The basis of innovation is concrete implementation.

Innovation and constant improvement are necessary for companies to achieve sustained growth and development. With each member of a company's own ideas and desperation for innovation, it is necessary to create a culture in which the members make a list suitable for their departments or positions and implement them one by one.

Usually, in an organization, innovation is thought to be done only by the department or the leader of the organization who is in charge of. Like that, innovation could be thought of as something grand and big. I approached innovation in a different direction. What is innovation? Is it just innovation to flip over all the past forms of work that have been so familiar so far? I don't think so.

 If the existing types of work had been wrong, our company would not have survived until now. I'm going to describe here the very small actions that I've been working on our tasks.

After serving as the president of a steel processing company in Mexico, I was transferred as CMO of a steel production company. As soon as I took the post, I did my own analysis of the existing sales performance. From the annual sales target, monthly sales target and performance were analyzed, and influencing factors like the number of production, inventory, etc. to sales was analyzed.

Afterwards, we divided customers by industry and looked at the numbers for the sales targets and performance of the classified customers. Daily analysis also confirmed which day of the week sales were the highest point of the week. I analyzed sales and operating profit by linking them, and listed sales goals and performance of each team.

Based on these analysis results, I made a list that I can expand the sales of company and link them to operating profits. I always value concrete implementation. While setting and proceeding with annual goals, I focus on what I have to do, what the team leaders have to do, and what the team members have to do to achieve the goals. Accordingly, I made a list of things to innovate in our marketing department. The list I made was reduced and shortened to about 100 pieces, and I numbered it on the whiteboard in front of my desk.

The innovation of our company, especially the marketing division, was aimed at achieving fixed sales goals and realizing profits, maintaining and developing close relationships with customers, and contributing to the company's sustainable growth by exploring new markets.

In the course of this series of activities, I have some emphasis on the members. For example, in parallel with activities aimed at achieving sales goals, I emphasized mail-backing to employees. For our company to continue to grow and develop, customer value should be at the top of any company's list. For us, customers should be in a partnership position where they must continue to grow and develop together. Every day I thought of practical activities that could help customers. One of them was a quick e-mail reply. In addition, this was a small practice of innovation activities.

I suggested to our members that we should not let our customers be curious. I told my members to let them know if the product they ordered was completed, to let them know what time the truck will arrive at the client company's factory if it is in transit, to let them know if there is an unexpected situation, and to let them know what we will do to solve it. It would be the best if we let them know in advance, but sometimes customers ask first. In this case, we should reply as soon as we received the email.

I emphasized on replying immediately when the client company sent us an email. It actually seems easy. However, it may not be easy for working-level officials. Countless emails come in a day, and it's not easy to respond to them one by one. Nevertheless, I emphasized that my members had to respond quickly to the client's. "Let's start improving our customer service from here."This is one of the examples we have undertaken in our innovation activities. I'm still convinced that in order for innovation to be succeeded, all members of the company must know what to do right now and practice every day, even small things.

The evaluation of members should be based on performance.

I think the evaluation of members should be based on performance. Most companies could say that the evaluation is based on performance. But is that true? Sometimes in-house politics can be involved, personal relationships can be a factor of consideration, and the boss can be generous in the assessment of her/his long-time co-worker. I think that no matter what anyone says, evaluations in companies should be based on performance. The process is also important. Yes, it's important. But even if the process is so important, the assessment should be based on performance.

The evaluation based on the result is important even for someone who fits well with the boss, or someone who is good at so-called flattery. If there is no problem with ethics and attitude, it should be evaluated based on performance. Performance evaluation is the fairest in the evaluation of the company. It cannot be a fair evaluation without being based on a numerical performance assessment.

When I was working as the president of a subsidiary company in Mexico, our company had to carry out an important project. I selected the staff in charge, and delegated her full authority and responsibility for the progress of the project. Of course the final responsibility was on me. Later she often reported to me about the progress of the project. After a certain period of time, the project began to be delayed. I had her come to my office to check the progress of the project. At that time, she confessed many reasons for the delay, including the lack of cooperation from other departments, the lack of support from the system, and the lack of interest from the members. 

I explained why I chose her as the person in charge. As I was working on the project, I thought that the members would not be interested unless it was their job, and I also knew that departmental cooperation would not work out well. I told her about it. I explained that I had entrusted the work to her in the belief that she could bring such situations into harmony for getting it done well. In addition, I stressed that that project was one of the most important project in our company that year.  And I guaranteed to evaluate only with the performance. As expected, the project was successfully completed, and I fully reflected the results of the project in her evaluation and compensation. If the project had been delayed or expected to fail regardless of the circumstances, I would have replaced the person in charge without any hesitation.

