WHO MOVED MY CHEESE?

Ever ask yourself what percent of each firm’s outsourced business your account managers are getting? Have you examined in recent months which firms are completely “inactive?” If you had a conference with each of your account managers and asked them to explain why they were unable to get business from their list of “inactive” firms, what do you believe their answers would be?

If, in this same conference, you had asked each of your account managers to prepare in advance the following:

1. A list of each firm in their territory
   
   
2. A list, by name, of every “buyer” in each firm…those who use your service and those who do not
   
   
3. Notes on every “buyer”…including:
   • Who they are currently vending their work to…your company or a competitor
   • How much work they send out
   • How often
   • Number of times the account manager has met with each buyer, especially those who
     have not yet used your company
   • Date of last contact, either in person or by phone

Should you choose to have this conference, the answers would most likely prove to be both revealing…and perhaps troubling. Revealing, because account managers are almost always able to tell you why it’s not happening. Troubling, because the reason given will rarely get you even one step closer to penetrating a firm that has made the “inactive” list. One of the main reasons any firm remains on the “inactive” list is because an account manager eventually quits trying. They give up because their efforts go unrewarded.

If you could accurately evaluate your account managers in the following five areas, you would be in a practical position to predict their future performance in either taking business from an inactive firm, or increasing market share in a firm in which you already have some customers:

If you scored one or more of your account managers poorly in any of these five areas, you’ve identified a real obstacle to their potential success, and that of your company.

Although we have never made the claim that we can work miracles, we do make the claim that our training can have a significant effect on your account managers’ productivity and performance. The reason is rooted in our ability to impact all five of these critical areas…skill, motivation, habits, expectation, and determination. We consistently get positive feedback from all over the country from the account managers we’ve trained, and their managers, who are thrilled with the impact our training has had on their performance…and their company’s bottom line.

The schedule for our training classes for the fourth quarter is enclosed. If you have plans to enroll one or more of your account managers in one of the fall classes, let us know as soon as possible.

Who Moved My Cheese…a good read by Spencer Johnson, M.D.