Published
She had decided after many months of working in a nonsupportive bickering environment that she could stand it no longer and must change jobs. She is one of those people I described in an earlier article ("Going for the Win"), a WILL SELL kind of person. From the first day I met her I recognized that. What puzzles me is the lack of “getting it” shown by her bosses. They have essentially driven a loyal high producing salesperson right into the arms of their competition. And what makes me really shake my head is that one-week after she decided where she was going to make her new home (three firms had made her offers) her manager proudly announced the changes they plan to make to fix their problems. But it was too late. They had made her look elsewhere for what she needed, and she is now in someone else’s arms so to speak.
I'm sure when she breaks the news to them in a couple of weeks they will give the “but look what we were going to do for you” speech and make it her fault. I've seen that so many times I have stopped counting.
This all reminds me of a situation my wife had as a customer with Martha Stewart last year. For several months Vicki tried to buy an item from Martha Stewart On-line. The story got totally Gordian in its complexity. She placed the order and they sent her an out of stock notice. Then she got promotion from them for the same item. She called. They said they had it. Then they said they couldn't find it. Then they said they could find it but it didn't show in inventory. Then it was at another location. And on and on and on like this until finally Vicki just threw up her hands and cancelled the order.
Soon thereafter she got yet another promotion from MSO for the exact same item. This was the last straw. I watched with grim fascination as her jaw set, eyes narrowed and her lips tightened slightly. I had seen this look before and, once again, found myself thinking, “thank GOD she’s on my side.”
She was about to declare war.
Over the next few days she managed to track down the contact information of every person on the board of directors at Martha’s. She compiled every email, invoice, promotion and letter written during the course of this disastrous process. She sent copies in a package to everyone on her list. Everyone. They got a blow-by-blow description of the story.
Two days after the packages went out the phone rang. It was Martha’s personal assistant. Practically the first words out of the lady’s mouth were “are you an attorney?” She is not. But she is amazingly thorough in making a case.
The assistant told her that Martha was taking the letter into the board meeting with her and it would be on the agenda. She apologized for the horrible experience and asked Vicki if they could please send her an autographed copy of Martha’s latest book.
"Sure."
Then she promised to fix the order.
"Great."
One week later the item arrived along with the book. It was the wrong size.
One week after that MSO sent Vicki another promotion for the same product. Vicki went on-line, more out of resigned curiosity than anything else, and sure enough, it was out of stock.
We decided it was time to "declare victory and go home".
My point?
Quality is important. Consistency is essential.
By not providing a supportive environment that would let my client reach her goals her old employer has squandered opportunities for significant revenue and has helped their competition by providing a trained, motivated employee.
Martha Stewart On-line has permanently damaged her permission to keep selling to a customer who wanted to be loyal and has turned her into a skeptic about everything "Martha". She still gets the offers but the 20% off credits in her account sit bone idle; she just looks and doesn't click.
It is hard to find and develop customers, employees, salespeople. So expensive to get them in the first place. Please, do whatever you can to keep them.
Make it a great day!
September 22, 2003
Too Little, Too Late
JUMProductions
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arlington, tx 76004
vox 817.261.2108 fax 801.881.2717
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