One day our factory manager came into my office. He had to quit the company because he had to move to another state for personal reasons. I was at a loss. It was a very difficult time for our company. We just finished the construction and it was time for full-scale sales. Even so, due to personal reasons, I could not seize the factory manager who had to quit the company. I had to ask HR department manager to hire someone with experience. 

After that, I hold a meeting with the coordinators in the factory. After they came into the conference room, I asked to discuss the matters after the factory manager left the company. I talked them that the sales manager would temporarily manage the factory until a new factory manager was hired. That meant they had to report business issues to the sales manager.

After the factory manager left the company, the coordinators came to see me. They came to me to suggest things. They asked me to trust them and not to hire factory manager for the time being. They asked me to trust them and watch them. They said if the results were bad afterwards, they would take responsibilities. Of course, the only way they could take responsibilities for the production or quality control failures would be to resign. Surely I didn't want that to be happened. I knew how our factory's coordinators had been working from the beginning to the present, so I decided to trust them. 

And if the performance is maintained or improved after a certain period of time, I decided to promote one of the coordinators to the factory manager. Since then, the work of each department of the factory had been reported directly to me, and I had also served as the factory manager. Six months later, significant performance was shown in various indicators (production quantity, yield rate, quality defect rate etc.) managed by the factory. I promoted one of the coordinator to the factory manager. What if they didn't show any results? I would not hesitate.

Our company made an evaluation every day. The evaluation was made every day at the daily meetings I mentioned before. I didn't hesitate if I thought it would not be achieved. We found the way to achieve, then we achieved.

Things to do after COVID-19

When will this COVID-19 situation end? There is no convincing prospect of the COVID-19 situation ending. It became a situation no one knows when it will end. In conclusion, we don't know whether this situation will continue, end, or get worse. Uncertainty is growing. In the previous article I talked about the specific implementation that a company has to do to survive. I am sure that if we keep doing it every day, we'll see the way. The current situation is uncertain. But we can't just sit and watch. We should make the uncertain situation more predictable and more certain. Nothing is impossible. At least the leader should think so. Now I focus on what to do after COVID-19. Many thoughts flashed through my brain.

1. A leader must look carefully at the company's cash flows. Departments dealing with money should report financial information every day so that leaders can make decisions or judgements. I have an idea that the Treasury should not be a department that only settles its accounts at the end of the month, quarter or year. The Treasury Department should ensure that leaders make the right decisions in a timely manner. To do so, we need to develop tools or methods that can be predicted with numbers. There are so many things to consider, such as cost analysis, tax and finance. Under any circumstances, money should flow to companies.

2. Every morning a piece of paper should be on the leader's desk. It has to be prepared before the leaders arrive at the office everymorning. If the company has a system in place, the performance of the company will be automatically aggregated and can be viewed on the screen or via e-mail. But I think it is better to see on paper. The leaders need to look at performance data with just one page on the desk, not one of the countless emails. The sheet shall contain daily data such as sales performance, cumulative performance, progress rate, account receivable, inventory, etc. compared to the previous day's plan. With this, the leaders can decide every day's actions. It's an emergency now.

3. Performance evaluation criteria for members should be redefined. Performance evaluation of members of the company is always important. This is because performance-based compensation is also the most fundamental to the management. The company should increase the portion of the performance that is calculated by numbers. If there is more telecommuting, it is right to set standards for evaluation, rather than trying to control what the members do at home. If anybody work from home and the evaluator lives in the same apartment buildings, isn't there a possibility that the person will be evaluated better regardless of his or her performance? At the company, it is most appropriate to be evaluated at least for numerical performance.

4. The work manual should be completely revised. The process of making a work manual is difficult and boring. In many cases, ISO and other regulations are in place if the company has a certain size. Separately, there will also be a manual that records the process of the work unit. The manual should be revised to take into account such cases as the COVID-19 situation. Each unit should look at existing tasks and be revised by adding the number of cases. In fact, the manual may not be highly utilized. But I concentrate on the process of making the manual. Manuals are not only made by the department in charge. Everyone should be allowed to participate. This is up to the leaders. Leaders should spend time working on manuals with members every day. Doing so will surely lead to a flurry of work improvement ideas and speed up members' adaptation to the new work environment. This is what I actually did when I was in Mexico, accepting the idea of the manager in charge. So we made a manual. Now, we need to strengthen it to suit the COVID-19 situation.

