Magnus Marketing Blog

I am joyous to report I nearly lost a client because I am repeatedly "too customer focused" - "remember", one of my clients admonished me, "I work for him not his customers". Admittedly, I could have handled the situation a little bit differently, but the fault was my client's- his organization screwed up. Something that has happened on a few previous occasions. I told his client the truth, that there was a transition in the organization and his request may have fallen through the cracks. I apologized and sent him, no questions asked, the information he requested. The client was a major player in a Fortune 500 company, not someone you really want to piss off. My client wanted to ensure that his organization was blameless and just blankly take care of the customer. He put the blame on the customer, not on the organization, and refused to acknowledge that the organizational process may be broken.

A lack of accountability or organizational infallibility isn't the only thing afflicting many small business owners. Many entrepreneurs suffer from this type of arrogance, they are people who cannot differentiate constructive feedback from directive behavior (don't tell me what to do as opposed to there is something wrong here), they live in a world where the world bends to them, not the other way, they cannot draw lines between themselves and their organization as a company. A behavior I noticed increases sometimes as purported success increases. The immortality syndrome - the Enron precursor.

Many entrepreneurs are what my former employer called "techies". Techies are experts in their area of knowledge, but are completely lacking in all other aspects, including basic management skills or big picture analysis. A manager or business owner who lacks the ability to engage in constructive dialouge, demands the world works in their way, or, as in the case of my client, refuses to recognize possible process deficiencies in how business is conducted is asking for bankruptcy. Entrepreneurial hubris at the extreme.

Balance and perspective is critical. In the case of my client - I work for the organization, but I also work for their clients - finding a happy medium where everyone is satisfied. If Magnus Marketing Group makes a mistake, I, as the "owner" sure as hell own up to it, analyze it, try to learn from it - and fix the problem. I, nor any of my associates, are infallible. I tell vendors when checks are in the mail and apologize if they are late. I go out of my way for clients and will do whatever it takes to help them succeed, if they deserve it.

Regardless, I hope to never be like that - impervious to mistakes or accountability. Plus, service to the customer and the customer's clients still is paramount - Kohl's says "Yes we Can", to a degree of course. But it is the right policy in today's world.