Opening a wine bottle–extreme business execution

As we all know, business execution is about getting things done.  To that, I’d add success is more important than perfection.   In 90 seconds, see what an inebriated Frenchmen does to open a bottle of wine with no corkscrew.

Now you know what to do the next time you’re traveling and you’ve got no corkscrew. Remember you saw it here first.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Wayward NWA Pilots and Business Execution

While I’m sure the 2 pilots who were apparently too busy paying attention to their laptops to pay attention to flying an Airbus A320 this past week and flew by the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport by 150 miles have serious regrets about their actions, their behavior is reprehensible.

The FAA has suspended their licenses and Delta has committed that they will be terminated for their actions.  It is hard to argue for anything less.

These gentlemen were out of contact with controllers for 78 minutes.  Due to their lack of response, there was a real concern that the plane may have been hijacked.  Even the White House was alerted to this transgression while the event was in progress.

When I fly United, I always listen to the cockpit radio communications.  If you have not listened to it before, a pilot would be hard pressed to not have to communicate every 10 or 15 minutes along a route and much, much more on departure from and on approach to an airport. Air traffic control is constantly making slight route or altitude adjustments, handing off from one control center to another, etc.

78 minutes is an absolute eternity to not be paying attention while flying over US air space.

While I feel badly for anyone who loses a job and for their families, these pilots exposed themselves and their passengers to extraordinary risk.  They deserve to lose their jobs.

That said, these 2 knuckleheads would likely never again be so cavalier again in flight management.  Perhaps another airline should give them another chance (assuming the FAA will license them to fly again).  They are seasoned veterans who made a horrible business execution error.

What do you think?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Cell phones on airplanes? NOOOOOOOOO!!!

We all occasionally experience some rude person talking on their cell phone oblivious to the world around them.  It’s just like the people who pull next to you at a stop light with their stereos blaring–you are trapped until the light changes.  There is no where to go.

Well, Luthansa Airlines has just announced their intention to not only provide Internet service on their planes but also cell phone service.  I’m all in favor of the former but adamantly against the latter.

Imagine being trapped in a sealed metal tube next to or near some inconsiderate person who decides to chat idly for hours or close sales or what have you.  Imagine you really can’t escape this because, in a post-9/11 world, the airlines don’t want you out of your seat.

I once took a 2-hour train ride to Helsinki, Finland.  In each rail car, there was a “cell phone booth.”  Riders who needed to speak on the phone were expected to go into the booth.  In my mind, that’s a great idea.  If Lufthansa can incorporate such a booth (think “cone of silence”), I have no problem allowing cell phone use on planes.

Until then, my favorite moment of plane travel will remain when every traveler is ordered to turn off their cell phone.

What do you think?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Plantronics Enters Business Execution Hall of Fame

In August of 2008, I purchased a Plantronics Discovery 925 mobile Bluetooth headset.  The unit comes with a 12-month warranty.

In September of 2009, this product became unusable.  As I’d invested $125 plus California sales tax in this unit, I really didn’t want to throw the unit away.  I contacted Plantronics customer support to see if I could get it repaired.

Plantronics customer support let me know that they honored their 12-month warranty for up to 13 months and asked if I could locate the original receipt.  I found it immediately and I was on my way to a no-charge warranty exchange for a replacement unit.

Much to my delight, I received the replacement last week and it works even better than the original.   They sent it with only my verbal promise to return the defective unit after I’d received the replacement.  They did not ask for a credit card number to guarantee that I’d return the defective unit, something many companies do in similar circumstances.

For outstanding customer support above and beyond their published standards, Plantronics is hereby granted entry in Gardner & Associates Consulting’s  “Business Execution Hall of Fame.”  Congratulations, Plantronics!

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Demise of GM’s Saturn-Another Business Execution Failure

13,000 employees and nearly 400 dealers received the news yesterday that GM failed to secure a deal to sell GM’s Saturn business to Roger Penske.  Why?  Penske could not find another manufacturer willing to produce the vehicles beyond 2011.

An automobile manufacturer without manufacturing support is doomed.

The problem didn’t happen overnight.  Saturn has not made a profit since 1994.  15 years with no profit.  This is beyond comprehension.

