Three months ago I went to a falafel (Chickpea) place to hang out before a sales call in Manhattan. It was just one of five places in the block where I could go. I noted that the place was really clean, food was good and there was a busboy, I'll call him Mario, who was working really hard keeping the place clean. I remembered that he took my tray to the garbage can for me. The next time I went to that client, I went back to Chickpea only because I remembered that the bathroom was clean. The place wasn't that busy and Mario came up as I was leaving and asked "are you selling to the hospital?" I guess I stood out like a sore thumb. He made some small talk and wished me good luck and walked me out. The next time, I I went back to Chickpea. I had to leave in a hurry because I was running late and only ate half my wrap. Mario was right there, and grabbed my tray, and while wiping down my spot at the counter asked if my food was okay, then hurried to hold the door for me as he saw I was on the phone and struggling with my laptop bag. He yelled "Good Luck!" as I left.
As my company has started putting out quarterly goals, some
employees are feeling disconnected because they are looking at something that
doesn't affect them. For example, how does a goal
of “Sell more widgets” affect me? Customer Support staff says “oh well, nothing
for me to do.” Software Engineers say "I don't do sales". Others may say "I work with cogs, not widgets, so there is nothing for me to do." My friend Mario doesn't care about the menu, the website, how much ingredients cost, or any of that. He just knows that if he does his job over and beyond expectations that he's doing everything he is doing everything he can to make the business succeed.
There is something for everyone to do in every goal. How can Customer Support help to sell widgets? Support existing widgets the best that you can! Software Engineers can make the widget more work faster. If you work with cogs, offer new ideas to the widget department, give them a call and say "hey, we added a light blue color and it made all the difference in the world to one client." Oh and maybe one of your cog customers needs a widget and they don't even know about it!
Doing your job better, breaking up rocks, reporting rocks, giving input are all things you can do. Most of all you have to remember that the company goals are not “their goals”, but “our goals”. Everything the company does affects customers, so everything you do affects customers. Customers are who write your paycheck.
p.s. Did you notice in the 2nd paragraph I called Mario my "friend"? Think about the impact you can make if customers think of you that way?
I think the greatest wall (and the hardest one to tear down) is the cross-product one (cogs vs. widgets). I've certainly been guilty of helping fortify that wall, as it's sometimes hard to see the forest through the trees. Sales may be able to see an overall company product - but those in the departmentalized roles have their own goals and pressures, and those will ALWAYS take precedence over any other company product.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, I used to preside over a cogs department - and that department had a very specific responsibility of keeping all of the machinery in the company working. Widgets, while also very important to the company, were always secondary. If the widgets were in need of something, we might feel inclined to throw a cog or two their way - but pressure coming from both management above and outside clients, always pushed that cross-polination to the bottom of the priority stack... ...and that lowered priority inevitably leads to the 'red-headed step child' syndrome that only perpetuates the strength and size of the wall (I'm way more important than you, so we'll see if I happen to get around to helping you).
Tough to break that wall and that vicious cycle - it needs to come from the managers first, and foremost. The managers of the cogs and widgets MUST agree and see eye-to-eye on the importance of each other - only then will the workers in those departments respect and cooperate across divisions. If either manager is unable to view the other as an equal, that superiority will innevitable be passed down to the department and you will never achieve the cooperations sales needs in order to thrive...
Great point! I think that this is why in Agile teams it is recommended to have a team member from each department - development, development, design, QA, etc. - so that these silos are broken down.
Delete