 

5. The company's security system should be strengthened. Working from home or at a place other than an office can cause concerns about system security. For small companies, the budget for security may be quite small. In some cases, e-mail exposure may lead to wrong payments. In preparation for this situation, security education for members should be strengthened as well as supplementing the system for security. In particular, if you receive an e-mail about payment, you should check the sender or deposit address. At the same time, more attention should be paid to strengthening the system against hacking. As expected, the leaders need full attention and support.

6. Effective use of local agents who are well-versed in local affairs is required. Human mobility is bound to be limited if conditions such as COVID-19 continue. Restricting movement may mean that the level of trust is down. No matter how much you have a meeting, you can't compare it to having a meal together. If the movement is restricted, the level of trust will be too low to handle foreign affairs. In addition, the development of new markets could be restricted. No matter how advanced technology is and how much all work or pioneer is possible on the Internet, it is not yet true. Especially, the market we are trying to pioneer often does not have as much Internet environment as we do. So it can also be a way to get and utilize local agents with reliable, competent and rich human networks. If you don't know, you should ask.

7. The management of account receivable should be strengthened. However, the company cannot push customers too hard. First of all, if you don't have a customer management card, let's make one first. We need to consider the current situation of the client company. If you look closely at the current situation, you can see the customer's ability for payments. You should not give the impression that you only get a call when something happens. Whenever the customers need help, you should give the impression that you are ready to run. Only then can we be the top priority if our clients have room to pay the money.

The management of account receivable should not be viewed only as simple numerical control. The company should look at the entire client company as well. As time goes by, we need to take a deeper look at our customers. And we have to manage the account receivable every day. In addition, we need to constantly check that our numbers of account receivable match the numbers that are being confirmed by the client companies.

It is also important to know what the customer's payment process is like. Usually, the purchasing department does not take charge of the payment. It is often managed by the Treasury Department. In that case, the window of our sales department is the purchasing department of the customer, but the decision to receive money is held by the customer's finance department. Therefore, the sales department should also know the person in charge of the customer's finance department.

8. The business world must be reorganized. The process will be changed, and the industrial structure will surely be reorganized. So a leader must read almost every article on industrial change since COVID-19. We should think about it, connect with our industry, and analyze and review it if necessary. At this point, many related articles are almost the same. There is a lot of overlap. A lot of overlap may mean there is a high probability of that happening. That's what many experts think. You have to read, think, and execute quickly.

Companies must survive and continue to develop. The role of a decision-maker in difficult situations is important. You can't survive without a leader's initiative. A leader must constantly innovate, ponder, and be busy. Especially in the current situation, leaders can't be idle.

Things we must do for surviving in COVID-19

The COVID-19 situation is making the world's economy too difficult. Now we are more sensitive to the term 'survival' than to the term 'development'. We have to survive. Companies that have survived in the situation of COVID-19 may face another leap forward. To do so, we must survive fiercely. I pay attention to the role of leader in these situations. The role of a leader (manager) in any situation at any time is very important. The chief decision maker must always maintain its urgency. A leader should always be in front of the lines. I write this article with a sense of urgency. We all have to survive.

I noticed what we have to do everyday to survive. I melted my experiences, what I've seen and what I actually did in this article. I don't want to talk about those in the air. Right now the leader has to agonize about what to do to survive. After simulating it many times, I doubt if we could survive. The bottom line is, nevertheless, that no one knows.

If you were in top management level of a company, you may be in a desperate situation. You could be lonely. But no wonder, it is a position that you have to endure such desperation and loneliness. And definitely you must have vision and conviction. In this situation, who can assert this so precisely? Even so, I think I'll be doing these if I were in top management level with great earnestness to survive.

1. There is a road in the book. I always engrave this in my mind. Yes. There are paths in books, in newspapers, in magazines, in YouTube and so on. We have to pay attention to government or global health authorities' announcements, read more than five columns or analysis articles on COVID-19 every day. Then list and execute what you can now. This is the leader's job.

2. The decision maker (leader) must hold meetings with the staff every morning. If you are working from home, have a meeting through web conference. Recently, companies say that we should reduce the meetings. I don't think so. I think an hour-long meeting every morning must be held. A lot of information must be provided so that the decision maker can make the right decision.

