Giving the bad news

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Jon Stow
DSC00287

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In my business one issue that crops up quite often is telling clients things they don’t want to hear. Not every business has that problem, but quite often I am called in to clear up other people’s mess. They have got themselves into the proverbial yukky stuff and I have to get them out and clean up.

Now cleaning up is what gives a great deal of value to my services, and of course I can charge accordingly. Often by doing this I am actually saving my clients a lot of money and like any cleaner or garbage collector I am doing work that others do not enjoy, even if it only involves metaphorical muck and not the real thing. Selling on value is not a problem.

The harder area of this issue is when clients come to me who do not realise quite what deep doo-doo they are in. I have to tell them what a mess they are in and get them into a mindset where they can understand it, or if you like, “smell” it. People don’t like being told they are in trouble because they can take it personally; even take it as an insult. That is a more difficult place from which to persuade them that they need to pay a fair fee to get out of it.

A fair fee is not just one which reflects the work involved, but also one which reflects the value in getting them out of it, which would be related firstly to the money I am saving them (which in my case is generally tax and penalties, or at the very least negotiation and a probable reduction in the penalties) and secondly the peace of mind  I am bringing them in removing the burden. They don’t know where to turn and I deal with the problem so that they don’t have to.

Whereas normal good selling reflects the satisfaction of a desire a customer has, often my clients really do need relief from the pain that many old-fashioned hard-sellers were out to persuade prospects they had. Unfortunately I often have to convince my prospects they have the symptoms before they will buy, and tell them the consequences if they don’t. I am quite good at that. It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it.

Does your business have to deal with pain or are you a “blue sky” seller?

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Getting over telephone blues

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Jon Stow

Friendly telephone manner

You might have gathered from an earlier post that I had personal experience of running into trouble with an alleged rolling contract with the telecoms provider. I have now been advised that I have won my appeal to the OFTEL Ombudsman and the telephone company concerned has agreed to waive the penalty charge which they had sought to impose.

This just goes to show that persistence pays off if you stand up to these giants when they try to impose unfair charges, and especially when you have not agreed to their new contracts. You do have to put together your case well, though, and not to lose your temper when seemingly talking to people who are not listening.

In an act of generosity, I am not going to share with you the name of the telecoms company but will say that it is not BT.

Have you had this sort of trouble? What did you do?

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Poisonous cultures

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Jon Stow
A steel bedpan

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I have already written about workplace cultures  and how they can lead to poor standards. These cultures are usually not management led, and management may not know. However if a culture is there for all to see, there is no excuse except cowardice (is that an excuse?) for not dealing with it.

I have elderly relatives, and sometimes they get sick or have accidents and end up in hospital. It depends which hospital they get taken to as to whether they are in good conditions or much worse conditions.

I am not going to rant about the British National Health Service, which is state funded from taxes and is mostly pretty good. I am mentioning this in case you are my reader in Madagascar and did not know this background. The point of this piece is going to be that you can have exactly the same resources and end up with a different result.

One relative ended up in a geriatric ward where summoning a member of staff by ringing a bell was almost futile. It was possible someone might turn up in fifteen minutes, which was rather too long for a senior person needing a bedpan or to be taken to the lavatory. The consequence of this delay was bound to be unfortunate.

My relation was left sitting in a chair in her hospital ward without her glasses, so she could not see what was going on, or read or do anything. She was left without her teeth so certainly couldn’t eat properly. The other patients seemed similarly abandoned.

Was this all due to staff shortages? There were plenty of nursing staff and support people hanging around near the desk when I visited, including the times when I went out to request a bedpan for my dear old lady. It still took another ten minutes for anyone to come. We have to conclude it was either staff indifference or “not my job”. Either way there seemed no excuse.

So, at another hospital thirty miles away as the crow flies, another older lady is in hospital after a fall. She is in a bright ward with cheerful attentive staff. She is very happy and says several times what good treatment she is having. She is asked if she is comfortable, whether she can reach her book, and whether she would like her individual TV on.

