Perception and reality

A person's reputation within an organization, and even outside of it, might not be backed up by the facts.



In a series at Management By Baseball, it's decided that former New York Yankees, and now Houston Astros left handed pitcher Andy Pettitte, doesn't live up to his reputation as a "big game pitcher."



The numbers presented as evidence, simply do not support that image and perception. In the words of the writer, "the reputation is not the guy".



Have you ever worked in an organization, with a so-called "legend".



I have.



The numbers certainly didn't back up his reputation either.



Within the company, he was referred to as "Kahuna". He had the most incomprehensibly ridiculous legends surrounding him. His supposed ability, to sell out advertising contracts in record time, was accepted as gospel by everyone in the organization.



Unfortunately for my opinion of his talents, I got to see the legend in action.



First hand.



I had started to work, in the early 1990s, for a company that sold advertising, in various types of publications ranging from handbooks to directories, to name a couple. (I was later Regional Sales and Marketing Manager in the same company).



The Winnipeg, Manitoba office where I was hired, was in desperate need of sales. I needed the job. Along with another sales rep named David, we sold enough advertising through cold calling, to save a major yet floundering contract. A certain loss, already accepted by the head office, turned into a profit.



The office had problems. The manager was not competent, and very negligent of her duties. She was later fired. There was terrible staff turnover, and sales totals were very low. Morale was poor. Sales reps openly poached one anothers accounts.



Enter the legend Kahuna.



In a weird twist of logic, it was thought one good contract could turn the office around. The mathematics certainly didn't support that at all, but numbers were rarely used by the company thinking anyway. Instead of simply letting the existing sales staff sell the new contract, Kahuna was flown in, put up at the Holiday Inn for a month, with all of his meals supplied.



Word came down from head office, that we would all see how sales was supposed to be done. Kahuna would sell the entire contract himself, they guaranteed, in less than a month. We could learn from the legend, they said.



We were told he had done it before, and the example of his brilliance was given to us, from on high. I stored that myth away in my memory. It would be helpful later.



He sold the easy accounts. Of course, they were already pre-existing in the computer, developed by the existing sales staff, including David and me. He just took them as his own. Kahuna merely sold the easy accounts, that anyone with no experience at all, could have closed in their sleep.



His month ended. The contract was less than half filled. The commissions were paid to the great legend too.



Suddenly, orders arrived from head office, to turn the contract into a profitable one. When asked why Kahuna had done so poorly, "personal problems" were cited.



In any case, the ball was dropped into our court. We were back into the status of sell the ads, or be closed down. We needed the jobs.



The manager, too lazy to do her own calculations, asked David and me to work out the numbers. We needed to know how far in the red, the contract had fallen, and how much selling was needed to salvage it.



I calculated Kahuna's commission, based on the paid sales. He was paid, by head office, an astounding 75%. David added in the hotel and meal amounts, and the cash outlay worked out to over 200% of paid sales.



Clearly, the more we looked at the numbers, the worse the legend's performance had been. And the harder our job would be, to make the contract numbers look respectable.



We scrambled, with less than a month to go before the contract deadline, to fill it. You might be interested to know, that an account messed up is a lot harder to close, than if it was left alone. David's and my people were not happy, but they liked the publication, as it was aimed at their target market.



It seemed Kahuna had simply sent them an invoice, and expected payment. No wonder no one bought, and were very upset.



They bought from us, but they certainly did not ever want anything to do with the living legend.



In the end, along with David and another sales rep, we sold the contract completely. The contract even turned a small profit. That was a victory, considering it was a drowning in a quagmire of epic proportions.



The office remained open.



Four years later, at a company Christmas party in Toronto, I had the opportunity to ask Kahuna about the contract, that had made his legend. He proudly told me how much he sold on that program. I was shocked. The number he gave me, was less than half of the amount required, to fulfil the obligations of any company contract.



Thinking that the numbers were lower, due to inflation, I asked what the advertising rates were on that contract. They were identical to the contract he messed up in our office.



His legend as a saviour was based on nothing. It was founded on what amounted to a disaster.



The only legend I could see, was how he could survive in a sales organization, as long as he did.



He sure had a talent for that!



The person certainly did not match the reputation.