Reports made in writing or e-mail can be clarified who will be responsible for this. So if it is sensitive information, it may not be specified. And also it is often known already. We have to have meeting everyday. The meeting must confirm and move on to the things that need to be confirmed on the day. The sales, inventory, client company status, etc. of the previous day should be checked. It is also necessary to check how members and their families are doing in this COVID-19 situation and if there have any difficulties.

3. Members (I don't like the word 'employee'.) of the company must continue to communicate with their clients through social media and phone calls. They should constantly check whether their health is okay, if there is anything we can do to help them, and whether their families are okay.

You should collect and record information about the current sales situation, the inventory levels and financial situation with the customer. Don't even think you'll contact them when things get better. When things get better, other competitors will also contact them indubitably. Show them who their true friend is.

4. The company should keep informed the effective activities such as quarantine activities, keeping living distance, and hand sterilization etc. Through Instagram, Facebook or else, consistently post what efforts the company is making in this situation to overcome.

5. Leaders must do financial analysis every day. The leaders should be clearly aware of changes in finance. If this COVID-19 condition persists, the leaders should assume how long we can endure in the case of that the sales are completely cut off. So the leaders have to review the financial status every day with the prospect of daily sales and profits etc. No one can predict how long this COVID-19 situation will last. 

6. The form of business after COVID-19 must be changed. Almost all media outlets are predicting future changes. Now, companies have to decide whether to maintain and strengthen the existing industrial form or to expand the industry's trends by reading and combining them. Bio-related, health-related market prospects, for example, are always commented when talking about post COVID-19 business.

We have to think about whether there is a chance for our company to enter these areas. First of all, we should make a list of companies involved, closely monitor their trends and movements, and also review M&A if necessary. Even if you don't buy the company, you could find a business opportunity if you watch it with interest.

The concrete implementation and very specific actions of a leader always makes the vision strong.

About Setting Sales Targets

In general, a company sets its sales targets for this year around September or October last year. In many cases, quarterly or semi-annual rollings are carried out in consideration of market conditions and sales progress. Then, for companies that do not involve in-house political elements and do performance-based assessments, the members of the company are promoted as the assessment improves if they achieve their annual planning goals or roll targets. The company is required to set a stretch target when establishing an annual sales target. As a result, there are many leaders who set fewer goals than they can actually do. In fact, leaders who set little and achieve monthly are often judged to be successful. The role of management level is really important, as I have repeatedly stressed. In setting goals, the management, especially the top management, should see the market more clearly than the middle managers do.

A leader in a situation that the market is unexpectedly improving rapidly, or that the current situation has not been expected, such as the Corona virus, exceeding the target of more than 20 percent, or underperforming more than 20 percent, seems not so good. It could be a case that a goal is set less and achieved without effort in order to get a good evaluation, or the leader made a mistake in analyzing the market.

The task of setting annual sales targets is extremely important. I don't like rolling once set goals, nor do I think it's desirable. The leader should be responsible for achieving or failing to meet the goal. That's the leader. We should see the market accurately, take responsibility for setting sales targets, and do our best to achieve them.

As you achieve so, you could receive an assessment fairly. And you should not expect a good evaluation if you do not perform well. The final decision maker who approved the sales target cannot escape responsibility if it falls short.

Establishing sales targets should not be seen as a mere routine. I regard setting sales targets as the most important thing. I think that point is where corporate management begins, and contributions to society begin. So setting sales targets shouldn't be seen as just annual activities. 

You have to see all the numbers. All the numbers including the company's mid- and long-term goals, the previous year's business performance (especially operating profit), the exchange rate, interest rate outlook of each financial institution, the market outlook of securities firms, and the demand forecast of customers. Then, the company should summarize sales targets by product and forecast prices, and analyze the costs forecast by the Treasury Department to make a cost outlook and clearly forecast operating profit.

Based on this, the decision maker who receives the report should add the information, data, and enthusiasm she or he can obtain to modify the target, and present a clear number so that the final sales target can be determined. As always, the decision maker's role is especially important when it comes to annual sales goals.

If annual sales targets have been set, this must be achieved.

A leader who asks about the company's inventory level is incompetent.

A leader who asks about the company's inventory level is incompetent.

If a leader asks, "How many inventories we have today?" the leader is incompetent. If you are a leader, you should know the final inventory number of the previous day at any time. Inventory control is the basis of management. Regardless of the size or department of the company, leaders, including the CEO, should be aware of the company's inventory level at this point.