This is not only a business execution failure, it is a failure of leadership–management and the board–that a brand is allowed to flounder for 15 years.  This failure is going to create incredible pain for those who relied on this brand for their livelihoods.

Would Jack Welch have allowed this to happen?  Maybe for one year.

What do you think?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

PowWeb dumps customers–why?

This past weekend, PowWeb entered the Business Execution Hall of Shame for dumping with no notice a top Internet web entrepreneur after having solicited web hosting on the basis of:

• Unlimited bandwidth
• Unlimited disk space

Why would a company so arbitrarily and capriciously dump a loyal customer of 6 years with no notice?

One could speculate that PowWeb makes certain assumptions about how much bandwidth and disk space it expects a “typical” customer to use.  It is likely this web entrepreneur exceeded the norm, perhaps by a very wide margin.

What has happened in the last 6 years to the Internet?

Two important factors are driving the need for more and more bandwidth and disk space: audio and video. These factors really didn’t exist 6 years ago and, today, represent a significant drain on resources that normal html web pages do not.

I suspect that PowWeb took a close look at who the big consumers of disk space and bandwidth were amongst their customer base and unceremoniously dumped them to protect the infrastructure needs of their other clients.  It may well be that a very small number of customers tied up a sizeable chunk of PowWeb’s infrastructure capacity.

Is this excusable?  No.  PowWeb remains in our Business Execution Hall of Shame for its actions.  It is horrible to dump a customer with no notice.  They should have given notice and a reasonable period of time to migrate to a new web hosting company.

It is not realistic for PowWeb to offer the “earth, moon and sky” at the lowest price in their market particularly given the way the Internet has involved to require more and more bandwidth and disk space.  It is not, as has been proven here, a sustainable business model for them.

The question is who within PowWeb’s customer base is next to go if not now, next week, next month, next year?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

PowWeb Enters Business Execution Hall of Shame

I received disturbing news this morning from a top Internet marketer and entrepreneur, Nerrisa Oden (also known as The Video Queen):

On Thursday, www.freevideocoding.com,  was shut down without warning. I saw the situation this morning and began working with my webhost of 6 years to get it back up. But they refused citing it had exceeded its’ unlimited bandwidth amount.  (I’m not making this up!)

“Just upgrade me,” I said.

“No. We don’t offer upgrades,” powweb.com said.

So I immediately changed to another web host company. During this process www.freevideocoding.com was offline. Currently it’s new servers are being propogated across the Internet. It’s happening fast so everyone should have full access by the end of the day Saturday.

I am also moving these websites:
www.freevideoediting.com and
www.videocodemaker.com

Again, the interruption in service should be minimal and well worth the move. I am just sorry that it happened suddenly and without warning.

It takes about 48 hours under the best of circumstances to migrate web hosting to a new Internet service provider if you have time to plan for it.

To cut off a customer of 6 years with no notice who is operating within the published parameters of “UNLIMITED Data Transfer” and “UNLIMITED Disk Space” is absolutely unforgivable.

By the way, if your Internet business is dependent on PowWeb, caveat emptor–let the buyer beware!

For this action, “PowWeb, The Perfect Hosting Solution,” is hereby entered in our Business Execution Hall of Shame!  Congratulations, PowWeb.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Manufacturing sector still wobbly

From the Associated Press comes this report yesterday, the 25th of September, 2009:

Durable goods orders, a key indicator for the manufacturing industry, fell unexpectedly in August. The Commerce Department said orders for goods expected to last at least three years slid 2.4 percent, after rising 4.8 percent in July. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast an increase of 0.5 percent.

It was the second drop in three months and the latest sign that any rebound inside the nation’s factories is likely to be slow.

While some may want to declare that the worst recession we have ever experienced is over, there are indications that we have a ways to go.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Manufacturing Sector Growth After 19 Months

The U.S. manufacturing sector grew in August for the first time in 19 months as new orders from customers jumped to the highest level since late 2004.

The better-than-expected reading Tuesday by the Institute for Supply Management showed the highest number for its manufacturing index since June 2007.

What is your company doing to prepare for the coming turn-around?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Matrix management and business execution

One of my colleagues, Dr. Guido Quelle of Mandat GmbH, was invited to weigh in on the con’s associated with matrix management by Business Week.   Guido’s and his counterpart offer compelling thoughts.  I also commented in the blog post-available  here.

