Controversial opinion?
More money is made or lost on MANAGEMENT than on MARKETING. The more I’ve worked with businesses, the more I’ve moved to the conclusion that many businesses make or lose more money from poor management than from marketing… And it’s waaaay more interesting for most people to talk about good marketing than it is good management. (10x your leads, anyone?!) It’s a sign of maturity though, so if you’re reading and even slightly nodding your head, you should enjoy this one!
REAL EXAMPLES: (identifying details withheld to protect the innocent)
- Missing sales goals because: a third party took responsibility for growing the ad budget. And then they failed to follow through, which starved the sales team.
- Bringing in a 2IC (second in command) with over a dozen unfinished projects that were up to 2 years old. Not to mention, there were uncollectible invoices and unmanaged contracts. Add on top a lack of accountability with team members, and emotional spending by the owner.
- This one was yours truly… One of my most painful losses in business came down to a domino effect of poor management on my end and on my client’s end. I lost about $40,000 when I was just starting out and had zero margin to lose anything at all… Pocket change for bigger companies, but a kick to my teeth as a fledgling freelancer. [NOTE TO SELF – this would be a perfect case study on “worst management practices”].
So, what are the traits of GOOD MANAGEMENT? I think it fundamentally falls down to three things:
- Are my people happy/fulfilled?
- Are my people working on the right things?
- Are my people doing things right?
- HAPPY/FULFILLED – Hiring & retaining is really expensive. You’ve got to find the right person, train the right person, and cut profits while you’re doing that. It’s not news that people estimate this as a multiple of the individual’s annual salary.
Flipside: Note that it’s about making sure they are HAPPY/FULFILLED, not only about keeping them around. And it’s completely possible they’ll never be happy in your business. Business growth hurts retention—different people have different needs. Some people are great for high growth, some for slow growth. Some are great for big business, some for small business. Unless you have a pretty static business environment, you’re likely to impose turnover on your team.
Example: I recall Cameron Herold (author of the book “Second in Command”) talking about his role as a 2IC. He spent 6 years as the COO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. However, he admitted that he would never be able to fit most 2IC roles. It only worked because he was in a high-growth company…
- WORKING ON THE RIGHT THINGS – This doesn’t need to be complicated, just making sure your team is actually working on the right priorities.
- DOING THINGS RIGHT – This, too, doesn’t need to be complicated, but do people have a measurement for success? Do you have a way to review to make sure that these things are actually getting done?
Now…
LOTS of detail that could go under each of these…
But it’s a simple rule of thumb…
If you eat & breathe sales & marketing…
Go find yourself someone who can help you build the foundations that will stabilize your empire…
If you’re one of those folks who has management dialed in, you’ve got a great chance your customer experience, product quality, service quality, and more… is substantially better than your competitors…
You’re probably a minority, and you SHOULD double down on marketing…
You’ve got a competitive edge, and you should capitalize on it.
People WANT to work with someone like you…
Or…
If you don’t want to grow, cap your business at whatever level keeps you happy…
Keep taking money to the bank…
Build the business you love.
But wherever you’re at…
Build your competitive edge…
Keep your competitive edge…
And make the most of the benefits.
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