I have helped friends out in the past and these days I am more hesitant as all the friends I hired I also fired. Business is different from friendships and there is nothing personal with no emotions and needs to be separated from day one or it will never work. Firing a best friend is never easy and is probably one of the toughest things to do.
A few months ago I mentioned I took a break from my sales representative because she was too much hard work. Trying to motivate someone who has no motivation themselves cannot all come from one person as that person also needs to pull their weight. This had been months of work and I was getting nowhere. I had no idea at the time she was going through some personal challenges and was trying to rid herself of smoking weed. Her thought process was not what I would call normal and it was a struggle to make sense of how she was thinking.
I had been trying to teach and coach her on how to sell packaging materials and her ideas were just too far out there and as much as I tried I was getting nowhere. I let her get on with whatever she was doing and concentrated on my own needs and goals.
Two weeks ago I thought let me catch up with her as she is a seriously valuable asset due to the contacts she has. The initial plan was to grab a few of her contacts from her and work on them myself as she was not using them. I noticed a remarkable difference in how she spoke and she confided in me that she has been addicted to weed and that she was nearly 6 months clean. She was her old self and our discussions were far easier and what I would call normal.
This week she has received her first sales order which is not a big order but more importantly is a start in the right direction. I want her to succeed as the better she does the company also benefits. Her first order is only worth around $30 per month, but has shown her this is not difficult and this will now drive her on and encourage her to achieve far more.
This morning I spent a good hour covering and answering her questions educating her on the various differences so it would make her more knowledgeable. Not only does she have great contacts, but if we can add the knowledge she will be able to service her clients more professionally. I would rather she came away from meetings with questions and ideas on how she can help them and together we can work out solutions and savings for her clients. This will be a team effort and my job is to supply her with the tools she needs to
My business partner at one point thought I was wasting my time and I mentioned that she was worth the time and effort to help her get back on her feet. He failed to understand that she was the shortcut to the major accounts we have been trying to land for years and he will be eating humble pie shortly. There are some people you just know have far more to offer and with the right TLC they will outshine everyone else.
The people she knows in the logistics industry is a whose who and you do not get to meet these people unless you know them. The $30 is nothing compared to the potential earnings this lady can unlock. I know if she only manages to land 20% of the accounts she knows she will earn anywhere between $10K and $20K monthly which means a large payday for our company. Yes this is helping someone achieve those high end goals, but at the same time I will also be benefitting so this a win win for both parties. I have invested so much time already and this has been a project of helping a friend help themselves as this opportunity I offered is life changing when taken seriously.