This elderly lady asks if she can go to the lavatory where she is taken instantly. The nurse asks her if she would like a wash while in the bathroom, and not only runs the water, but helps the lady to wash her back and other bits hard to reach. Yet here the staff are more bustling around. They seem more busy, but that is because they are doing their job, which is caring for people.

I don’t doubt that the clinical care in both hospitals is good. The support care is plainly very good in one hospital and downright poor in the other.

In such a situation the management on the failing hospital could not fail to be aware of the situation. It would be a simple question of observation when they turned up for an unscheduled or even scheduled visit to each ward. The only explanation is that they go along with the culture. They don’t want to make waves. They don’t want to upset the staff by suggesting they do better. The patients suffer when they are supposed to be getting well.

Imagine what would happen in a business like this. Of course it would fail. No management team could let this sort of culture go on, because it would cost them their jobs. The only reason such a situation could prevail in a hospital is because it is tax-funded. As long as they meet their budget there is no incentive to be better if the management and staff lack such compassion for their patients or any moral sense of responsibility.

I have seen businesses fail through lack of responsibility to the customers and ultimately it is through lack of responsibility for each other. We need to work together for the common good and not just go along with what we might get away with. How do you feel about this?

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Rare weekend off

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Jon Stow

Not so rare weekend off

Someone in my line of business tweeted the other day “I am having a rare weekend off. I hope the weather stays fine”. Well, I think the weather probably held up and delivered, but what a statement, or should I say admission?

Of course the world has changed. Because of technology, many people like me work partly or wholly from home, but we can work almost anywhere we can get on-line, which is actually really literally almost anywhere. Whether or not our work is that mobile, it doesn’t mean that we should work all the time. We need down-time with our families, and to pursue interests which put no pressure on us otherwise we are bound to get stale and perform less well. There are studies that support this and even that not taking a lunch break makes us less productive during the day.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, and the same would apply to make Jill dull too.

Then again, consider the treadmill of having to work most weekends. What is likely to be wrong here? Probably the Tweeter likes to do everything himself. I guess that makes him truly self-employed in that he works like an employee rather than someone who runs a business. Anyway, he can’t be good at everything. He can’t enjoy all the work he does. Why can’t he subcontract the work he doesn’t like or isn’t good at and still make money on it?

Running a small independent business I can choose to work when I like, though I try to be accessible to clients at reasonable times, which do not include evenings and weekends except by prior arrangement. I can take time off when family members need to be taken for medical appointments. I can go on a midweek picnic, though not in mid-December. I have people to answer my telephone.

I have most weekends off. I take time off during the week. I work when it suits me, often early in the morning. I spend time with my wife. I go for walks. My business doesn’t run me. I run it and I have help. I don’t have all the answers, but I have some of them.

Do you have help, or are you a slave to yourself 24/7?

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Consequences

Posted on August 8, 2011 by Jon Stow

Our fish and chip shop

While we know that planning ahead is what we all should do, the reality is that many people don’t like thinking beyond the here and now. If they are having a good time, the future doesn’t matter – except it does.

I was in the queue at the fish and chip shop the other day (no lectures, please; we are allowed the occasional treat) when a young male drove his car down the street with his music system blaring so loudly the shop window shook. A fellow customer remarked “My wife is a nurse dealing with deaf people and she will be looking after him in twenty years time”.

We know that if we don’t market all the time, our business will run out of work, yet some only do it when business slacks off. There is an even worse sin…

I read in the local paper this week that a bus and coach company has gone out of business because their main customer (for which I read “only customer”) a local education authority has not renewed its contract and has gone elsewhere. The owner did not look old enough to retire, whatever age that might be, but was naturally feeling sorry for himself. Yet it seemed to me the business failure was all his fault.

