Go Joe!
Everyone loved our new salesperson, Joe. Tall, blonde, great smile – everybody agreed he was sure to be successful, so we hired Joe. Timed passed and Joe became everyone’s buddy. He could talk sports with the guys and go to lunch with the girls. Everyone loved Joe. Just one itty-bitty problem. He wasn’t selling much. Oh, he always had something in the works, something on the horizon. In fact, several potential jobs had been on his sales board for months, eleven months to be precise, but very few materialized. I thought about letting Joe go but each time I did, I backed down. Heck, everyone loved Joe! Such a great smile and well, I hated confrontation. Holiday came and went and Joe sold a couple of jobs but still way below his quota. Yet, it was nice to have an extra pair of hands to carry wreaths and trees, I reasoned. Once a week Joe and I would meet to review his sales efforts. I learned to hate those meetings.

 All Talk No Action
Joe would flash that great smile and he’d tell me about the rotten economy, the corporate cut backs, the lousy weather. We even grieved over the the local football team’s defeat. Still – few sales so while I sold at one end, Joe cost the company money and time and sold—very little. Finally, after almost two years I mustered up every bit of moxie I had and told Joe – “GO!” The company threw him a big going away party and wished him luck,‘cause, heck, everyone loved Joe.

The Moral To The Story
Now, friends, there is a moral to this sad tale of Joe. In every company there is a “Joe” or a “Joan”. They may be in sales or be the company account person. They may be a supervisor or a tech. They may even be a relative. Whatever their position, their charisma and personality mask deficiencies. Deficiencies that suck the soul out of a small, entrepreneurial business. If you have a "Joe” currently on your payroll, I want you to stop reading this blog and go over to a mirror.

 Be Honest With Yourself
Look yourself square in the eye and repeat after me, “I am not in business to care for someone else’s child. My business is my baby and I have to protect it. Joe must go!”
 If necessary repeat the above and then, let Joe go! In a couple of months after Joe’s replacement sells that huge job (funny how the economy got better so fast), call me and let me know how it’s going – after Joe goes. Now go out there and get ‘em Tiger!