Management Advice

[squid]

I'm sure there are fellow board members who are either in senior management positions or own their own companies. I hope to get some honest, constructive advice from members.

I work for the family business. There are only 12 of us. As an informal, small business we don't have designated titles ( except for the accountant ) and fixed responsibilities. When someone is busy somebody else is expected to give him/her a hand.

About 4 years ago, my uncle the " President ", had some health issues. He has since retired. During the last year I have taken over much of his duties and would informally be the " boss ". My business card does say President, Owner or Manager and I don't introduce myself as such. It just has the company name and my name. My day to day duties range from sweeping floors, to purchasing, to finance, to finding new suppliers, to meeting customers and generating new business. However, much of my time is spent behind the scenes. On a number of occasions over the past year I have met existing customers and have been shocked by their response. When I introduce myself I've had them say something to the effect "..... where's the other guy. You know your manager/boss " My line of work doesn't require a suit or jacket so you wouldn't be able to tell from my dress what my position was within the company.

Am I being immature and small minded by feeling that a couple of customers think that our salesman is my boss/manager ? Would a self-assured person not care, knowing that internally he/she is seen as the manager ? I must confess that my ego was a bit bruised when I heard these comments.

Your comments appreciated.

 

[Fletch]

I can relate

I also work in a "family" firm. I do everything from meeting clients, balancing books, taking out garbage, shovelling sidewalks, etc. No one at my workplace has titles on their business card. I kind of have the same problem. Some clients give me absolutely no respect. They prefer to deal with someone else even though that person knows little about their account.

Does it bother me? Sometimes. At the end of the day all I really care about is that the work gets done and gets done right and that the client is happy. With the level of competition out there they could do business with any number of places. Try to leave work issues at work as soon as you walk out the door. You will likely live longer.

 

[squid]

Advice

Fletch, thanks. I know that ego aside, at the end of the day so long as the customer is happy and pays his bills on time that's all that really counts. But on another level my little pea brain has a hard time shrugging off the " insult" of being thought of as a subordinate to an employee.

I know that once I can accept the fact that as long as the company does well, I should be happy.

 

[uncleg]

Uncle was the "president" and probably nobody in the family/clientele thought otherwise or questioned the arrangement. But it appears that you evolved in your position along with the rest of the family. What, happens when another family member decides that they are the boss, or should be the boss ? I've watched family businesses go all to hell after the departure from the scene of the founding/senior member of the group. A first everything went along just fine, he/she was still alive, just not active in the company. Everybody else did their jobs as before. Then when that individual passed on, the shit hit the fan, the power struggles began and it wasn't long and the company was finished. I'd say if Uncle is still around, formalize your position and make sure family and clients know who is in charge.

 

[sdw]

The solution is simple. Dress in business attire.

That's the short version, now for the long.

In many businesses it's necessary for the person who mets with clients and suppliers to do the sweaty jobs also.

That's why a washroom with a shower is an absolute essential. You have to be able to change from the clothes you were wearing when you were doing the sweaty job into business attire and you can't stink up the room when in business attire.

I'm sure there are fellow board members who are either in senior management positions or own their own companies. I hope to get some honest, constructive advice from members.

I work for the family business. There are only 12 of us. As an informal, small business we don't have designated titles ( except for the accountant ) and fixed responsibilities. When someone is busy somebody else is expected to give him/her a hand.

About 4 years ago, my uncle the " President ", had some health issues. He has since retired. During the last year I have taken over much of his duties and would informally be the " boss ". My business card does say President, Owner or Manager and I don't introduce myself as such. It just has the company name and my name. My day to day duties range from sweeping floors, to purchasing, to finance, to finding new suppliers, to meeting customers and generating new business. However, much of my time is spent behind the scenes. On a number of occasions over the past year I have met existing customers and have been shocked by their response. When I introduce myself I've had them say something to the effect "..... where's the other guy. You know your manager/boss " My line of work doesn't require a suit or jacket so you wouldn't be able to tell from my dress what my position was within the company.

Am I being immature and small minded by feeling that a couple of customers think that our salesman is my boss/manager ? Would a self-assured person not care, knowing that internally he/she is seen as the manager ? I must confess that my ego was a bit bruised when I heard these comments.

Your comments appreciated.

 

[chilli]

The solution is simple. Dress in business attire.

100% in agreement.

One of the first things my father taught me about business...

Dress for the job you want, not the one you have.


I find your comments about your business cards interesting. It's very common in business that as soon as a person is given a new position or title they are given new business cards to reflect the change.

It's just not for the person who is being promoted, it's for the other people in the organiation so they also understand the nature of the change in "pecking" order.

It really depends on how informal your position is with the other members of your family. If everyone sees themselves as "equals" and you just happen to be the one filling a role, then I would say it's your ego and just dress the part.

If your family openly acknowledges and accepts that you are indeed "the one" then I don't see them objecting to you getting new business cards. Don't make a big deal out of it, just do it.