  • The consequence of playing very loud music in your car and at home is that you WILL go deaf.
  • The consequence of relying on one customer or having a customer who comprises a large part of your business is that one day you will lose that customer and your business will very likely fail.
  • The consequence of not planning for the future of your business is that it WILL fail.

It’s quite simple. Why do so many people just not get it?

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No Hiding Place

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Jon Stow

If you Google “No Hiding Place” you will find that it was the title of a police drama series in the UK way back in the black-and-white days.  I rather think my parents were quite keen on it. They used to talk about it when there was so much less TV to discuss than the hundreds of channels many of us have now and apparently it did try to add realism which had not been seen in police drama previously.

The expression sticks in my mind though. There is simply nothing we can’t find out within a very short time and we don’t have to own Encyclopaedia Britannica to find out anything we need to know.

The other day my wife and I had a concern that one of our cats was behaving oddly, but a quick on-line search established that there wouldn’t be a serious problem when we took her to the vet. Then I had a problem with my Android phone, but soon found the answer and restored it to full function with a few keystrokes (well they would have been keystrokes if it had actual keys). Instant questions get immediate answers.

Back in the days when No Hiding Place was popular on the TV small business owners had no support from Government and the only advisers they generally employed were their accountants who offered mostly a compliance process. There was no on-line resource, and if they wanted to know something they probably had to go to the library and hope their local one had books which were up to date. In other words, small business owners were largely on their own though they might have had some help from the local chamber of commerce members or known people in Round Table etc.. That was networking before it was called networking, but it was still limited just to the people they knew in the town or village. If their businesses failed they could make out they had an alibi that they didn’t know any better.

Now we have no such excuse. We have huge on-line search resources, but beyond that we have our networks on-line. We can find whatever help we need, or we are bound to be connected with someone who knows the person we need to help with our business. There are no more excuses, there is no lack of help, there are no alibis and no hiding place. Failure is much more avoidable. We must take responsibility to be successful because we alone are responsible. Aren’t we lucky?

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Stupid inconsiderate people

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Jon Stow

You come across people who don’t think about their fellow human beings all the time. There are those who play loud music in their gardens on sunny Sunday afternoons when their neighbours want to have a peaceful time and read. There are those who park their cars on double bends.

Sometimes people expect others to be considerate but make no attempt to consider others. The other day there was a young woman riding a horse nearby. She had a jacket with, written on the back “Young Horse. Please pass wide and slow”. Motorists were doing their best to be careful. Horses still have rights on our roads. Yet why was she riding a young inexperienced horse on a busy main road at eight in the morning? In the rush hour? With a queue of traffic backing up more than half a mile?

How many people was this young woman making late for work? How many work hours would be lost?

So we pick up customers or clients like this whom we end up not liking:

  • Those who want a great deal but don’t want to pay.
  • Those who agree a fee for a service or product but then ask for a lot more for nothing.
  • Those who don’t pay us promptly, like the one who told me she had been too busy to pay me.
  • Those who give us abuse; the worst sin.

We have to accept that most difficult clients need not remain clients. We need to ask them to leave us for our own peace of mind, for the good of our cash flow and so that we can earn more money giving a good service to our customers who appreciate us.

Never be afraid to sack a client. We deserve to be appreciated, don’t you think?

 

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Diseased and toxic workplace cultures

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Jon Stow

Disbelief

I understand the furore over the apparent disbelief, especially amongst politicians, when the management of the News of the World and the senior editorial staff say they didn’t know that telephone hacking was used to get stories about well known people. Yet I know from my experience as an employee that senior management can be completely oblivious of certain cultures that develop within the staff. Of course many politicians of all hues have never had proper jobs having fallen out of university into political “research”. They wouldn’t know about proper workplaces.

