The Executive Sales Coach: Keith Rosen’s Sales Blog and Business Blog On Selling, Leadership, Managing Your Team, Business and Life » business ethics

A great partnership is like a great marriage – precious and rare. And like any marriage, after the honeymoon period ends and the realities of life kick in, a good partnership is always worth saving. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you’ve done everything to salvage your partnership.

1. Revisit the Company Goals: Are all partners still bought in?

2. Revisit Job Descriptions: is each person doing their best in the role that’s been designed for them? Or worse, is the lack of clarity around each person’s job position causing the dissention and conflict in the first place?

3. Revisit your Vision: Are all partners still in agreement regarding the end game and where they ultimately want to company to be?

4. Get a Coach. a coach can facilitate the difficult conversations that partners are reluctant to have. Whether it’s due to avoidance behavior (avoiding conflict and controversy) or a lack of skill in communicating a coach can uncover resentments be an unconditional third party and help facilitate solutions that the partners were unable to do or even see on their own.

5. What Has Changed? Life changes, people change, priorities change. Has there been any changes in the lives of the partners, either personally or professionally? Sometimes partners grow out of their roles or simply lose interest. Sometimes changes in a person’s personal life affect their decisions that relate to their business. So, is there still a fit?

6. Over-Communicate: Rather than talk honestly and openly quite often people seem to do the opposite; they shut down their communication, making the costly assumption that “This is a dead end. My partner doesn’t understand me.”

7. Facts or Assumptions? I can’t begin to count the number of times that the very problems that have destroyed the partnership were based more in assumptions rather than on the facts. Don’t react to what you think is happening but really isn’t. Instead, focus on getting the evidence that supports your feelings to avoid making decisions you may later regret.

8. Take the High Road. Like a good marriage no partnership is ever going to be an even 50-50 split of responsibility and effort all the time. If you’re playing the “That’s not fair, I’m working harder than my partner” game, this will only lead to greater resentment and ultimately a toxic relationship. Are you standing on your Ego Pedestal and your principles, or can you let some things go that really don’t make a difference in the long run. Stop majoring in the minor things that you can overlook, especially if your partner’s natural skills, talents and the value they bring to the company exceeds their minor hang ups or idiosyncrasies.

9. Regular Partner Meetings focused on You. I’ll never forget the first time going to the doctor after my first child was born. After the initial check up, the doctor turned to my wife and I and asked a question I have yet to hear from any doctor since. She actually asked, “So, how are the both of YOU doing?” When parents only focus on their children, they lose sight of focusing on each others personal needs which they need to continue to focus on in order to maintain the integrity and strength of their relationship. Schedule partner meetings more frequently. A partner meeting is different from a strategy meeting or a meeting to discuss employees or goals. This meeting is about YOU and making sure all your needs are being met and how the partners can work better together and support each other.

Here’s an article long over due, pointing the finger to the companies who can hold their heads high as the worst at customer service.

Here’s the article.

To me, it all comes down to corporate accountability, and in most cases, there is none. And all roads go back to management! So if management isn’t being accountable, how can we expect their customer support to be?

How Companies Can Secure Their Spot on the Customer Service Hall of Shame

1. Skirt Accountability: Continue to give concepts like, ‘coaching,’ ‘integrity,’ and especially ‘personal accountability’ lip service rather than actually weaving it into the culture and mindset of each employee. It all comes down to corporate accountability, and in most cases, there is none. The fact is, there are long distance customers of companies such as AT&T that are still paying astronomical fees whether it’s local calls or long distance. And do you think these companies would reach out to their customers and let them know they’re overpaying and can be enrolled in some more cost effective monthly phone services? Of course not. Instead, they keep pocketing the millions and millions of dollars from overcharging and gouging, responding with the highly effective customer service strategy, “Woops! sorry about that” to those customers, and in many cases the elderly population, who actually catch these charges.

2. Become Hyper-Hypocritical: Due to the lack of monitoring and flagrant irresponsible leniency that has resulted in a major setback in our economy as well as for banks and lending institutions, the mortgage business is in the toilet. But wait, do you hear, “It’s 100% our fault. What were we thinking giving loans out to these people who could never afford them in the first place? Our greed got the best of us.” Instead, what my entire zip code got was a frieze on all of our lines of credit until each person in our community got a new appraisal. My expense of time and money, due to their error. A reimbursement check? Yeah, right…

3. The Customer Is Never Right: I noticed an additional charge on my Verizon bill that seems to have been accumulating for over 12 months. When I called and discussed this with them, they reluctantly gave me a credit for 3 months. After all, why would I be paying for caller ID Separately when it’s included in my overall package….. “Why only a three month credit?” I asked. “Well, that’s only as far as we can go in your records.” What a convenient excuses to avoid accountability as well as creating a better experience for your customer.

4. Blame, Blame, Blame: “It’s the weather, the economy, the timing, your computer, your users, your people – but sure, we’ll help you fix it.” And all roads go back to management! So if management isn’t being accountable, how can we expect their customer support to be?

5. Embrace the Oxymoron’s, “Customer Service” and “Technical Support.” I’ve been having problems with my shopping cart so I employed the services of a very ‘specialized’ company to remedy the problem, that in the end I knew was an easy fix that required some basic code. Two weeks later, and many a dropped ball on their end, I reached out to the programmer who told me he was waiting for a response to the question he posted on the help message board. Are you kidding me? Hey, if all you’re going to do is read a manual from your computer, or go to a message board to find the answer, then why do I need to hold on for over an hour for support or pay you when I can do this myself?”