Please add your commentary here or at the site of the Business Week discussion.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Business Execution Lessons learned from Boeing 787 delays

The new Boeing 787 is the first commercial aircraft planned to be designed completely by computer (no prototype), the first aircraft that relies on composite (non-metal) materials for all the flight surfaces,  and that relies on a broad strategy of outsourcing the manufacturing of key components with Boeing only doing final assembly and test.   The program is some 2 years behind schedule with schedule slippages continuing.  Some much for sound business execution.

The plane currently has structural issues related to securing the wings of the plane to the fuselage.  Additional mounting points are needed to provide sufficient structural integrity. There is no revised program schedule available at present.

While Boeing claims that it may have been possible to commence test flights prior to remediating the structural issues, the company is taking the right approach in delaying the first test flight until Engineers are confident.

Imagine the impact of having one or more wings fall off during a test flight!  Is there anyone who thinks that Boeing’s customers and future passengers would be willing to say, “Oh, it’s okay–they’ve implemented a design change now to correct that defect–the wings should be okay.”

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports in an article called “Boeing Is in Talks to Buy Operations of a Major Supplier,” discusses how Boeing is in negotiations to purchase a critical part of their supply chain to improve business execution.  Is this something Boeing should have outsourced?  Or, is this a competency that needed to be developed and refined before it could be outsourced?

It’s impossible to outsource a design of this complexity that’s never been successfully built even once.  The design engineers and the production engineers need to work side-by-side to understand how the design elements come together as a “system.”

While the schedule didn’t call for building a prototype, the first unit is a prototype regardless of whether it is identified as such in the schedule or not.  It is the first time all the design elements come together as a aircraft expected to take flight.

Many years ago, I had a client who was creating a precision, high-end electro-mechanical hardware product employing state of the art technology.  I recall the purchasing agent calling the engineers to inform them that their prototype parts had arrived as each part individually came in.

To my amazement, each engineer said “thanks” and never went back to the receiving area to marvel at actually seeing their design manifest before their eyes.  Why?  They had “seen it” in the computer-aided engineering system–they just “knew” it would be okay.   Did the 787 engineers feel the same way?  Did they just “know” it would be okay?

This same client liked designing innovative systems but really didn’t want to ramp up a manufacturing organization.  So, the design was transitioned to an outsource manufacturer before a prototype system had ever been built until it became very clear that the “system” couldn’t come together as a system–there were too many issues in every area of the design for the product to work as a system.  The system was brought back in-house to complete the design and system integration work which took many months. Many months and a boat load of cash were consumed before revenues could be realized for this challenging design.

What are a few key lessons from the 787 program?

• While it would be wonderful if you could design a plane from the comfort of your office,  it’s ludicrous to plan for this.  Seeing is believing.
• If you can’t build one complete system (in this case, a 787) and make it work as designed, what would make you think your outsource suppliers can do it?
• A computer system will never be able to reveal everything that an actual prototype build will show.  It is silly to schedule a program with no allowance for a prototype system.
• The first “system” you build is a prototype, whether you call it that or not.  It is normal and reasonable to expect significant design tweaks will be needed to finalize the design.   Boeing and its 787 customers are learning this costly lesson.
• Boeing may have outsourced what was really a core competency key to the 787 success–fuselage manufacturing.

Boeing’s only competitor, Airbus, is certainly in the news in recent weeks, and, it’s not the kind of press a company wants.  There are questions about the total design strategy that, frankly, makes me reluctant to fly on an Airbus anywhere.  Fortunately, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines don’t rely on Airbus and I hope it stays that way!

Boeing must get this 787 design right.  I applaud them for doing the right thing and delaying the program to get this design right!  But, I’m concerned that Boeing’s business execution has been pretty poor for issues that should have been anticipated by the program team.

What do you think?

Dave Gardner Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Top competitors can loose their edge

As I was driving to my office this morning, I heard that Michael Phelps failed to win 2 races at a swim competition in Santa Clara, California, over the weekend. He came in second in two of his races.

I’d call that pretty stunning news from a guy who, having won 8 Olympic gold medals only a few months ago, was considered unbeatable .

