Are you Asking A Cow To Win The Kentucky Derby?
In my last post, “Incorrect Strategy or Poor Execution?" I pointed out that you should first be sure the strategy was properly executed before abandoning it.
As we’ve adjusted to the new normal caused by the Great Recession many organizations now have fewer employees carrying greater responsibilities. I’m of the opinion that any process, thing, or service designed by man or woman has at least one weakness. The weakness here is not just that employees can be spread too thin, it is that they may be asked to do additional tasks that require skill sets they don’t possess.
Success In One Arena Doesn’t Guarantee Success In Another
Many businesses right now have their outside sales people develop contact lists and then design and deploy email campaigns. These sales people might be very successful at developing personal relationships and closing the sale, but designing email campaigns requires a different skill set, just as moving from inside to outside sales requires different skill sets.
If your organization must ask your sales force to engage in tasks outside their core area, be sure you back them up with the necessary training and other resources.
Think carefully about how you write these additional responsibilities into their performance objectives. Otherwise, they’ll launch a poorly designed email campaign yet be able to check that off their list.
I recently received an email newsletter from a realtor. There was nothing of value to me in the email; I opened it only because I’m increasing my knowledge of email campaigns and because I knew him personally. The topics he chose were of value to realtors, not to people who might want to list their homes with him. In a conversation with him I later learned he selected many of the stories from a template provided by his parent company. He may be a skilled realtor; he’s nowhere near as skilled in email marketing.
You may get a better ROI by hiring a full- or part-time employee rather than by burdening your sales staff with a task in which they are not skilled.
Just because a bull wins the blue ribbon at the livestock show doesn’t mean he can win the Kentucky Derby. That’s a whole ‘nother skill set.
Regards,
Glenn
No bull here. Follow me on Twitter. I’m txglennross.