Good luck.

 

[Very Veronica]

Maybe you need a haircut. Seriously tho, if you're in a non-creative type business, you have to dress the part unlike this ceo rebel:

Dov Charney, American Apparel

 

[SexyBoy]

On a number of occasions over the past year I have met existing customers and have been shocked by their response. When I introduce myself I've had them say something to the effect "..... where's the other guy. You know your manager/boss " My line of work doesn't require a suit or jacket so you wouldn't be able to tell from my dress what my position was within the company.

Am I being immature and small minded by feeling that a couple of customers think that our salesman is my boss/manager ? Would a self-assured person not care, knowing that internally he/she is seen as the manager ? I must confess that my ego was a bit bruised when I heard these comments.

Your comments appreciated.

That rarely happens to me.

However it normally happens when a customer doesn't get what they want. It is all about customer satisfaction and charm. Sales people normally have a lot of charm. Sometimes owners are arrogant or rude. When in truth every owner should feel that every customer is their boss. It is all about making money by making others happy. I do own a lot of suits and a ton of ties. However I can go into work with just jeans and a shirt and everyone including customers know that I am the boss.

There is also the other side where you are the customer, and how you act as if you are the sole owner of the entire company. This tells sales people you are serious and helps in lowering your bottom line.

 

[Fullhouse]

Hello Squid.
Not knowing the type of business you're in, it' difficult to give advise pertaining to your individual business, but I believe there are a lot of ground rules for running a profitable business. (Somehow, I get the feeling that you're selling a service instead of consumer goods - services such as delivery, repairs, home improvements, landscaping, machine shop, etc. etc. etc.)

The following are my opinions only, and are by no means meant to be judgmental.

I am not sure what you mean by "informal", but the mind set of all the family members (employees) should be that you are running a formal, professional business. I'm sure some the 12 relatives have families incl. children, mortgages, car payments etc.,so there could be 30-40 people that count on the success of a formal business.

I can understand the turmoil that can be caused by the former boss or president's retirement without new designations of job descriptions or responsibilities. (lots of infighting, jealousy, power struggles, egos and joisting for positions - which reduce productivity.) Each business - regardless of it's size - requires an acknowledged managerial structure, (supervisor, manager, general manager and the final decision maker, be it owner, president or C.E.O.) In a very small business, one person may wear all those hats. You can't have 12 bosses or 12 "underlings". You can't win a war with just generals and no soldiers, and you also can't win with just soldiers and no generals. And in today's world, business is war.

So, as suggested in one of the other threads above, you need to get together, and if possible, include your uncle (former boss) and come up with a managerial structure, which certainly must include a final decision maker. And that position should go to the person most qualified - not necessarily to the one that has the most seniority (age or employment). Qualifications should include, amongst others, keen business and product knowledge, excellent communication skills, be a great motivator with good people skills, understand profit and loss, and very important, someone that is willing to be fair, honest and projects an image of a "boss" that strives to earn peoples respect, not demands it.

How you run your business behind closed doors, is just that - your business. And even though everybody does everything, you still need to have some assigned responsibilities to certain people for certain "Duties". If your warehouse is in shambles, or your equipment is not being maintained, products not delivered on time, quoted prices not adhered to, lousy customer service and on and on, somebody has to be responsible to cure the problems, procrastination and "passing the buck" just doesn't work. ASSIGN RESPONSIBILITY.

I believe that business cards for people who have personal contact with customers should have their title on them.
Customers want and need to know who they are dealing with, instead of guessing or assuming. Squid, you gave a prime example of "assuming" by your comments about "where is the other guy, you know, your manager/boss." Your business card with your senior title on it would have alleviated that. A quick reply by you such as: "Oh, you mean Fred. Yes, he is MY top sales rep. but he's out of town this week ", might have solved the misunderstanding.

Dress code is very important. Dress for success is so true, and a customer will be much more forgiving towards an "overdressed" person than towards an "underdressed" person. Remember that first impressions are everlasting impressions - and projecting a professional business image with your dress code reflects that same image towards your business.

Sorry to be so long winded, but Squid, you must elect or designate people to certain responsibilities, but most important the company must have a "boss", otherwise you may see your family business crumble.

 

[kafka555]

When I got my accounting designation, it took me all of 30 seconds to order new business cards.

Part of it was ego, but part of it was letting the people I was dealing with know that they were dealing with a licenced professional, and not just some pee-on.

The new cards significantly reduced those issues.

 

[squid]

Thanks for the comments. It's exactly what I was looking for. Unbiased second opinions. I agree with many of the suggestions. I know that in a lot of family run businesses trouble is percolating beneath the surface. As soon as the senior founding members retire/pass away, etc, there is a struggle for control. Honestly, I don't foresee that happening in our situation.

What the future holds I don't know but I appreciate the input.