A Deal Isn't A Deal Until It Is Signed

QUESTION:  Of late it seems that when I am pursuing a solid engagement or sale and at the very last minute it doesn’t come to fruition.  And worse in my case, there didn’t seem to be any warning that something was going terribly wrong, so I wouldn’t be able to react in a proactive manner.  Is this the new trend or is it just me?

ANSWER:  I really don’t know just how common this scenario is played out in the business world, but there is little doubt that it does happen.  I don’t think it matters if it is a prospective sale, a new engagement contract or a project within an organization.  You are dealing with the human element of buyer’s remorse, laziness over logic, redirection (valid or not) and too much time destroying a deal.

I have a personal realization that a deal is not a deal until the contract is inked or the check is in the bank.  In times past, a hand shake and/or a verbal commitment would have been enough to “take it to the bank.”

I believe that all of us at one time or another in our careers has started down a path only to be derailed by a new corporate direction, new management, downsizing, ineptitude or a myriad of other reasons.  Don’t take it personal although I understand that it does become personally painful.

Work your deals with diligence beyond any of your competitors.  Leave no question unanswered, give more than is expected and do more than talk the talk….walk the walk.  Will this insure 100% success rate?  Of course not, but it will continue to grow you into a consummate professional and improve your self confidence.  Self confidence allows you to speak with authority and transfer the values and excitement of your product, service or project and inject right now urgency into the mix.  

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, President

Client Growth Consultants

Where Has All of The Ethics, Principles and Integrity Gone?

Where Has All of The Ethics, Principles and Integrity Gone? 

“In the last 10 weeks I’ve probably received over 100 Emails about our readers complaining about the lack of integrity ethics or business principles of friends, family, co-workers, customers and bosses.  It is from those Emails I give you excerpts which hopefully will give us all, pause to think of our future actions.”

Midwest Business Consultant

“….I completed a consulting contract for an organization that has a young leader.  It is has been well over 60 days and I still haven’t received my final payment, even though I’ve been told through Emails it has been approved for payment.  Where has the ethics, principles & integrity gone when one doesn’t honor their agreement?”

Executive Vice President

“….Our executive leader continues to be a one person show.  We are asked our opinions, we provide valid documentation to solutions and we get lip service to our face.  But when push comes to shove, she just does what she damn well pleases.  Where has the ethics, principles & integrity gone?”

Director of Engineering

“….When did they start teaching managers and owners to become the only source for decision making?  This younger generation puts a hurt on themselves by thinking that they must have their fingers in every process of business.  What happened to confidence, trust and integrity?”

Outside Professional Salesman

“….Recently I presented 8 business contacts with an outstanding deal to improve their business image.  All 8 said that they would give me the order before the month came to an end, because I had special monetary promotion working.  Only one signed.  The other 7 disappeared off the face of the earth until the month ended.  No response to Emails, no return of phone calls and when I did catch up with them the excuses were so lame it was pathetic.  If they didn’t want to do the deal, why did they shake my hand, give me a commitment and then kick me to the curb?  Where in the hell is the business principles integrity and respect for mankind gone?”

Job Seeker

“….I am blown away by the lack of humanity from hiring managers in general.  I am a highly educated, extremely successful business executive that got caught in a HUGE downsizing.  I’ve left interviews with hiring managers/human resource managers telling me that I did great and I can expect a call back or offer in the immediate future.  Guess what happens…..silence is what happens.  They don’t call back, they don’t respond to multiple phone calls or Emails and in my opinion they are replete with a disingenuous business personality that is driven by continual prevarications. (Yes that means lies)  I wonder how their spouses, kids and grandkids would feel being treated like that.  I doubt it would be an air of good feelings.  The integrity in this world seems to have vanished.  Who amongst us has any left?”

Almost Ready To Give Up on Man/Woman

“….My husband and I have reached a point of disgust with all of the duplicitous business people in this world.  Disgusted with the crafty and insidious way we get lip service to quiet us;  half truths if any truths at all; and dealing with people whose only goal in life is what is in it for them.  Well in our household we made a few new rules.  (1)  In major purchases or services we will no longer trade with anyone who hasn’t done business with us. (2)  We will never do business with those of you who lie to us; (3) and finally, we DO get the message – we ARE going to take care of us first and make it a win for us and you are on your own to make it a win for you.”

Hopefully this helps clear the air for several of our readers.  Sadly I have experienced most of what they are complaining about.  Their points are valid, the situations are real and the results are mixed at best.

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, President

Client Growth Consultants

Related articles

• Ethical Values in Business Decision Making (thinkup.waldenu.edu)
• Ethics and Transformational Leaders (fsomle.com)

I am Searching for Engineers with Plastic Manufacturing Backgrounds

March 18, 2011

Dear George,

QUESTION:  IMMEDIATE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

RESPONSE: 

As our Executive Search and Recruiting model continues to recover from this recession, I suddenly have several outstanding Midwest opportunities available.

If you know someone who has the following backgrounds, please forward this Email and/or connect with me via Email, GeorgeM@ClientGrowthConsultants.com or by phone, 641-236-7910, Ext. 101.

