Can a Crackhead Win at Sales?
It appears that at least one business owner is convinced that being a crackhead shouldn't be a career impediment. A reader writes:
The owner of the company I work for has a true crackhead for a son. He has allowed his son to return to work with us. This is his 3rd return since I started with the company almost a year ago. Every time he disappears for weeks or months we get our work back on track and really "rock and roll" with sales, with less mistakes and fewer product returns. But as soon as he returns, he brings sabotage, mistrust and substandard work. I am the General Manager. How do I tell the boss that his son is no longer allowed to work with us, without stepping all over his toes and losing my job?OK. You are probably not going to convince your boss that his son is shouldn't be working there. However, you might be able to get your customers to "out" the crackhead, by complaining about his substandard work. Your boss MIGHT listen to them. No guarantees, but here's how you might go about pulling this off:
- Step #1: Take a Reality Pill. Your boss is an enabler and is blind to his son's faults. His son is going to be his son forever. You're just an employee. In all likelihood, when push comes to shove, it's going to be you that's shoved... out the door. If you still want to proceed, then...
- Step #2: Stop YOUR Enabling. You've probably been trying hard to limit the damage that the son has been doing to your customer base. This is simply making things worse. You need to stop covering for his mistakes and cleaning up his messes.
- Step #3: Isolate the Problem. Assign the son a sales territory, wall it off so that nobody else can intervene, and refuse to fix the customer problems that he creates. Refuse to take complaint calls from customers; route them to the son's mailbox. Yes, you will lose customers.
- Step #4: Document, Document, Document. Make sure that there's a written record of everything. Every time you provide an instruction, document it. Every time he makes a verbal commitment, document it. Keep your reports factual and non-judgmental.
- Step #5: Let the Customers Talk. Provide your customers with a channel (like a special email address) with which to communicate their dissatisfaction directly to the owner. Do not worry. If the son is as much a problem as you say that he is, they will do so.
- Step #6: Hang Tight. Sit back and watch the territory die. When the boss inevitably notices, turn to the son (if he's present) and wait for an explanation. Refuse to take any responsibility for the failure. Use your documentation to prove your blamelessness.
Can you pull it off without "stepping on toes and losing your job"? That remains to be seen. Tricky business, this.
Readers: Do you have any other suggestions for this guy? Because, frankly, the plan I laid out seems a little desperate to me. I'm hoping that there's some better way to handle the situation that I'm missing. Any help welcome.