Sometimes it just doesn’t fit.
Sometimes an employee just doesn’t fit. It happens. Occasionally we hire the wrong person. It could stem from several things. It might be a result of not knowing the “right type” of person you are looking for in the business. You know what I mean by “right type”, someone who fits the culture and personality for the business. It could also be from a faulty hiring process itself.
Either way we ended up with the wrong person.
Despite all our efforts to mentor and guide that person to fit the culture of the business, sometimes they don’t fit. Let’s stop trying to shove a round peg in a square hole.
Sometimes we get the wrong customer. Hard to imagine but it happens too. This condition could stem from a variety of reasons. it could be our marketing message. Sometimes it’s our conversion process (Let’s face it, occasionally a sales person will over promise beyond the businesses capabilities).
Stephen Heitz, Director of the Interactive Division at Lavidge, and I were talking the other day about the mistake businesses make trying to get customers to conform to the way the company does business.
In other words, trying to get the customers to do it our way versus look at the nature and needs of the customer and deliver a service or product congruent with how they want it.
Now don’t get extreme with me. I understand there are some limitations or even choices we make in terms of how far we will go to cater to a customers needs. I have many friends in the real estate business who are on call and available 24/7. Even my wife’s OB/GYN went on vacation and was unavailable while she was in labor. We have to draw the line somewhere.
But the fact is, often we try to shove the customer in a square hole when perhaps we need to look more carefully at our services and be willing to become a round hole instead.