It made me think about how many companies are taking “time off” due to the economic conditions and, like Michael Phelps, will have trouble getting back in peak competitive form?

Did Michael Phelps’ competitors take time off after the Olympics?  Or, were they hoping to exploit a weakness in the person who used to be their top competitor?

Just today, the head of Boeing’s commercial aircraft division, Scott Carson, said, “Are we down in the dumps about the status of this industry? Have we allowed the current economic situation to overwhelm us and discourage us from the path ahead? The answer is absolutely no.”

I like Scott’s attitude.  Boeing’s not taking time off and neither should you!

Dave Gardner Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

WSJ Article Claim about GM is ludicrous

As the world has watched GM fall into bankruptcy, I’ve awaited the folks on the sidelines offering their pithy insights into the whole debacle. The most ludicrous claim I’ve seen yet comes from a June 2, 2009, Wall Street Journal article titled “A Saga of Decline and Denial:”

GM set the standard of how a company should be run, how utilitarian products could be made cool and how they should be sold.  It helped win a world war, driver American prosperity and reinvigorate business-school curricula.

In the end, GM was a victim of it’s own success–its path to bankruptcy paved with the very management, marketing and labor practices that made it the world’s largest and most profitable company for much of the 20th century.  Strategies that had once been deemed innovative “became a millstone on the whole company,” said Mr. (Gerald) Meyers (former chief executive of American Motors Corp.).

A victim of its own success?  How about a victim of its own blindness to seeing that for almost 30 years, GM senior management and the board had bought into what was an unsustainable business model bleeding red ink.

Recently, my father asked me to help a restaurant owner look at her business.  She claimed that the dip in the economy was making her business unprofitable and that she was waiting for the economy to rebound so her business would return to its prior level (of mediocrity).   I showed her how there were real systemic issues in her business that indicated that she might not benefit from a rebound in the economy unless she took action to correct the deficiencies.

Unlike the restaurant owner, GM has vast quantities of expertise and knowledge at its beckon call.  The GM insiders had to know long ago that what they were pursuing was not sustainable.   For example, the GM automobile market share had declined from over 50% in the mid-70’s to less than 20% in today’s economy.  Hello!  What’s wrong with that picture?  If you’re not growing, you’re dying.

There are many systemic issues facing GM in the months and years ahead.  Can they reinvent themselves?

Unless there is a fresh look at the business model and leadership that believes there are no sacred cows–that everything about the business is up for debate and questioning–my sense is that the thinking that got them to where they are today won’t get them to where they need to be.  If GM were to get a leader like a Jack Welch or Lou Gerstner, they might have a chance.  If they stay with inbred leadership, I don’t think they have a prayer.

What do you think?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Manufacturing Company Best Practices

Regardless of the size of your manufacturing company, these are the best practices that matter most:

• ERP system drives and supports business execution from booking to cash collection and all steps in between
• Company is process-driven and system dependent, not people dependent
• Company does not rely on spreadsheets to drive mission-critical business activities
• Roles and responsibilities clearly defined
• Employees understand essential business processes and business systems and how the different business functions fit together
• Business processes seamlessly fit with information technology
• Employees demonstrate proficiency dealing with business scenarios they will encounter within ERP system
• Systems help company become more proactive rather than reactive
• Systems provide answers to management questions at a moment’s notice
• Electronic system supports product development, manufacturing and service with engineering change management (requests and change orders), purchased component source control, part/document status accounting/history, and management reporting/accounting

How does your company measure up against these best practices?

My firm helps companies close these gaps.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Strategy versus Execution: what’s more important?

The January 29, 2009, Wall Street Journal had an article “CEO’s Debate: Execution vs. Strategy” that caught my attention. Many prominent CEO’s were asked, “What’s more important: strategy or execution?”

These are not mutually exclusive choices. Both have a profound bearing on the overall success of an organization. Consider the following matrix:

• G-4 is where a company wants to be: great strategy and great execution.

• R-1 is the least desirable position to be in: poor strategy combined with poor execution—unless action is taken, a company in this state is headed for extinction.

• Y-2 indicates that a company is poorly executing a great strategy suggesting there are opportunities for process improvements to support better business execution.

