Stupid Sales
Let’s take a moment while the year is new to consider your worst customer. Yes, I know, it’s tough to pick the worst one from among the multitude of candidates. There’s the one who makes you chase her for every invoice, the one that insists on last-minute changes at no extra cost, the one that abuses your staff so much that it’s now an HR issue….the list might seem endless.
Next—not that I want to pour salt on the wound—here’s a cheery thought to bear in mind as you pursue new sales in 2015:
You invested real dollars and gave up irreplaceable time to win your worst accounts, and you are continuing to pay commission dollars on revenue that just might not be generating a profit on a fully-burdened basis. And, if you keep doing business in 2015 the way you did it in 2014, you’re going to win more accounts that keep you from achieving your goals.
Worse, you know better. You’ve been running your business long enough to spot the problem accounts long before the contract is signed. Really, how many times are you surprised when a new customer turns out to be a problem account? In most businesses, the bad clients fit into a pattern, just like the good ones, and experienced execs like you can see the pattern unfold before it’s too late.
So, what happens? Most successful executives are optimists who see themselves as problem solvers. When the warning signs reveal themselves, it doesn’t take much of a leap for us to think, “Maybe this one will be different, and, even if it isn’t, I’ll figure out how to make it work.”
Let’s make a resolution this year to avoid the pain we caused ourselves in 2014, and 2013, and 2012…. Let’s resolve to pinpoint the warning signals for bad business and, when a prospect starts setting off the alarms, take a pass.
Quadrant Five wishes you a happy, profitable, sustainable New Year, free from the headaches that we often create for ourselves.
About Michael Rosenbaum
Quadrant Five founder Michael Rosenbaum has walked the walk when it comes to building a business, so he can be a confidant and compatriot—not just an advisor—for clients. Rosenbaum worked his way up to president of a $35 million company with 300 people and 600 clients. Along the way, he managed operations, HR, IT, and marketing, and advised CEOS and CFOs at more than 200 companies.
Beginning as a newspaper reporter, he developed a specialization in business journalism and earned an MBA on his way to a 30-year consulting career. Representing both angel-backed startups and Fortune 100 giants, Rosenbaum identified the patterns and processes that drive success across a wide range of industries and business cycles.
He is well regarded for designing each performance-improvement process around specific client needs, capabilities, and culture, rather than pushing a pre-fab set of rules for clients to follow. He brings a unique set of skills to each engagement, including experiences as a company president, financial journalist, marketer, IR advisor, non-profit founder, author, and public speaker. Items of note include:
• Received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland in 2015 for non-profit work
• Honored for the Best Business Biography of 2012 for his fifth book, Six Tires, No Plan
• Frequent speaker on customer relationship value
• Sales instructor for Certified Value Growth Advisor certification program.
• Regional Communications Chair, YPO Gold
• Marketing Chair, AMAA’s Mid-Market Alliance
• Former Chicago Chapter Chair, National Association of Corporate Directors
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