Best Business Expert

From time to time we’ll post accounts of a business story along with the lesson learned from it. They will be true, which means they will also be anonymous to protect employees, customers, and organizations.

This is the story of a sales manager at a leasing company.

The company he works for leases equipment and machinery for commercial and industrial use. One day, about three years ago, they received a call from one of their biggest customers – a large emergency services organization – who needed equipment right away. The leasing firm worked around the clock to deliver to the customer and, because of the emergency situation, everything was hastily prepared… including the paperwork.

Then two weeks later, with a single phone call, it felt as if everything came crashing down around the sales manager. He was making a couple of routine follow-up phone calls when it was discovered that the leasing company sent 43 pieces of machinery, but only 42 could be accounted for.

The manager wasn’t able to go out to the field – which was hours away and evacuated of citizens – to track down each piece of equipment. As you can imagine, panic set in. The cost of a missing piece of equipment, both replacement cost and lost revenue, could mean the difference between a profitable year and an unprofitable one for the branch, and a pink slip for the manager.

The sales manager confesses to us that he doesn’t always keep his cool in these circumstances but, he knew that his job was on the line so cooler heads would have to prevail. Before sitting down to do anything else, he wrote out the following questions and answered them:

• Who are the parties in this situation?
• What does each party want?
• How can I deliver that to each party?
• What can I do to make myself look like a superstar?

The last question, the sales manager laughingly admits, was added as a way to not only save his job but come out ahead from the situation.

And that is exactly what happened: The extra equipment was tracked down and the information straightened out. The sales manager enjoyed some recognition within his own organization as a result of his efforts at not only delivering the equipment but also uncovering the missing asset. Today, the sales manager tells us that this one event completely transformed his crisis management efforts.

Lesson learned: Crises will occur. Sometimes you have to scramble to fulfill orders and the paperwork might not always turn out right. The first step is not to panic. First, figure out who is involved and what they want out of the situation. Do your best to make everyone happy. And don’t forget to get creative to come out of it looking like a superstar.

Contemporary VA

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