It's been awhile since I've visited Mary Schmidt's blog - and thanks to Tom's post on Escalating Customers, I'm reminded of Ms. Schmidt again (and this time I'll add her feed!). In a post titled Home Depot's Real Problem, Mary breaks it down and tells us why Home Depot is having issues:
"I’d suggest Nardelli (and Wall Street) spend less time looking at numbers and more time looking at what actually makes those numbers. It’s the “simple stuff,” people. It’s the “little” sales that add up to billions. It’s the selection of paint, the looks on employees’ faces and the cleaniness of the stores that attract and keep customers. And such things aren’t handled in the board room or on a spreadsheet."
It seems to me that these corporate suits are so lost in their corporate bubble that they aren't reading anymore. Don't they know that there are dozens or maybe even hundreds of blogs and articles out there trying to get them to see where they're going wrong? But I'm sure they probably think we're just nobodies who have no clue about business....
Ah yes, nobodies indeed. We may have no clue but we're the ones who (ultimately) pay their exorbitant salaries. Further, some of us have more than a "clue" as we've worked for many years in all types of businesses (including some of the really big ones.)
Having worked in the rarified air of big honcho corporate America, I can tell you first-hand that it is a highly artificial environment - one in which the "C" level folks seldom, if ever, talk to a real live customer. In fact, they do everything they can to avoid it. (It's really weird in there, people - take your own oxygen, and whatever you do, don't drink the kool-aid.)
Personally - when frustrated at the lower levels ("Sorry, I can't do anything." and, "There is nobody higher than me") - I escalate to the highest levels, with documentation. That (usually) gets attention and action, but not always. Sears, for example, couldn't have cared less if I took my business elsewhere.
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | June 23, 2006 8:18 AM | Permalink to Comment