                                                

If a company is well equipped with a management system or process, inventory data can be viewed in a computer system every morning. Or someone prints it out and puts it on a desk. If these systems are not your case, you should make the process. In manufacturing, inventory control is the basic of the basics.

As a leader, almost all data related to inventory must be kept in mind, such as how many the company can store in warehouses, what is the proper inventory level, what is the average daily sales volume, and what is the level of inventory growth accordingly. If the leader remembers the numbers for all the data of the company's inventory, there is little chance that the leader will cause errors in the decision-making.

The person in charge should know how many inventories for the client in charge.  And even the person in charge has to know the client's inventory levels too. If the client company is reluctant to provide the relevant data, visit and see the warehouse. I've never seen a client company refuse to look around the factory. The number can be estimated by looking at the client's warehouse. And when you visit, customers often let you know the number of inventory.

If the client company experiences inventory management difficult, you may share the company's inventory management experience. Actually, I have experience of doing so. At that time, the inventory management of customers was not systematic. So I sent my member to the client company and she checked the form first. It goes without saying that this approach has been of much help to both our customers and us. It is listed in "The Art of War" written by Sun Tzu. ' Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.' I'd like to say this. 'Know the company's inventory and know the client's inventory, the sales target must be done.'

I am sure that inventory management is that important.

I didn't want the sales team members to be seen in the office that day.

It was a time when I entered Mexico as a sales director in 2008 and began full-fledged sales later that year after completing the construction of the plant. I went to work in the morning that day and looked at yesterday's sales figures, which were far below what we had planned. We had a difficult situation those days. I had all the sales team members gather in the auditorium. I went to the auditorium earlier than the staff and waited standing until all the staff gathered. Everyone was supposed to gather, but there was a message that one or two members had to attend a bit late because of urgent business. I immediately made them stop what they were doing and made them come to the auditorium right away.

All the staff gathered in the auditorium. Then my words had to begin. I started speaking with yesterday's performance. I continued to talk to my members. Yesterday our performance was far below the sales plan. "Under these circumstances, our ability to predict sales is far from sufficient. If we can't predict the same day's sales in the morning, we have to look back at our capabilities. And we, all, don't have to be here if we're not doing this well. I, too, have no point in being here. I cannot find any reason for the existence of a sales team and a sales director who don't perform well. What we are in this position, the sales department, is to sell. So we have to sell. Why are we here if we can't sell?"

I told all the sales team members to go out of the company immediately and bring in the sales volume. I said "It doesn't matter if you go to the client company and sit next to the person in charge, or you go home, or you sleep in a hotel" I told them that if you wouldn't bring the sales amount next morning, you didn't need to come to work. Saying so, the officials expressed reluctance. They said that there were a lot of things to do, such as ordering production right away, arranging the trucks, and so on. Of course I had known that. But I insisted. I was the decision maker, and all responsibility and authority for sales lay with me, and if I said so, that was up to me. "So get out of here. Go out and get the sales volume." That was what the sales team should do, I thought so. I said I didn't want to see the sales team members in the office from that moment to next day. So I sent all the sales team members out of the company.

I knew that doing so right away didn't meant that sales would surge. I knew we had to order production that day, and we needed to get the trucks out of the way. But I wanted to see the sales in a month, two months and a year. It was my judgment that with that mind set and determination, we would continue to achieve the sales targets. So I needed the urgency of the members. Each member needed to be determined to achieve their sales goals. So I sent the members out of the company that day.

* I don't want to use the word 'employee'. I prefer to use 'member'.

The next morning our members came to the office. I had the members gather in the auditorium again and revealed the sales volume brought by each member. The expectation was not missed. There was not much amount. It was less than 2% of our monthly sales target. Even so, I praised the staff. In the market situation, we were doing our best. I spoke clearly to the sales team staff. "Don't try to persuade me as far as the sales target is concerned. I will surely achieve my sales goal." So we did our best to achieve our sales goal.

Our efforts paid off and we had achieved our sales target attainment level in the shortest period of time and realized the surplus.

Steel sales are not an industry with immediate performance. It is also sensitive to market conditions. But I didn't want to see blaming it on all the reports mentioned that the market was bad. I knew the market was bad even if it was not written in the report. So in this market situation, I wanted to see in the report what the best we could do. The market is bad, but we focused on what to do.

