An umbrella and a three-legged stool
by Todd Youngblood
What do you think of this 12-month performance record?
- 19.6% sales growth
- Gross Margin up 1.1%
- Strategic offerings from 11% of total sales to 29.4%
How’d they do that?
According to the COO of this mid-size wholesale distributor, a total-company “accountability mentality” has provided the essential protection from all the issues, problems and daily crises of the past year. “Everybody knows what the really important objectives are, because those are the things we measure,” she says.
Whoa! A statement like that is music to the ears of a believer in Sales Process Engineering or any other continuous improvement methodology. Even better, they measure a lot of stuff – starting with the executive team. Six months ago, at the beginning of their fiscal year, the leaders of this outfit laid out 56 specific goals for themselves. (You read that right, 56!!! And you also noticed the word “themselves” – not goals for the company, goals for themselves.) They identified the goals based on solicited feedback from all employees. They published them, have reviewed them in every monthly, company-wide meeting and are very publicly committed to reaching every one.
This executive-level willingness to be judged by all employees via an extensive, regularly-reviewed-by-all report card has created an enviable level of accountability in their corporate culture. Everybody has their own set of goals. There’s an expectation on the part of everybody, that everybody else will feel as accountable to their own goals as the execs are to theirs.
Has this “Accountability Umbrella” enabled implementation of some challenging initiatives? Or is it just a load of feel-good hooey? How about transforming the business from a product orientation to a strategic services orientation? (See bullet #3 in the headline above.) How about raising the level of responsibility and performance of customer service dramatically enough to cover for a 14% decrease in outside sales headcount and a 20% increase in total sales? How about changing the outside sales compensation plan? (And I’m talking about a BIG-TIME philosophical change in the sales comp plan!)
Speaking of “big, hairy, audacious goals!” Those were the three legs on the stool. All three got implemented successfully. It’s a privately held company, so they were coy about the improvement in net profit after tax. You and I can both look at sales and margin growth though, and make an educated guess.
By the way, half-way through their year the execs have attained 45% of their 56 goals, 20% are partially achieved and the remaining 35% still need a lot of attention and work. Is the “Accountability Mentality” right for your company? Certainly some of it is. Maybe most or even all of it. Given the potential results, it sure makes sense to at least…
Think about it…
