Lately, I have had a string of vendors and their reps (representatives) make appointments with our people and either they didn’t show up at the time of the commitment or cancelled last minute, and by last minute, I mean, that morning. They were coming to do PK’s on products we were already showing, or another new product their company just brought in, but ultimately to sell us something.
For my stores, we do our weekly meetings outside of our regular store hours to be able to give our customers our full attention and our salespeople the time they need to build their business and commissions. When reps don’t make the meeting or show up late, they are not the favorite person of the day with my team. Our people feel like their time was not important to the vendor or what the vendor had to do was more important than our people.
Additionally, we get the other reps who either call you, literally, while they are driving in your direction or just walk in and assume you and your people are just sitting there waiting for something to do. I guess in some of our stores they are probably right, but either way, if they want to get your time and your full attention, it only makes sense that they do what you must do in almost every other field, make an appointment.
Here is where I step on my own toes. You all know the saying, “Be careful when you point your finger at someone else because there are three others pointing back at you.” Well, it’s amazing what walking by a mirror will do for you once you can look past that extremely handsome person looking back at you. Do we respect our employees’ time, our customers’ time, our families’ time, and even our own time?
I can’t tell you the number of times over the 40-plus years in this business I have told my customers and my employees that they can call me any time, 24/7, and I am there for them. And, while I thought it was showing I was a leader that cared, it also told others that I didn’t — like my family and friends that I constantly interrupted to deal with work.
On the flip side, we all have things that go on in our personal lives that will interrupt our customers’ time and our employers’ time. Some people handle it very well. They are organized, planned and make sure their personal issues are not putting extra burdens on their teammates and the customers who count on them. Then there are others that just have not put any planning or organization into their work ethic and leave it all up to chance. We all know what chaos that can impose on others left behind in the wake. We must learn to value the customers’ time and need to implement the procedures and systems that support those habits for your team. Work hard at informing the customer what will happen through the process and not just what they want to hear.
I don’t have all the answers right now on how to “make the best use of everyone’s time,” but with my eyes and ears open, I plan to figure out the right mix so everyone we encounter feels their time is as important as my time. Hopefully, it will be shown by our actions to our vendors, employees, families and our customers!
Don Roberts is a 40 year flooring industry professional who has managed teams from seven to more than 700 to success. Don can be reached via email at don.roberts@myflorstor.com.