• Y-3 indicates that a company is doing a great job executing a poor strategy suggesting the marketplace is not impressed with the company’s offerings in spite of the fact it is executing well—this does not bode well for the continued health and vitality of the company.

Few companies achieve the state described in G-4. Even if a company is experiencing great strategy and great execution, there is certainly no guarantee that it will continue to experience this.

One thing is clear: A company in a state other than G-4 puts executives at risk for losing their jobs and puts employees continued tenure at risk as well.

Let’s rate some companies that are household names:

• General Motors: R-1 for poor strategy and poor execution

• Apple: G-4 for great strategy and great execution

• Oracle: G-4 for great strategy and great execution

• Sun: Y-2 as one must assume that there is great value in Sun’s intellectual property (over $7 billion) that makes Oracle and IBM interested in acquiring them; the larger issue has to be execution

Many years ago, one of the most admired Silicon Valley companies was Silicon Graphics, a company that produced graphic workstations that enabled the creation of the blockbuster movies such as “Jurassic Park,” “Terminator,” and others. CNET News reported on April 1, 2009, that SGI was being sold for “a paltry $25 million.” The article goes on to say:

“When a one-time tech powerhouse winds up bankrupt and sold off for chump change, that’s bound to ignite the daily bloviation fest….SGI was a comet, soaring through the tech firmament during it’s brief moment of glory. But it’s only one in a list of former high-tech flyers to come crashing back to earth, a roster that includes the likes of Novell, Borland, WordPerfect, Digital Equipment Corporation, Wang, Data General.”

Charles Cooper, the author of the CNET article, aptly includes thoughts from Andy Grove who wrote the following in his 1996 book, Only the Paranoid Survive:

“…when it comes to business, I believe in the value of paranoia. Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction. The more successful you are, the more people want a chunk of your business and then another chunk and then another until there is nothing left.”

In its heyday, Silicon Graphics was like the Apple of today. In a few short years, it moved from “great execution/great strategy” (G-4) to “great execution/poor strategy” (Y-3) to “poor execution/poor strategy” (R-1) ultimately taking it to bankruptcy.

Where do most CEOs focus their attention? Strategy. It is as though the CEO expects the rest of the leadership team to drive execution. At the end of the quarter or fiscal year, what area most contributes to CEOs losing their jobs? Execution.

While it is possible to pick a place on the matrix that reflects the overall company state, it is important to also consider each function in the company in light of this same matrix, e.g., Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Order Administration, Engineering, Operations, Service, Human Resources, etc.

Executives must regularly and routinely look holistically at the implications of each function as contributing to the overall health and vitality of the company. Today’s success does not ensure tomorrow’s success.

What do you think?

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting

www.gardnerandassoc.com

Les Schwab Tires: Business Execution Hall of Fame

I’ve long been a fan of Les Schwab Tires since becoming a customer in Reno 4 years ago.  Perhaps it was the free tire rotations, the free fixing of flats, even though I had spent no money with them at that point.

Since then, Les Schwab Tires is my single source for anything related to tires, shocks, alignments, etc.

This morning, I decided that I needed the alignment checked on my SUV.  Where to go?  A few miles to the firm I grew up using in Santa Clara or drive about 15 miles to the Fremont Les Schwab?  The answer was easy.  I drove to Les Schwab.

I asked that they check the alignment,  rotate the tires and check the inflation and tell me if they thought my shocks were in proper working order.  I told them I had not been happy with the ride for several months.

• To my surprise, I was told that I had arrived with 2 flat tires–both had foreign objects in them.  Price to fix?  $0.
• The shocks needed to be replaced.  No big surprise.  California’s roads beat the heck of them.    You see, I replaced them 35,000 miles ago at a Les Schwab and, much to my surprise, they came with a lifetime, unconditional warranty.  They aren’t even charging me labor to replace them. Price to fix?  $0.  [By the way, Les Schwab told me about the warranty--I had no idea. They could have charged about $275 to replace the shocks and I would have never known the difference.]
• The alignment was out.  Price to fix?  Less than $60.

Tires and shocks are a commodity business by any standard.  Many firms are in highly-commoditized businesses.  Les Schwab is a stand out in its industry.  What is your business doing to stand out in yours?

Les Schwab continues to exceed my expectations.  And, for that, I put them in my Business Execution Hall of Fame.   Congratulations!

