Back when I was in high school (or it could have been soon after; I do not really remember, and it does not really matter), I got a part-time occupation in the Don Randall Music Store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was on my first day that Mr. Randall-in a movement that appeared almost like magic to me-taught me a fantastic lesson.
It was the end of the afternoon, and we’d just closed the store and locked the glass front doors. There were only three people there-myself, another worker, and Mr. Randall-and we had been occupied with all the typical”end of the day” tasks: sweeping the floors, tallying the registers, etc..
He was kind of shabby looking, and he was carrying out a beat-up guitar case. I, looking for a great, policy-following worker on my first day, told him through the glass that we had been shut. I was going to repeat that we had been shut but that he could purchase some guitar strings when Mr. Randall came up behind me and asked what was happening. Shabby Guy repeated his desire to get some strings.
Instantly, Mr. Randall unlocked the door, saying,”Let us get this young man some guitar strings.”
Okay, now here is the part that blew me off. Did he have fresh guitar strings?
They had been attached to his brand new Fender Stratocaster guitar… he would be playing through his brand new Fender Twin Reverb amplifier.
I looked at Mr. Randall like he was a magician. In twenty minutes, he’d turned into a $5 purchase into a $500 sale-from a man whom I would not have figured had more than fifty dollars to his name. Mr. Randall looked at me and said,”Never allow coverage get in the way of opportunity.”
Never allow coverage get in the way of chance.
That is good, do not you think?
What Mr. Randall taught me sounds obvious, does not it? The objective of this Don Randall Music Store was going to sell musical instruments-not to close in time.
What’s the goal of your business? Can you, or any of your group members, each short-change that purpose under the guise of”following policy”? Are each of your staff members crystal clear on the goal of the organization they work for? Are you?
A recent poll showed that only 1 worker in seven could name even one of the organization’s most important targets.
Job #1, then, is teaching your staff on the business’s goals.
Job #2 is not to let coverage get in the method of achieving these goals.