Causes

What causes poor workplace cultures to develop? Well, often it is peer pressure or just because people can. In my first job there was a lot of laxity in our office. Management was very strict that we had to be in the office on time. If we were not there to sign in by the appointed time the book was taken away and we had to go in and explain our lateness to the Chief Accountant. My train service was dreadful, and it was humiliating to have to do this. However once registered as at work we could do what we liked to do, go missing for hours or go home early or spend half the day in the pub. I was just out of education and inexperienced, so it was not for me to dissent.

Middle management was not only slack on keeping the staff on the straight and narrow; they positively led by example and peer pressure meant that if you demurred over some proposed misdemeanour you were the object of mirth.

There was a drinking culture too, and quite a heavy one. I couldn’t always keep up and didn’t want to. There were cocktail parties almost weekly for staff who were retiring. I didn’t actually know many of the retirees because they would often have been posted overseas and only just returned to Good Old Blighty at the ends of their careers. I remember saying to my immediate boss one afternoon that I would rather not attend the evening party. He said “but you have to come and drink as much as possible. It’s part of your salary.” No, he wasn’t joking.

Anyway, ultimately the management was so out of touch with the staff that many of us were treated badly in the career sense, so I left. In many ways it was a relief to get out. I had felt uncomfortable but not really able to avoid conforming with the rest.

Recklessness

Some years later I worked in an office where some staff were very careless in the way they worked. Accuracy mattered rather less then did getting clients’ work “done” through short cuts. By that time I ran my own group and certainly did not fall in with the others’ lower standards. I did things by the book, by which I mean with proper diligence, which I also expected of my immediate supporting staff. I had no say in the way others ran their groups. I was not is a position to tell anyone about the other lot of course because I would have not helped my popularity. Peer pressure is a powerful thing.

I rather think that it would be this sort of workplace culture that infected the News of the World. Many if not most employees would have kept their hands clean but there would be a few who would get their stories by whatever means. Management is often too engaged on the bigger commercial picture to wonder how the workers get their tasks done. It is no excuse of course; they should keep in touch, but it is probably a step too far to insinuate that those in charge at News of the World knew at the time about dirty practices.

Skills

Management is a skill. It doesn’t matter whether it is exercised in a newspaper or a restaurant.  Management is by definition about directing workers in the right direction and getting the best out of them. That involves neither just telling them what to do to get results, nor is it just about looking at the bottom line in terms of profit and assuming everything is in order. Management is about listening. It is about communication. It is about being respected in order for employees to want to give of their best for their managers. That means that managers and indeed business owners have to do their best for their employees by helping them with their difficult issues and leading by example to show them how things should be done. That way they get enough feedback to know what is going on.

That didn’t happen at the News of the World. Do you agree?

 

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Making a meal of our managing duties

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Jon Stow
Full course dinner

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I am all for delegation of responsibility to staff. That is part of good management if you are confident your managers and employees are up to coping. Of course it is important that they ask for advice and they are properly trained. Sometimes things can go wrong when we are not in touch with our staff and we have not properly defined their roles.

Last weekend my wife and I were at a pub restaurant we had not tried before, It did not aspire to being a gastro-pub (up-market food) but it was unfortunately trying to cover all the bases rather than concentrating on a few things and doing them well.

We were guests so it was not our place to bring various problems to the management’s notice at the time.

On arrival we were greeted enthusiastically by the waiting staff. We were offered menus very quickly, someone took a drinks order, and two waiters fought over who should take our food order. We had to send them away to start with because the menu was very long and we were faced with too much choice.

I can’t speak for the lunches ordered by our companions. My wife and I both had the same starter which was very good. Though obviously made with bought-in products some thought had gone into its composition.

Our mixed grill main course was disappointing. Only our steaks had been freshly cooked to order, The rest had been sitting pre-cooked for a long while and was dried out. That is the fault of having a long menu. The poor chef cannot cook everything to order because she or he has no idea what diners will want, They have too much choice. The food wastage must also be considerable if a lot of the menu is pre-prepared. By having a long menu they end up not only with a smaller margin on the food due to the amount they throw away but also end up serving poorer quality dishes.

