Killing A Company Slowly

22006199411_a6c8ea9439_z

“If we get orders and we don’t supply it and satisfy our customers, we’re going to fail as a company.” -John McCranor, vice president of warehouse operations, Lifetime Brands Inc., in the Wall Street Journal

I had a client that seemingly loved post-order crisis management:

  • Orders were shipped incomplete
  • The wrong parts were shipped
  • On-time delivery wasn’t even in their vocabulary
  • There were technical issues with the products that did ship

The client had a customer that represented 80% of their revenues. The COO said this problem was killing their business yet, for the troops on the frontline, this was business as usual. I even had managers tell me, “Problem? What problem?”

The COO was right: the customer that represented 80% of their business walked away from them. They can’t say they didn’t see it coming.

Yet, the culture and history suggested to the vast majority of employees that nothing was wrong in spite of the fact there was a clear and present danger.

Are you looking at issues from your customer’s perspective? Or, are you thinking you are “too important to fail?”

Thought for the week:

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” –Albert Einstein

__
What do you think? I welcome your comments!
___

Dave Gardner

© 2015 DAVEGARDNER.biz  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe  here. I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

 

 

 

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.