recommending it to my clients. Finally I have discovered an elegant solution for one of the most vexing challenges in business today: lack of execution. The EBSS is a heavily researched and widely tested approach to understanding, uncovering and addressing the blocks that stand in the way of high-level performance. The way we have been describing it in our meetings is that the EBSS “cuts down all of the tress.” In other words, it removes all of the places to hide. Implementation of the EBSS addresses what I feel are the two most critical success factors for creating a high-performance work atmosphere: first it teaches people why they procrastinate, miss deadlines and don’t achieve important goals – so on a cognitive level they understand what is standing in their way. Second, it puts in place a very clear and unbiased system for creating clarity and consensus on the most important priorities and tracking exactly how each person in the organization is doing in their effort to accomplish their specific tasks in support of those critical success factors.

Now again I will say that it is simple but not easy. In the early stages people will often push back against such a system. They will realize that they will now be held to a new level of accountability. However, what typically happens is the very best people in the organization will absolutely revel in the process because it will clearly show how well they perform. The mid-level people will realize that they need to step-up their work and will use the system to greatly improve their efficiency and effectiveness. And the poor performs will fight and complain and make excuses… then leave.

In the final analysis it is important to keep in mind that companies and people are not paid solely to “have good ideas” – they create value in the marketplace by taking those good ideas and putting them into action. Innovation and talent is useless without a performance-oriented culture of disciplined execution – and that level of accountability and goal achievement is impossible without a comprehensive system to support it.

Yes, they still shoot the messenger! For the past several years I have been deploying a very in-depth and well-researched “Organizational Effectiveness Audit” for many of my clients. Based on my own experience in working with several hundred companies and adapted from the national “Great Places to Work” study, the audit is superb for identifying specifically where organizations are strong… and where they need work.

Most senior executives that get the results are very pleased. Although they might be surprised by a few low scores and often get some “uncomfortable” feedback – they understand clearly that they can’t fix what they don’t know about and see the value in taking a hard, honest look at the current state of their organization.

However, from time-to-time it does not go that way. I’ll hand in the executive report to the CEO only to have them read it, look at me… and shred it! Saying, “no one in this company is ever to see that report.” Or, if we are doing it at a retreat and I hand out the report to the entire executive team all at the same time, they get very angry with me – and I have even had them terminate the engagement on the spot.

Here is the point. Honesty can hurt, but it is the only thing that will help you and your company to be as successful as possible. If you do a survey like this (with me or any other consultant) and you don’t like the answers – don’t get mad at the consultant, don’t get mad at the people who filled out the surveys — look in the mirror and say, “What have I done to contribute to this, and what must I do to get these scores up to where I want them?” If you put the tough things out on the table, discuss them openly, embrace a culture of frank feedback and transparency – you can remove fear and get everyone in your organization working together to fix any problems and move forward as a team.

Another great example this morning: I stopped in at my dry cleaners to pick up and drop off some clothes.  Last time I was there they had ruined a pair of my pants and gave me a credit for the cleaning bill (yep, they ruin a $65 pair of pants and refund me $2.43 for the price of “cleaning” them – wow, that makes me feel good!) – anyway, I asked the lady at the counter if she would apply the credit to the new “house” account I had just established the week before, to which she replied: “ I am sorry we don’t offer any discounts to people with accounts.”  What? First of all this was a credit for a mistake they had made… but it also alerted me that I was no longer going to get the 15% discount I had received for the last 4 years because of a “special customer” program I belonged to.

I signed up for the house account so I could just get one bill at the end of the month and would not have to wait around every time for them to run my credit card. Easier on them, easier on me, less paperwork — and I am now more loyal because I have made it much more convenient for me to use their store and a big hassle to go to any other cleaner – and so they are going to penalize me with a 15% increase in my dry cleaning bill for being… one of their most loyal customers. Amazing!

Between my wife and I we spend about $70 a week on dry cleaning. That is roughly $3,000 a year – for the past 4 years with this company (yes, $12,000 on dry cleaning) and now they want to make me pay an additional $500 a year because I have an account. Do you see the incredible stupidity in this? Yet, I see business after business do the exact same thing. They ignore or punish good customers in a rush to go after new customers. They’ll take away my “special customer” discount after being loyal for 4 years, but will jump through hoops and offer a 30% discount to woo a new patron.  As they step over me to get to new customers, I wonder what the chances are of them finding a lot of people who will spend $3,000 a year on dry cleaning? And I would have continued to do that for years and years… if I were still a customer!

Question: How do you treat your most loyal customers?

I asked Kevin to give me a short list of the key things he thought were fundamental to them running a great company. Some of the things are very specific to their operation and their unique industry, but other things Kevin lists are applicable to any business. I believe there are some incredibly powerful ideas here:

Skinner Nurseries Keys to Success

• Great Game of Business – Use open books to allow for the people closest to the action to make decisions that are aligned with the interests of the owners. Provide timely information and feedback so the decisions improve over time. Create a stake in the outcome of decisions using incentive pay and recognition.
• Branch Centered – The strength of the Company is a function of the strength of the individual branches. Customers buy from the team at the branch. People join our Company because of the environment at the branch. We succeed because of our ability to keep the customer experience feeling small and intimate at the branch level while using our size to create scale and advantage without sacrificing the personality of the branch.
• Right People and Right Values – Lead people with values that create life purpose. Have a robust selection process that ensures people joining our team share our values. Have a candid evaluation process that provides timely feedback.
• Learning Organization – When faced with constant change, our key tool is the ability to learn and adapt faster than the competition and be prepared for customer. Often times our ability to learn and change gives us the advantage to anticipate customer needs in advance of the general market.
• Supply Chain – Low cost always has an advantage. Have a clear strategy on the flow of product and information that eliminates waste and ensures the lowest cost. Never forget the value of information when considering the structure of the supply chain.
• Models and Performance Standards – use standards to measure results and offer opportunities for multiple winners. Internal rankings are fun, beating standard is what counts. Create measurements that are relative to all participants and challenge people to exceed standards rather than to compete internally. Benchmark against the best, wherever the best are found.
• Blue Ribbon – Use a method to communicate clear expectations for the behavior of your leaders. Get to the point with what is important and let the people have freedom and flexibility to fill in the gaps. Managers must be able to say to their leader what counts and what doesn’t.
• Sales Management – Treat the sales process as a science and utilize tools to manage the results of your most precious resource, the salesperson. Demand discipline and organization from the sales process regarding specifically who is the customer and what are you selling. Understand that before you can have great salespeople, you need great sales management.
• Information Systems – Automate tasks when practical, eliminate opportunity for human mistakes, redundancy and paper everywhere. White collar rework is the enemy.
• Customer Service – Total commitment to serving the customer with reliable and practical solutions to their request. Reinforce and recognize that service is an individual choice and that people serve people. Use process to create simplicity and speed. Never forget that simply keeping your word is primarily what customers want. Set expectations accordingly.

You are what you tolerate.
People buy from people.
Kill bureaucracy immediately.
If you are not serving the customer, you better be serving someone that is.
If you are going to share information, you might as well share the decisions. Otherwise, why bother.
Take care of your employees first.
Truth over harmony

Go to the similar blog I wrote about Philadelphia Gear