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting www.gardnerandassoc.com

Restaurant labels wait staff as “trainees”

I took the family to dinner in San Jose’s Japan Town last week.  As luck would have it, I ended up taking them the very first restaurant I ever ate at in Japan Town several decades ago.

My comfort level faded once we sat down.  About half the female wait staff were wearing brightly-colored construction paper tags about 7″ wide and 3″ tall with hand-printed, black printing declaring that they were a “TRAINEE.”  No name on the tag; just “Trainee.”

One “trainee” was able to work alone and seemed to do very well at servicing her customers.  I wondered how long she had been a “trainee” and how much longer she’d have to wear that preposterous label.

Why did I need to be warned that the woman accompanying our waitress was a “trainee?”  This was a restaurant; the person was a waiter.  The trainees weren’t operating a nuclear reactor, they weren’t doing surgery, they weren’t creating a safety hazard,  and I never once felt in danger nor did I fear for my family.

It just seemed over the top.  And, I felt it denigrated the young women who were working there.

Customers don’t need to be warned that the wait staff is new.  If the wait staff feels the need to tell the customer that they are new, that’s one thing.

I’m not going to name the restaurant. In this challenging economy, I don’t want to undermine any hard-working group of people and a business owner. I plan to send them this posting in the hope that they will do something about it.

The owner needs to think about what message he’s sending his customers and, more importantly, his employees.  I, for one, wondered if this guy was having trouble keeping his hired help.  After all, at least half the staff was adorned with the “trainee” label.  This is a mature restaurant.  Something doesn’t add up.

For this ill-advised practice, I award this restaurant the Business Execution Hall of Shame.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting www.gardnerandassoc.com

Economy negatively impacts employees and team interactions

Working within corporate America is more difficult than ever.  What factors are contributing to this?

Management expectations remain largely unchanged in spite of downsizing, reductions in hours, reduced compensation and bonuses, etc.  People are expected to do more with less and receive less total compensation even though they may be working harder than they ever have in their lives just trying to keep up with demands.

People aren’t getting much if any scope or schedule relief despite these factors.  Somehow, it all needs to get done even when it can’t.

The pressures people are feeling are tremendous.  People across this economy are living with constant uncertainty over whether they will have a job from one week to the next, they know that reorganizations are happening daily and are not sure how they will fare in them, they are seeing what is happening to others who have lost their jobs, and some know they are not in a sound financial position to weather a protracted period of time without having a job.

Add to this stress the fact that many in the high-tech world who are working in the U.S. under H1B work visas could be required to leave the U.S. almost immediately should they lose their jobs and be unable to secure a new one within a few days.  Many of the folks in this situation attended American colleges and universities and have lived in the U.S. for a decade or more.

It’s no wonder we are starting to see unusual behaviors.  I ran into this very situation today.

I’m helping a client with the development and validation of a new capability within an existing business intelligence system.  A meeting scheduled for this afternoon had to be pushed back 48 hours due to a last-minute scheduling problem.  My I.T. counterpart went ballistic over this routine occurrence.

Suddenly, from his perspective, we can’t this project done soon enough (he wants it completed in 2 weeks) and he is citing resource and budget pressures as conspiring against him.  Yet, after 7 months, he delivered a prototype about 3 weeks ago that is giving us wildly incorrect answers.  Does he really think we can go live simply because the clock is ticking and he needs to cross this project off his checklist?  It’s not “good enough” yet.  It’s not even close.

As I thought about this sudden out-of-character behavior of my I.T. counterpart, it dawned on me that this guy may have some bonus tied to this date that he’s never revealed to anyone.  That could certainly contribute to what I see as “bizarre” behavior on his part today.  I know that he and all other employees just missed receiving a mid-year bonus for the first time in many years, so he may be feeling a big financial squeeze–that too could add to the pressure he’s feeling.  It could also be that his boss told him to get this to the finish line now.  Perhaps there is some other issue in his life that I’m not aware of.  It is certainly not comfortable to watch.

What should we do in situation like this?

Take a deep breath and realize that this is an extraordinary time that we live in.   Accept that we often can’t understand what’s causing great upheaval in another person’s life and that this is a good time to reach out to understand how you can be part of this solution. Look for ways to help your colleagues and team be successful and try to be empathetic with each other.

