Recently, a supervisor I manage invited me to a performance review of one of his staff. The employee remained silent while her immediate supervisor delivered a list of performance problems. I started to provide recommendations on how to improve. Before I got halfway through the list, the employee shed a few tears.
Despite the many proclamations that our company wants to increase professional services sales and social media use, the CEO blocks every idea I propose to make this happen. Furthermore, we can’t get more funding for sales and social media training. It doesn’t make sense that the CEO and upper management would buy in to these proclamations, and yet not support the efforts to make these directives happen.
How can I convince the CEO that none of this can happen without action and training? Or am I stuck doing business as usual and trying to do what I can with what I have?
— Jamie, VP of Services
Flu season hits our sales team four times a year, and it returned the first
of the year with a vengeance. This is the worst flu season for our professional
service organization. We tie our services to product sales, and every 90 days,
when products sell well, a consistent stream of quality sales leads turns over.
However, when product sales dry up, so do our service leads.
Since I have only six employees, just one who isn’t productive can create a problem. I hired Chris right out of college. He lacks commitment, shows up late, misses days and falls behind in his work. None of this fazes him; he thinks it’s OK. On top of that, he takes shortcuts and misses details, which creates more work for the rest of us.
Recently, a supervisor I manage invited me to a performance review of one of his staff. The employee remained silent while her immediate supervisor delivered a list of performance problems. I started to provide recommendations on how to improve. Before I got halfway through the list, the employee shed a few tears.
Our star salesman is the best closer I’ve ever seen. We pay him a salary plus commission on gross product sales. He has some pricing latitude. I’ve noticed a fairly stable gross profit percentage on products, but it’s different for services. He’s practically giving away services to get more product sales.
Belt-tightening. Scaling-down. Cutbacks. Prospects often use the economy as an excuse not to buy, but in reality, there’s always a need for our services, no matter the economic condition.
Since I have only six employees, just one who isn’t productive can create a problem. I hired Chris right out of college. He lacks commitment, shows up late, misses days and falls behind in his work. None of this fazes him; he thinks it’s OK. On top of that, he takes shortcuts and misses details, [...]
Our star salesman is the best closer I’ve ever seen. We pay him a salary plus commission on gross product sales. He has some pricing latitude. I’ve noticed a fairly stable gross profit percentage on products, but it’s different for services. He’s practically giving away services to get more product sales.
We have a client satisfaction survey to help us ensure we keep our clients happy. It’s been a struggle to get responses, even though the survey asks just a few open- and closed-ended questions. How do we increase response rates? Should we make all of our questions close-ended? Or are there certain questions that yield better responses?
How can you develop trust in a distrusting team?
Somehow, the environment surrounding my team is a negative one, and no one trusts each other. I’m not sure how it happened, as it was like this before I took over the team. How can one create trust in a work team when the team members are suspicious of and mistrust each other? Have a meeting to discuss the issues? Send them to training? — Julie
Belt-tightening. Scaling-down. Cutbacks. Prospects often use the economy as an excuse not to buy, but in reality, there’s always a need for our services, no matter the economic condition.
We have a client satisfaction survey to help us ensure we keep our clients happy. It’s been a struggle to get responses, even though the survey asks just a few open- and closed-ended questions.
We give clients proposals for the services they hire us to do. However, we have several clients who take too long to provide the needed feedback or approval.
I’ve been a manager for a couple of years now and had to learn management and leadership skills on the job and by watching other managers. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. Yet between the books on the market and the Internet, I’m overwhelmed as to how to improve my leadership skills. Since many of your readers are managers and executives, I thought they’d be a good resource to tap into. So should I pursue a degree in management, take a certain type of class, reach for the books or what?
— Frances, Trial-by-fire Manager
Somehow, the environment surrounding my team is a negative one, and no one trusts each other. I’m not sure how it happened, as it was like this before I took over the team. How can one create trust in a work team when the team members are suspicious of and mistrust each other? Have a meeting to discuss the issues? Send them to training?
— Julie
Every company has one — the “genius” who can pull an amazing solution out of you-know-where, when everyone else has been frustrated for weeks.
We give clients proposals for the services they hire us to do. However, we have several clients who take too long to provide the needed feedback or approval. And we cannot move forward without their input. Even though we deliver a service, delays affect our business.
At our company, most employees have Internet access at their workstations. Ordinarily, I don’t mind a few minutes of web browsing here and there for a break or even a little personal business. It’s the same as a quick water-cooler conversation.
I’ve been a manager for a couple of years now and had to learn management and leadership skills on the job and based on watching other managers. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. Yet between the books on the market and the Internet, I’m overwhelmed as to how to improve my leadership skills. Since many readers are managers and executives, I thought they’d be a good resource to tap into. So should I pursue a degree in management, take a certain type of class, reach for the books or what?
— Frances, Trial-by-fire Manager
I know in this job market there are few jobs and too many candidates. However, I’m concerned that if we try to use an online job service to post jobs, we’ll get inundated with resumes from over- or under-qualified applicants. What’s an effective way to target the right potential employees? Or is an online job listings site our only and best option, and we’ll have to wade through mountains of irrelevant applications?
Every company has one — the “genius” who can pull an amazing solution out of you-know-where, when everyone else has been frustrated for weeks.
At our company, most employees have Internet access at their workstations. Ordinarily, I don’t mind a few minutes of web browsing here and there for a break or even a little personal business. It’s the same as a quick water-cooler conversation.
We’re a busy professional services firm that needs to track billable and non-billable hours. Obviously, it’s not efficient for non-billable, salaried workers to enter data every few minutes. But it’s critical they keep accurate records of the time they work and the type of work they do. What are the best practices for tracking hours? Or should we leave employees to their own devices, even if they have to spend a lot of time recording hours?
My employees often request to work from home for various reasons, such as to be home for a delivery or to let a repair person in. Those employees slow to get over an illness will also ask to work at home. I understand that they don’t want to lose too many hours or use vacation time. How much time is reasonable? How do you manage flexible and work-from-home situations? Or do you not allow them?
— Manager
I know in this job market there are few jobs and too many candidates. However, I’m concerned that if we try to use an online job service to post jobs, we’ll get inundated with resumes from over- or under-qualified applicants. What’s an effective way to target the right potential employees? Or is an online job listings site our only and best option, and we’ll have to wade through mountains of irrelevant applications?
— Manager
Like most companies, mine has not given raises in a while. Yet unlike some companies, we have not cut salaries. I realize I’m lucky to have a talented pool of productive employees who work for me. Rather than wait for someone to leave for a higher paying job, I want to be proactive to keep my staff intact. Does the fact we can’t do raises doom us? Or are there other ways to retain employees?
We’re a busy professional services firm that needs to track billable and non-billable hours. Obviously, it’s not efficient for non-billable, salaried workers to enter data every few minutes. But it’s critical they keep accurate records of the time they work and the type of work they do. What are the best practices for tracking hours? Or should we leave employees to their own devices, even if they have to spend a lot of time recording hours?
— Department manager
My employees often request to work from home for various reasons, such as to be home for a delivery or to let a repair person in. Those employees slow to get over an illness will also ask to work at home. I understand that they don’t want to lose too many hours or use vacation time. How much time is reasonable? How do you manage flexible and work-from-home situations? Or do you not allow them?
— Manager
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Services and the Big Picture: You Will Lose Product Sales if you Don't Get Serious About Selling Services Join us for an energetic hour with services industry pundit James "Alex" Alexander as he shares his experiences, insights, and recommendations on this critical aspect of selling services. |
Name: Meryl K
