I was talking to a buddy of mine the other day about cell phone minutes. His company, in an effort to reduce expenses from the sales force, has placed a limit on the amount of cell phone minutes the sales force can use each month. As I sit an contemplate the sentence I just typed, I'm still stunned. How do you fake outrage when your real outrage is overpowering it?
Look, It's their company, not mine. If they want to count pennies while the dollars flow down the drain, that's their business. But this is 2012, not 2002 or even 1992. Cell minutes are cheap, especially with a company plan. Telling your sales staff not to use too many minutes shows that the manager must be an idiot. That's a program that's more about controlling behavior than reducing expenses. And what more, it will likely reduce sales right along with the minutes.
So when you're running low on minutes, what should a sales rep do, look for a pay phone? Do they even have pay phones anymore? If they do would you want to put one of those next to your face?
I'm beginning a series of posts about the nutty things business owners do to hinder their own success. Do you have a story or idea? If so, send it to me. If you're a decent writer (meaning you can put a coherent thought together with actual words) and you want some fame and glory (ha!), I'll publish your story here on my blog. If you'd rather just send me your ideas about how to crash a business, I'll take those too.
I'll be posting this intro to the series on LinkedIn in the group Linked Across The Valley in a discussion thread of the same title and on The Huntsville Grapevine in my forum area. Feel free to engage in any of these areas.
Connect with Chris on Google+ LinkedIn Twitter
Look, It's their company, not mine. If they want to count pennies while the dollars flow down the drain, that's their business. But this is 2012, not 2002 or even 1992. Cell minutes are cheap, especially with a company plan. Telling your sales staff not to use too many minutes shows that the manager must be an idiot. That's a program that's more about controlling behavior than reducing expenses. And what more, it will likely reduce sales right along with the minutes.
So when you're running low on minutes, what should a sales rep do, look for a pay phone? Do they even have pay phones anymore? If they do would you want to put one of those next to your face?
I'm beginning a series of posts about the nutty things business owners do to hinder their own success. Do you have a story or idea? If so, send it to me. If you're a decent writer (meaning you can put a coherent thought together with actual words) and you want some fame and glory (ha!), I'll publish your story here on my blog. If you'd rather just send me your ideas about how to crash a business, I'll take those too.
I'll be posting this intro to the series on LinkedIn in the group Linked Across The Valley in a discussion thread of the same title and on The Huntsville Grapevine in my forum area. Feel free to engage in any of these areas.
Connect with Chris on Google+ LinkedIn Twitter
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