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting www.gardnerandassoc.com

Poor business execution undermines businesses

I stumbled across the following sub-head in a Reno Gazette Journal article yesterday:

“Food, service leave a lot to be desired at upstart eatery.”

If I were the owner of this restaurant, I’d feel like I’d just taken a direct hit from a cannon ball.   Besides ambiance, what else is there in a restaurant besides the food and service?

Some friends opened a new restaurant in San Jose, California, and had similar comments in a review of their restaurant.  I felt so bad for them as I knew they worked extremely hard on the menu, suffered months of unanticipated and costly delays in opening due to the permitting processes, etc. The reviewer felt that the chef had toned things down to the point of ruining the authenticity of  the ethnic food they were offering.  And, to add to the misery, the reviewer commented that the service in this fine dining establishment missed the mark as well.  How sad. All their hard work was being undermined by their business execution.

The restaurant business is challenging enough in this economy even with superior business execution.  Mediocrity or even a lower standard of execution is going to cause certain demise of these restaurants unless they can improve their execution quickly.

Poor business execution undermines businesses of all types, not just restaurants.  I encourage business owners to find out what it is like to do business with their own company from the point of view of customers.  What kind of experiences is your business creating across all aspects of your business, from sales to service?  Find out and correct deficiencies.

Complaints should be treasured as they give you the insights you need to take your business to the next level.  If you treat customers with indifference (and, sadly, roughly 70% of customers feel they are treated with complete indifference), you are putting the economic health of your business at risk.  If you fail to meet the most modest of expectations, you are putting the economic health of your business at risk.

At a minimum, I expect good service and good food served at an appropriate temperature.    I really want great service and great food consistent with the restaurant I’m dining at.   What customers want is a great experience, the kind of experience that makes them want to come back again and again and to tell their friends about it.

Are you aware of how well your company is doing meeting customer expectations?  Are you thinking that business is off merely due to economic pressures or could it be something else–your firm is failing to meet even the most modest expectations of your customers?

Business execution is not about doing one thing well and the other things poorly–it is the sum of all the customer touch points that makes customers want to come back again and again.

Dave Gardner www.gardnerandassoc.com

Fear undermining sales execution

I’m very concerned about the level of fear in the world and especially how it is impacting people involved in Sales.  The news is filled with little other than news of economic distress, layoffs on a scale not seen in years, war, people arguing in Washington about how to stimulate the economy, etc.  It’s disturbing.  And, the outcome of simply listening to the news is creating more fear.

I’m currently engaged in a project in Silicon Valley with a major high technology company so I’m observing this first-hand.  The fear is certainly palpable in the Sales and Marketing organizations and the executive suite.

Sales organizations are scrambling to do anything and everything they can to meet quota. You can feel fear backing up into the Marketing organizations trying to do so much to be “helpful” to the Sales teams that it makes one wonder whether all the programs represent a bigger distraction to the Sales teams than a help. More programs, more collateral, more communication pieces aren’t always the best answer.

Sales management, Marketing and the executive teams are competing for the attention of the front-line people who generate sales in spite of the fact the overriding concern of their buyers is that no one really wants to buy anything they don’t absolutely have to right now.

What are the answers if you are in Sales?  Tighten up execution which means:

• Figure out what each customer is really telling you, not what you think they are telling you
• Remember that people buy based on their own self-interests as well as the interests of their company–don’t forget to pay attention to your buyer’s self-interests
• Look for ways to improve your personal productivity–a few extra meetings a week could make a huge difference
• If your competitor is getting the business, ask your customer for insights
• Plan your sales calls carefully–treasure each opportunity to get in front of a customer or prospect
• Analyze your past successes and see what patterns emerge that might help you produce success now
• Some companies may be better candidates than others in this economy–the top tier firms tend to be selective but make the investments they must make
• Maintain quality relationships with your customers–think of the life time value of the customer, not just the next sale
• When management starts going nuts, maintain your center about who you are and what your customers can realistically do–don’t buy into quotas that you can’t possibly meet
• Maintain your perspective–not everything good or bad is about you no matter what you might hear
• Keep your energy level up

Good selling!

Dave Gardner www.gardnerandassoc.com