Get the mission statement off your website

Do you read the corporate mission and vision statements on websites or in corporate promotional material?

I don’t.

In fact, I find them to be insincere, ambiguous and completely useless to the customer, and most of the time useless to the company itself.

So why do many corporate websites include them?

Does someone in the sales and marketing department believe that customers find this information important or believable?

Objectives, goals, mission and vision are important in an organization.  They define where we are going, and help in making decisions about how to get there.

You don’t need a mission or vision statement to be successful.You will need to make certain everyone in the company knows where they are going and are focused and motivated on getting there.

Customers will see the results.

You don’t have to tell them what you are trying to do.

Are you listening to what the customer needs?

I have been involved in a series of meetings with business owners regarding problems in their companies. 

Declining sales and market share due to international competitors, inability to compete or a decline in the entire industry sector are some of the reasons mentioned.

Solutions that were discussed and debated including cutting costs of raw materials, increasing worker efficiency, lowering logistics costs, streamlining the administration and related costs, government intervention and protection, outsourcing and even forming alliances with the international competitors.

What struck me as incredibly odd was that not once were the customer’s needs mentioned.

Not once did anyone mention creating new ideas, products or services for the customer.

There was no discussion of investing in new technology because “things are difficult now”.

There was never a comparison made between the marketing and promotion, branding or image of the competitors versus the company’s marketing, promotion, branding and image.  Why not? 

Every comment or observation focused on lowering production and logistics costs to the customer, never on increasing the benefits to the customer.

All that mattered is “how can I sell at a lower price”.

That’s right.  The entire future of these companies, and in some cases entire industries are focused on how make their products for less.  How to beat the Chinese, Indonesia or Brazil or whatever developing country has access to cheaper raw materials or labor. 

Common sense tells us this is not a viable, long -term solution.

Each of these companies has stated in their publicity, website and in their mission statements that their focus is on the customer and on customer service.  Why aren’t the customer’s needs and future needs part of the search for solutions when sales are declining?

If the customer really truly cares only about price, your product is a commodity. 

If the customer only cares about price, they don’t care about your company’s service, advertising and promotion, attitude or participation in their business.

If you really think that the low price will guarantee the sale, cut out the customer or technical service.  Take away financing.  Take away delivery and logistics.  Forget environmental and worker protection.  Reduce your inventories.   Standardize your prices and order sizes.   Cut down on sales and promotion. 

Call me when your sales skyrocket and the money pours in. 

I suppose it’s normal when sales fall, to attack costs, and costs are a fundamental element in being competitive in certain goods and services.

It is not the only element.  It may not even be the most important one for your customer. 

It probably is the easiest area to change quickly, and requires no investment.  People like easy solutions that don’t require investment. 

The relationship with your customer, the ability to meet their needs with your product or service and allow them to make a profit is what makes business click.

How well do you know your customer? 

What problems are they facing?

Is your contribution to their product important, significant or fundamental in their success?

Do they see you as simply a supplier of a commodity or an integral part of their supply chain and future?

Have you explored how you can work with them to make them more competitive?

Once this has been accomplished, bring the results to the boardroom and start the discussion of how to aid declining sales and deteriorating margin.

Don’t stop with the easy solutions.

Look for the difficult solutions, the ones that require compromise and long-term commitment.

Look for solutions that require investment of resources; time, money, and ideas. 

These are the solutions that the competitor focused on cost is not interested in. 

These are the solutions that will provide confidence and mutual opportunities for growth.

Broken promises

“The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.”  Napoleon Bonaparte

It’s too easy to make a promise.

We promise the customer that the product will work, solve their problem, and maybe change their lives.

We promise our coworkers that our part of the work will be delivered on time.

We promise our business partners and suppliers that we they can count on us.

We promise to follow up after the initial sales call, that we will always be there with customer service.

We promise that our priority is the customer and the customers satisfaction.

We promise to hit the sales goals and meet the budget.

All our promises are all full of good intentions, it’s what people want to hear, it’s what we want to deliver.

But, can we guarantee that we will deliver?

Never take a solemn oath.  People think you mean it.  Norman Douglas

The best way to ruin your reputation and lower your ability to lead and manage others is to promise something and not deliver.

We make a promise because it gives others confidence, it seems to make negotiations easier and it reflects our hope that all will go as planned.

“All promise outruns performance.”  Ralph Waldo Emerson

A common error of new managers and leaders is the perceived need to make promises to their organization and team.

Don’t promise it.

Promises are very powerful compromises, but extremely fragile and difficult to achieve.  Take care when offering them to others.  

In the place of promises, offer firm plans, describe actions and possible outcome, dedicate the time and resources required.

Do more than you say you will.

Perform, don’t promise.

“It is an immutable law in business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises but only performance is reality.”  Harold Geneen

20 ways to guarantee failure as a manager

A guide for the new leader who wants to alienate all employees and fail as quickly as possible in their new management position

1. Immediately purchase new office furniture and redecorate your office.  Spend a lot of money and make your office look very different from any other office in the company.
2. Insist on new computers, cell phones and software for your use only.
3. Spend several days working on your title, the press release announcing it and how your business cards look.
4. Insist and “fight over” small insignificant details and decisions in meetings, leaving big decisions and “big picture” items in limbo.
5. Treat the people in the organization as if they are there for your convenience and well being.  Be as rude as possible in your communications.  Demand, never ask.
6. When in meetings and conversations, always answer the ringing telephone, type and send Blackberry messages, read and respond to all incoming email and instant messages.  Interrupt frequently and ask people to repeat themselves because you were busy.
7. Plan company workshops or events aimed at creating a new atmosphere of “community” at work for weekends or after work hours, and preferable with short notice.
8. Avoid sharing any information about your goals, ideas and strategies about the company with employees.  Always talk about theory, never get specific.  Keep it fuzzy and out of focus.
9. Don’t listen to any ideas, solutions or complaints from employees or managers who report to you, especially if they have been with the company for a long time.
10. Make strong permanent opinions about the company and employees, solely on the basis of discussions with top management and the business owners.
11. Take lots of “business trips”  and attend every professional seminar and conference possible, do not take anyone from the company with you.  This is especially effective if the company is suffering from cash flow problems.
12. Talk about implementing massive changes, re-inventing methods and strategies, promote innovation and tell everyone that money is not an issue for them to worry about, at the same time focus all your energy on cutting costs, and minimizing the organization.
13. Immediately terminate some employees because someone told you to do it.
14. Insist that everyone in the company learns how to work with a new software program that you like.
15. Request reports and analysis from all managers and department heads, then several days later, repeat the request.  Don’t read or respond to any report and never acknowledge that you have received it.
16. Schedule many inter-departmental meetings at odd hours, don’t provide an agenda, then cancel them at the last minute, or just don’t show up.
17. Always refer to customers as if they were something evil and undesirable.
18. Constantly remind employees that before you came to the company they were primitive and uneducated, without a clue as to what business is all about.
19. Hire consultants, lots of consultants, expensive consultants are best.
20. Never make a decision by yourself, always try and find total consensus on all issues.

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