After the main course the service was not only less enthusiastic. It was impossible to find a waitress or waiter or indeed any member of staff for around twenty minutes. Eventually we saw someone in the distance and caught his eye. He called that he would be right over. He then disappeared. Around ten minutes after that we saw someone else and caught her attention. She appeared to be the manager and she did take an order for our companions desserts. These were delivered without too much delay, at which time, having perceived the problem the bill was requested. Over the next twenty minutes it had to be requested twice more.

Clearly like any other business, the restaurant should concentrate on some things it could do well. In its case this would be a shorter menu delivered by a chef who then has the time and is supported by properly trained staff. In other words:

  • Do what you are good at and can deliver.
  • Don’t try to do too much.
  • Avoid waste by using your resources properly and not buying in what you don’t need.
  • Make sure your staff are properly trained and know what is expected of them.
  • Keep an eye on them to make sure they are coping. If not, dive in to support them.

One final necessity: ask for feedback, because people will often refrain from complaining but just not come back. They will tell their friends about your failures so they won’t even try you out. It is easy to fix a problem if you know what it is. Otherwise the reason for your falling sales will escape you until you have no business. There’s something to chew over.

 

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Closed and open networks in the 21st Century

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Jon Stow

Under orders

Do you like being told what to do? As a small business owner, I don’t, and I don’t suppose you do either.

To be honest, I never really have liked being told what to do. When I was an employee I had to be at the start, but as I became more experienced and senior, generally most of my bosses allowed me to get on with it. A hands-off approach to management is usually the right way to go, and as I had been treated, so I treated others. I always thought that the best way to get employees to do their best for you was to be nice to them so that they liked you and didn’t want to let you down. Actually I am not sure that was mostly a conscious process; after all if you treat people well they should like you and aim to please.

Out of jail

So, when I gained my freedom, one advantage of having my own business was that no one told me what to do. Of course I have always sought advice. I would be stupid not to, but I have never been under an obligation to anyone other than my clients, for whom I do my best.

In order to gain more business, or indeed to get any at the start I joined several networks. One was a well known breakfast networking organization, but I also joined two business groups. Both operated on the principle that accredited members won work and that which they couldn’t or were not directly qualified to do themselves, they farmed out to other better qualified members, taking a commission for the work won. It was not the done thing to sub-contract to non-members.

The Dark Ages

I suppose that was OK in back in the mists of time a decade ago and when the internet was still a clumsy child and not the sophisticated fast-growing brash youngster it now is. It was OK when my business was also a child and the networks and I were products of a pre-internet age.

These days I want to work with the best people I can when I am managing a project. I have gathered a large network and would want to bring in whomever I wish who is most suited. I don’t expect a commission for subcontracting. Either I would hope for reciprocal referrals or I can sell on the sub-contracted work at a profit. I am not demanding that people give up to me some of what they consider their due reward.

Freedom

I know many more people than I did. I have met them through Ecademy, LinkedIn , Twitter and other on-line networks. I have met them off-line face to face so that I know that I like them. People move on from other networks, but they don’t necessarily move on from mine, unless I decide I couldn’t work with them. My network is in my head even if their contact details are not. I work with whom I like.

The trouble is the old closed networks still like control of their members. They like to tell them what to do. They like to tell them with whom they can work and with whom they can’t. Incredible isn’t it?

The Real World

I value my old networks very much, by which I mean the members with whom I have worked. The networks are the people in them, not the founders or owners. The founders are facilitators now, not controllers. If they don’t let their networks grow up and their members work as they wish the networks will not survive in formal form. Of course any network must have acceptable ethics, but not restrictive rules which might even constitute a restraint of trade.

Freedom and flexibility are what all businesses need now, not just small ones. As long as we are ethical in our approach and stick to what we are good at, please don’t tell us what to do, or with whom we are allowed to work. That is so Last Century, isn’t it?.

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