A Lick and a Promise

Ben Stiegler, CEO and Founder, Synertel

Recently, it seems like many of our business partners are operating from outer space. What do I mean? Their remaining staff and resources are spread so thin, they can’t perform the functions we rely on them to do ... and when there is a problem, they don’t have the resources to recover gracefully.

In telecom (as many industries), we get used to the culture of “s*** happens, deal with it!” And when technology or humans are involved, that’s going to be the environment – at least sometimes.

But we’re noticing a pervasive trend – a move to “a lick and a promise” approach at some of our Fortune 500 business partners that has really got me worried. I want YOU to worry a bit too ... and if you see this going on, raise your voice and let the vendor know what your limits are ... or write a blog comment!

Here are three recent examples:

1. Recently, we discovered that our 401(k)/profit-sharing plan management firm, “See No Mice” (the folks with the mutual funds, Web sites and databases) had made an unauthorized loan to one of our staff. The purpose was fine (medical bills). But they kinda forgot to do the paperwork, get our approval in advance, or bother to tell the payroll folks that there was a loan deduction to be made. Fiduciary responsibility? Ha! They just sent out a four-figure check on the strength of a phone call from the employee – without even a signature. So ... I called to find out what was going on. That’s when the real fun began. Waffling, whiffling, then admitting they made a bad mistake. Promises to put the funds back, and make a side loan to the employee. Hours of conference calls. Then ... oops ... they sent dunning letters to the employee instead. Round and round. Six hours of my time later, $2K was back in the right place.
2. We order servers and workstations from an American manufacturer, “Quell,” with a strong interest in maintaining channel partners. This month, we waited three weeks to get a server configuration corrected ... calling and e-mailing at least a dozen times. In the midst of it, our dedicated rep was laid off, with zero warning to us. An auto-reply to yet-another e-mail asking when we’d have the proper config revealing this personnel change. Finally, my cage-rattling at the exec offices produced no fewer than five mid-level execs who wanted to help. Fortunately, the server opportunity hadn’t gone away. But ... the storage subsystem we needed to add was now so backordered that the manufacturer wouldn’t even accept an order including it. I wonder if they were out of stock three weeks ago when I tried to order it initially?
3. And don’t even get me started on our seven-month odyssey with wireless carrier “Her-Guy’s-Gone.” It sold us very crashable, “not ready for prime time” touchscreen smartphones and overestimated the performance of a tethered smartphone vs. USB modem for laptops by 500 percent. They offered four months of credit on the “now-paying for it twice (USB modem and smartphone) data plans,” then announced four months later: “Because your account is still active, we can’t issue the credits as promised. Can we send you the latest smartphone model when it comes out this summer instead?” Honestly, I think I’m done being a beta tester for them. Alice, just give the Queen of Hearts a call. Oops, her smartphone is dead. Sorry about that!

Large companies are trimming out the “folks in the middle” who either knew how to get things done, or how to train and guide inexperienced staff. Or, the wily barons of commerce are inventing “Mobius Strip” policies, keeping the customer on a never-ending virtual treadmill to problem resolution.

Be like Hansel and Gretel! Drop breadcrumbs along the trail. If you pass your own crumbs more than once ... you know you’re in trouble!

What can we learn other then Zen patience? As you contemplate how you allocate your company’s resources, resist any temptation to emulate these Moguls of Mediocrity! Your customers will thank you – and they’ll know the difference!

Ben Stiegler is CEO and founder of Synertel, a provider of converged telephony services and equipment. He also is a member of the 2008-09 PHONE+ Channel Partners Advisory Board.