The rockface always exposes invaluable gems

Leaders have a responsibility to work at the rockface from time to time…particularly at times when things are changing….or haven’t changed for a while.

And the added-value from investing some time alongside the troops in front of customers …as well as being a prisoner to your own processes…means you can experience the first-hand feedback and the frustrating anomolies….and fix them quickly.

The gems at the rockface are those simple things that can save and make you money. For example, packaging that fails easily during shelf-stacking…or bar codes on stretchfilm wrapping that don’t scan properly…or poorly stacked pallets that are inefficient to store or deconsolidate.

Here’s some more raw diamonds that may need polishing:

• distributors’ sales staff whose inadequate product training fails to deliver your key brand-benefit messages
• sales promotional instructional guidelines that are complicated to understand and cause confusion with consumers
• internal reporting processes that are followed inconsistently by different members of the same sales teams
• demotivated staff that deliberately or ignorantly create conflict and unrest

No matter the scale of your enterprise, at point-of-sale the challenge is creating customer satisfaction on a scale of one-to-one.

If your business scale is large…and your processes, systems and people are failing or not up to par one-to-one…your risk is exponentially more serious.

So get in the trenches regularly. Odds on your competitors ’senior management are there already if they’re smart.

Cheers!

Pete Jeans CEO SMO Sydney

Email Pete Jeans or click on SMO Sydney to learn more about our experience and advantages in building successful businesses