The Balance of Power

Well here we are in a brand new fiscal year. If you're in sales like me, then you will have come in this morning to see everything reset to zero. For some, it's a daunting prospect, especially if you celebrated having a good month in March. For others, it's a chance to draw a line under a poor year and look ahead to what new opportunities can be created. If you're a mega superstar sales person, then you'll be telling yourself that EVERY morning resets things to zero, so today is really no different. If so, you're my kind of thinker.

This week I want to talk about the balance of power that exists in your organisation and how it is perceived with your customers and suppliers.

I was inspired to write about this when I realised that there was something really weird going on in our offices. I started to notice that I was more important than some of the people that work with me. No, I'm not trying to be smug here, so let me explain.

Very often in the world of promotional merchandise, orders can run into problems. Print specs can be proofed incorrectly, delivery dates can go off course - you know the sort of thing that I mean. Now when this happens, the factory producing the merchandise will get in touch with our order processing people and let them know that there's a problem. Nine times out of ten, that problem can be addressed and becomes nothing more than a minor glitch - there's no loss of love and we all go on about our day with a cheery smile and a spring in our step (what do you mean your office isn't as happy as that?)

But then there's the one time out of ten where the problem is just a little bigger, and here's where it gets weird. The factory will tell admin the state of the order and that they have done all they can to fix it and that there is nothing left available for them to do. They have exhausted all of their options and they're sorry - genuinely sorry - but that is that. At this stage the account manager (that's me) gets on the phone to the factory and by pointing out to them that this is not acceptable, magical things start to happen. Things that, two minutes ago were impossible, suddenly become possible. It's a miracle - I truly can turn water into wine! See my point - I am more important than my colleagues. End of story.

STOP!!!!!!

That's bloody ridiculous. I am a representative of Merchandise Mania. The customer whose order is going wrong is not my personal customer, they are a customer of my company. The relationship that I have with my suppliers is not my relationship, it is my company's, so why is it that I am able to get results for people when my colleagues can't?

Bottom line - if you tell someone that you have done all that you can, then you better make damn sure that you really have done ALL that you can. When you've finished thinking logically, head straight out of the box and look around there. Every problem has a solution, and you're not going to win any gold stars by only solving the easy ones.

If you are a supplier, don't fall into the trap of simply apologising for not being able to deliver on what you promised. A lack of integrity is going to cost you big time in the long run. Manage the expectations of your customers. If they want delivery in 1 week and you know that the order can take between 1 week and 10 days, then tell them exactly that. If they can wait 10 days, they will do, but if they absolutely, positively have to have it there in a week then you need to make a judgement call to either turn the business away or put all of the processes in place BEFORE you take their order so that they can get it in a week.

But to truly address the point of this week's blog - if you are the person who is apparently more important than your colleagues in the eyes of your suppliers, tell those suppliers off. Do it right now. Don't wait for the next major screw up before you get involved, instead make a point of ensuring that they understand just how annoying it is for you to have to waste your time doing tasks that other people in your organisation are actually being paid to do.

Oh sure, being the top dog is important. No doubt we've all had instances where the MD has had to get involved in a problem and yet all he or she has done is say the exact things that you were going to say anyway - they're just more important than you are right? WRONG! They have seniority and that is all. In the eyes of people doing business with your company, everyone in your organisation should have the same importance - you upset one of us and you upset all of us!

And no, I'm not some advocate of communism - I do believe in a hierarchy, it just strikes me that an awful lot of time is being wasted by people who believe that they are dealing with organisations at a personal level. We are, all of us, representatives of our firms - it is our organisations that have the real power in business, and if our suppliers don't choose to respect that, it's fair to say that they won't be our suppliers for very long - do you think it's the same where you are?

Now this week I could really use your help. After writing this blog for over a year and a half, I'd like to see if I can get my work published. There are plenty of people who offer self publishing opportunities on the Internet but before I go down that route, I wonder if any of you know a publisher (or maybe are a publisher) who'd like to put this stuff in print. I'd love to discuss the opportunity with you so please get in touch.

Have a good week and enjoy your Easter.