Integrity and Morals in Business

So here I am sat at my desk with steam coming out of both my ears.  Why I hear you ask?  I said....Why I hear you ask?  Thank you, do keep up!

A competitor of mine has emailed my entire sales team and most of my management team asking them to go to them and join their 'winning team.'  Now is it just me or is this not the done thing?  It seems to be the kind of thing that lacks any kind of integrity and/or morals.  What makes this even worse was that it was one of industry trade associations that provided the data and technology to send the blast.  There are some cracking companies that we compete against on a daily basis.  They are professional with excellent levels of service and even seem to have integrity.  Unfortunately there are some that are not.  I am sure this is the same throughout most industries.  Now the company that has sent this 'spam' probably thinks
that they have done nothing wrong, after all the mailing list was provided by a trade association.  Even so I just feel it 'stinks'!

There are so many places to find really good team members without directly attacking a competitor.  From Social Networking sites, job sites, recruiters, press, networking.  I am also a huge believer in making an excellent place to work so that the team are happy and talk about it.  Word will spread that such and such is a great place to work and before long, new good members will want to join your team.

I was talking the other day with Mrs P and I think the 4 little P's were in the car with us.  It was a conversation regarding Merchandise Mania and what makes us good at what we do.  I summed it up with the word 'Integrity' 2 of the little P's picked up on the word but could not say it properly.  (oldest little P is 5!) Eventually we agreed that it was a word daddy used at the office a lot and daddy should not talk about the office on daddy days!!(weekends)  So we stopped talking and went to the park!!

Integrity and Morals, Why do we bother?  Answers on a post card or via a comment below!!!!

General Election 2010

So it is finally here, after weeks of hearing about it and having it shoved down our throats the big day is upon us – General Election Day. Is it just me or has the last 4 weeks seemed like months? Politicians everywhere, on every channel at every opportunity. More recently leaflets, posters and literature seem to have infested every nook and cranny of space. It is our most basic democratic right, the right to a free and fair election. We therefore must exercise our right to vote and not miss out on this basic freedom. Many in the world still do not have this right, so we should not see it as a luxury, or an issue, we should, in my opinion, see it as an honour to be able to vote.

Whilst on this seemingly high horse, I also feel the need to commend the 3 main party leaders on the energy they have. I truly am not sure I could have kept up their pace for a few days never mind the last 4 weeks. So is it that I do not have the same energy as them or is it that I channel it in different ways? Of course I would like to think it is the latter with my family, business and local government that I am involved with. The flip is that maybe I just don’t have that energy or drive anymore; I honestly couldn’t say either way as I don’t know. So for now let me leave this paragraph at saluting the 3 main party leaders and the energy and drive they have thrown at the campaign trail.

My team and I here at Merchandise Mania could, and hopefully, have learned a valuable lesson from Nick Clegg in this campaign. It is one of presentation skills, determination, and making the best of your opportunities in front of customers. You see one of the things that can be difficult is getting time with our customers on a face-to-face basis, or even with our potential customers.

However Mr. Clegg has certainly taken his opportunities and run with them, admittedly the other candidates helped him along with the ‘I agree with Nick’ campaign that has run with him in the last few weeks. If and when we succeed in getting in front of customers and prospects we must make use of the time and be very well prepared, just like he was.

Nothing irks me more than a supplier coming into my office and taking up 6-10 of my teams time, often my own time as well, and being ill prepared. They have no agenda, no presentation, just seemingly thinking that they can wing it. Well the wake up call to those who think this is you cant. You are not that good to be able to be ill prepared. You will face tough questions and we expect answers. If you fail, we lose respect and you lose orders.

We have to understand as professional sales people that the same is true for us. Be prepared or fail. It really is that simple. I never expect our clients to sit through a face to face with me when I am waffling or talking drivel I fully expect & actually want them to say to me that the meeting is over as I am wasting their time. This is what I want to get over to my team at Merchandise Mania and our partners, our customers may not want to say it but we need to know it!


Oh and lets not forget there is that General Election 'thing' happening today in the UK so exercise the right, 'Go and Vote'. (PLEASE)