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The "Game" of Business Doesn't Mean "Playground"

Recently, I attended a conference hosted by Fast Company magazine, hailed as ?a summit of leading strategists and practitioners who have been in the trenches and know what it takes to win in the most competitive talent marketplace ever.? 

Sounds fabulous - but at some point you need climb out of those trenches and connect with clients one-on-one. Case in point ? ProBusiness, a company specializing in payroll software. Ranked #32 in Deloitte & Touche?s Top 50 fastest growing companies in Silicon Valley, they?re probably a great organization, but you might wonder after meeting the folks in their exhibit booth. 

In all fairness, working a tradeshow is grueling. Your jaw aches from smiling, your calves scream from standing on concrete floors, and you can rev up your company story just so many times, but my encounter took place the first hour, first morning of the conference. The bells and whistles were all in place, but the company reps. were definitely new school. The ProBusiness booth fairly oozed ?fun place to work?, with bright red frisbees scattered everywhere, not to mention the beanbag chairs. Someone must have gone crazy on e-bay and snagged a truckload of these low rider vinyl dinosaurs. (Their corporate brochure boasts an additional roomful of beanbags in their Pleasanton, CA. headquarters.) Yeah, I know hi-tech means fully stocked snack bars, napping hammocks, state of the art gyms, air hockey games and the like. Guess the beanbags echo the hip, fun mentality. 

?Pro Business?? I inquired of the girl in the booth, ?Is that anything like ADP?? I had met the great folks of ADP at the American Payroll Association Convention. The employees who worked their booth were pros ? helpful, knowledgeable, courteous, upbeat, enthusiastic, just plain all around terrific. They too, make payroll software. ?Oh?, the ProBusiness rep replied, smacking her gum, ?we?re much better.? She delivered this news six inches from the ground, sprawled in her beanbag chair, craning to look up at me while I enjoyed a full-on view of her tonsils. ?Our thing? she continued, is customer service.? Really? I thought of giving her a hand up so she could deliver her sales pitch eye-to-eye, but it became readily apparent she had no intention of budging. Thankfully, I didn?t ask for a brochure. Hopefully, she would have waived me toward the right table. I felt as though I were inconveniencing her, interrupting her reverie with gal pals sprawled in other beanbags - casual Friday taken to the max. Hey, ProBusiness, get a clue. This is your front line, for heaven?s sake and they?re striking out from the get-go. Are you that secure in your success that your folks don?t need to hustle? 

Maybe the stock market needs another jolt like April 2000. Several hi-tech booths at this convention remained unmanned for hours, with cursory brochures scattered about. Maybe they just assumed we?d download what we needed from their websites? I guess when your dance card is filled with VCs, you can take your pick at the party. Let?s hope for their sake the music never ends. Not so the folks at the Charles Schwab. Like the good folks of ADP, the Schwab minions were helpful, enthusiastic, and obviously loved their company. They were there to work and they hustled. If they couldn?t answer your question, it was ?Here?s my card, please e-mail or call me. I?ll have that answer for you as soon as I get back to the office.? (One rep was even named Ms. Wise - no kidding.) 

The folks at Fast Company claim ??whether you?re building a company or seeking to sustain your current business, one fact is inescapable: the team with the best people wins.? I couldn?t agree more. ProBusiness may have a great product, maybe even better than ADPs, but you?ll never convince me of that, especially from your beanbag chair. I?ll stick with the folks who listen, respond and jump through hoops to show me they want my business. 

The conference, by the way, was terrific top-notch speakers, totally prepared, with up to the minute insights ? fast track experts on fire in their chosen fields. Fast Company is consistently ahead of the curve with the talent they showcase and profile. 

But like the sand in your shoe that steals your attention from a great walk, my first encounter of the day did set a tone, and I wasn?t the only attendee who received this gum popping, sit on your duff treatment. Memo to: ProBusiness. Scrap the frisbees (Schwab had a simple brochure with their story on a tiny CD - hi-tech, to the point, and congruent with the conference) and get some customer service savvy in your front-line, before your back end profits sink as low as those chairs. Yes, it was only one employee, on one bad day, but that?s all it takes to bring business to a standstill. At the risk of quoting an old clich? ? a tiny leak, ignored, can eventually sink a mighty ship. Bravo ADP and Schwab. May the drive, initiative and performance of your front line be rewarded by an equally impressive bottom line.

About Ann Mahony
Speaker and author Ann Mahony addresses audiences nationwide on how to Lead From Your Strengths and Stay Connected in today's downsized, fast forward world.  Featured on ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN, she is the author of Handwriting & Personality...

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