An older empty-nester couple who live on our street did a big renovation of the home they bought, completely gutting and renovating the kitchen, installing new cabinets, countertops, appliances and a floor. When I was talking to them one day, the wife shared her excitement about what they’d done, showing me pictures. The husband joked to me under his breath that he had to make the kitchen bigger because “that’s where she opens her Amazon packages,” suggesting that not a lot of cooking was going to be going on.
In business, the “kitchen” that is rarely used to “cook” in is the great ideas that were invested in but then never executed on, leads generated then never followed up on, websites that took a lot of time and effort to launch but then were never updated, the training program purchased with great intentions to grow and profit, then never consumed or utilized.
The tendency for all of us is to constantly START, but then FAIL to follow through. We’re all busy, with LOTS going on. Shiny pennies abound and always look easier, better and more interesting than the dirty brown ones in our pocket. Good ideas drift. Know this: the REAL money and progress in business is made from persistent, dogged, consistent implementation of “old” but proven fundamentals, systems and winning “recipes” that are perfected and known to work.
Not only do you, the leader, need to be mindful about failing to follow through yourself, but you also need to diligently keep an eye on your staff. Many great initiatives started by the founder/CEO and given to them can end up stalled, incomplete and left abandoned, cobwebs forming, because they were sabotaged by the employees, sometimes intentionally and sometimes through sloth and failure to execute.
Years ago, a channel chief who was second in command to the CEO of the organization he worked for told me the people back home at the office nicknamed the CEO “the zit,” because he was constantly coming up with ideas that he would get all excited about – but if they, the staff, dragged their feet and slow-walked the implementation, he would eventually lose steam about the idea and “pop,” abandoning it. Yes, gross, both in the visual you can’t help but see, but also disgusting that someone who was a top paid leader of this org had total disrespect for the person paying him and encouraged the staff to do the same. Sadly, this is more common than not.
In my org, I know that if I don’t FORCE an issue – meeting weekly or sometimes daily about something I want DONE, documenting what “done” is, asking questions, requesting proof of progress, saying, “Show me,” meeting frequently to get status updates – it won’t get implemented correctly or at all, or will be so slow it will lose all steam and have zero impact. As the saying goes, do not EXPECT what you don’t INSPECT.
Recently, a client who is a very sharp owner of a multimillion-dollar MSP asked for a meeting with me regarding his SDR’s (appointment setter’s) performance and overall declining results from marketing. I asked him to go pull the numbers of dials, connection rates, scripts, mailers, etc. In preparation for the meeting, he discovered the SDR wasn’t making anywhere near the number of calls he was supposed to be making, the letter that was supposed to be going out wasn’t, and the script was definitely NOT being used at all.
Our consultation turned into a “how to hire and manage better” vs. “how to fix my marketing that’s not working.” Obviously, the response was down, but that was mostly because he turned his back for a minute, trusting that the people he was paying to do a job WERE ACTUALLY DOING IT. That IS how it should work but rarely does.
Here’s what you have to know: NOTHING in business stays functioning and “good” for very long without a diligent, watchful eye. People say they don’t like to be “micromanaged,” but most people NEED that level of oversight to ensure they’re doing their jobs correctly.
Even long-tenured staff who ought to know better stray from what works, what the standard is, what the manual says, what “good” is. No warning, no excuse. They just drift. When it’s discovered that they strayed from the formula and you point it out, asking why, they just shrug and apologize: “Oh, I’ll get right back to doing it that way.” It’s maddening.
But that’s what we signed up for as business owners. All you can do is try to hire better, fire faster and make sure YOU aren’t doing it too. Document conversations and goals so that not only are your employees and vendors aware of what needs to get done, but as a reminder to YOU so you don’t get busy and forget. Run projects to deadline and require them to hit those deadlines and standards. If they consistently fail to, they get fired. Develop a reputation as a “dog with a bone,” not “the zit.”
As the Russian proverb goes: trust, but VERIFY.
If you’re tired of watching good ideas fizzle out and want to start seeing real results, don’t miss our upcoming MSP Marketing Roadshow. We’ll give you the exact strategies and systems to ensure your next big idea doesn’t stall out but instead drives real growth. Secure your spot today and learn how to turn your best ideas into profitable action.