Industry:Plastic - Chemicals Manufacturing

Specific:All types including but NOT limited to:

A.      Injection - Molded

B.       Extruded

C.       Vacuum/Pressure-Formed

D.      Sheet Fabrication

Career Opportunities Include:

A.      Engineering

a.        Manufacturing

b.       Design

c.        OEM Sales

d.       R & D

e.        Technology

B.       Sales

C.       Management

I have no less than 7 current openings from new clients.Hopefully this will help a few good people get back to work.  And there is no cost to our candidates.

 

As always George, please accept my wishes for a tremendous week.   If I can be of assistance to you or your organization when it comes to revenue growth, retention or recruiting, please call or write and I will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, CPC

President

Client Growth Consultants, Inc.

A Highly Specialized Consultancy

In The Growth of Revenues And People

How Do We Convince Our Executives of the Value of Its' Employees?

QUESTION:  I am the senior member of a company “steering committee” that is have a difficult time convincing our president of the results of our due diligence, dedicated research and other investigatory tools with reference the growth of our company within our marketplace.  He has an outside mentor whom we suspect unwittingly undermines our work because the mentor is only hearing one side.  We are an ESOP company and this committee believes our work directly impacts all of our employees.  Can you offer us any suggestions?

ANSWER:  I am going to make the assumption that your skills in presenting the materials to the president are not flawed.  Because many times emotion takes over from logic when it comes to the decision making process.  Your team sees it as being “all right” and he sees it as the unknown or unclear.

It all comes down to the relationship the president has with the committee.  If he doesn’t believe in your work then another path needs to be taken because that would be a grave injustice to the employees.  Or even worse, he and possibly his mentor are just not willing to allow change, which of course is a monster from within itself.

Because you are the senior member of this committee, it appears that it is your place to get behind closed doors with your president in a meeting that has no interruptions and get it all on the table.  Offer facts, times, dates, places and any other details that bolster your position(s).  If the evidence is compelling for or against any given decision, then you must help him understand your position(s) in his decisions to grow the company or not.

It is interesting that he has a mentor, yet he has allowed a steering committee in the organization which acts a great deal like a mentor or counselor. Because I have not been personally witness to his actions or lack thereof, it is very difficult to put my finger on the cause. 
But my suspicions are that he is possibly a micro-managing president that doesn’t embrace change.  Micro-managing comes is two forms…subtle and blatant.

It is way too easy to do the same old thing over and over even if it gets him or the company no farther down the road on Friday than it did on Monday.  It is like rewarding a bad decision by doing it all over again next week.

If his inaction's, actions or limited decision making processes become detrimental to the organization, you probably have an avenue available to you.  Employees in an ESOP have the ability to vote executives in and vote executives out. 

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, President
Client Growth Consultants
Grinnell, Iowa

Related articles

• Management Accounting in the Decision Making Process (thinkup.waldenu.edu)

Retain Your Employees Before You Hire Them

I have read in your past articles that we should “RETAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES BEFORE YOU HIRE THEM.”  What did you mean by that?

I’ll bet most of you are thinking to yourselves, “…What did he just say?”  It is important to recognize that the most critical step in retaining employees comes before the hire itself!

Good leaders commonly state that they surround themselves with the best people.  In turn, high-performing business cultures are fueled by employees who deliver productivity, innovation and profitability.  But first, an organization needs to view and understand its job candidates as individuals, rather than as simple resumes.

A recent survey claims that ONLY 20% of companies are taking proactive measures to ensure that their best people stay put.  The alternative is high turnover which costs an estimated 1.5 times the salary of each employee who has to be replaced.  As an example, if a manager was making $70,000 plus an additional $25,000 in benefits (which is industry standard) it would cost approximately $142,500 to replace!  This is staggering!

Resumes represent a static list of skills and job duties, but cannot speak to how well the person performs unsupervised or on a tight deadline.  Reference checks can also be tricky for various reasons.

To begin with I highly recommend that you stay away from questions that encourage “smooth-talking” (i.e. “where do you see yourself in 5 years) instead of a candid self-critical evaluation questioning.  Ask questions regarding the prospect’s essential nature, and the preferences and attitudes that make him/her an individual.  These types of questions predict job performance and satisfaction.  The more job performance-relevant information employers have, the greater the likelihood of building, and retaining, and engaged, productive worker.

Employers need to be clear about their needs and expectations for any given position up front – before the hiring process begins.  Put a variety of measurements together to create a good hire.  We offer to our clients a professional online assessment to maximize person-job fit so that the individual hired is CAPABLE of doing AND is WILLING to do the best job possible.  And I do recommend utilizing a professional assessment ONLY as an additional tool in the hiring process.

I could easily spend hours writing pages on the subject of retention.  It continues to be the number one topic of questions from you the readers of our weekly newsletter.  Hopefully this small tidbit of information will be of assistance to you.  If not, call or write and I will respond immediately!

Regards,

George F. Mancuso, President

Client Growth Consultants

Related articles

• How to Measure Employee Retention Costs (brighthub.com)
• How Do Companies Recruit Employees? (thinkup.waldenu.edu)