I asked my members how many customers we had when I heard the report that the market was bad and the sales volume was low. That moment if the number of customers was 100, we should expand the number of customers to 200. Then I asked to my members to raise our service levels. If at that moment the market was bad, it was difficult for customers too. So I requested to go to the customers' companies and see if there was anything we could do to help. But would that be possible to increase the number of customers to 200? I had have so many experiences in this market. I knew even if we do our best, we could expand just  10 more customers at the most. I knew it. But we had to do something to achieve the targets.

Our sales team and I used to have dinner together after the monthly settlement. It was natural that we have achieved our performance. I also thanked the members for doing their best. I was actually grateful. I was grateful that the members for trusting and following me. Some of the sales team members who worked together at that time still work for the corporation, and some had moved on to other companies. I'm sure now the sales team members I worked with at that time became the strong sales force anywhere in Mexico.

It was not impossible to achieve the sales target.

The sales meeting was held every day. Directors and managers gathered in the conference room at 9 o'clock to hold a sales meeting that day. One of our managers looked very tired during the meeting. When I asked her if she had a drink last night, she said she couldn't sleep. When I asked her why she couldn't sleep, she said she tried to sleep at night but couldn't because she didn't think she would be able to meet his sales target that day. I laughed and asked if it really is, and it really is. After the meeting, the manager came into my office. I asked the manager to have a cup of coffee, so we went out together and brought in. The manager thanked me. When I asked the reason, she said that the sales target has been just a number but "Now, it is not only a number, but also a goal to achieve." She said that she gained confidence that she could do anything. She told me when I first came, it was impossible for everyone to achieve monthly sales target. It was less than four months to achieve the monthly targets. But now it's changed. Achieving the goal has become a given. And it was shocked for her when one of the other employees said, "It's impossible," when I said, "Just make it possible." That moment she thought we would not continue to achieve our sales target, but she admitted she was wrong. Now she can't even sleep at night if we don't meet our sales goals on the same day. I thanked her, too. I'm sure our employees are not just saying that it's difficult to achieve their goals, but that they know what we have to do to achieve our difficult sales goals and do their best to achieve them. Even though we did our best to do what we had to do, when we found difficulties, we ran diligently to the factory and to the client company. Decisions were made immediately, and a system was created in which profits could be predicted at the same time as sales. It has been quantified so that we can see the performance in numbers every day and the results of our efforts. As a result, not only employees' awareness but also the way we perform our duties has changed.

I saw the market separately. It is a separation of industrial groups. The industrial group has been separated and the management styles were different. In other words, I managed with different ways in each market such as automobiles, home appliances, construction etc. To that end, discussions with directors in charge continued. I had an opinion that it would be better to leave the market as it flows, except for the automobile and home appliance markets. It is to leave the supply and demand of prices or supplies to the market. It was my opinion that doing so would allow some time to elapse so that our products could naturally settle in the market. However, the director's opinion was different. Instead of leaving it to the market, the director in charge said, "We should create a system to distinguish customers and standardize the price level." I was a little skeptical. If we manage the market in a contrived manner, I wondered if there would be any results in terms of human and physical costs. Even so, I think I should not just ignore the opinion of the director in charge. So I asked him to make a plan and report to me first. After a while, the director has come up with a plan to manage the market. I asked him to wait a little bit in order to review the report first. Then I went over the management report, and I couldn't help but admit that I was wrong. It could be summarized that the market is divided into specific customer groups, the financial status of the client company is also considered, and the market is being led by price forecasting. My idea was wrong. I called the director. I said it was great and I was wrong. Then we put the director's idea into action.

Our marketing department has changed. We became strong.

The market situation should not be an excuse.

The market situation should not be an excuse.

I am not a theorist about management. If this was a war, I was a field commander, and that was right for me. In fact, as a consigned manager who was entrusted with the management of overseas subsidiaries at the headquarters, I established a company, control the construction and managed. I was a sales manager, president of a company entrusted with management, and in charge of marketing division in  a larger company as a CMO. In applying management theories from books or lectures, I decided to conduct practical management as a working person. I thought, I analyzed, I executed. If you ask me if I succeeded, my answer will be yes. I achieved the sales goal of the company and realized the profit.

Work begins at 8 o'clock in our company. For about an hour, managers of each team checked the full-day performance and prepared for the meeting before attending the sales meeting at 9 a.m. Although the sales directors also attended, my questions are actually poured into the managers in charge of the actual operations. The meeting time was not allowed to exceed an hour. Managers who attend meetings always had to attend with almost all the detailed information related to our sales and shipments, including the sales performance of the previous day, sales plan, inventory, distribution plan, customer inventory situation, customer's work efficiency, customer warehouse space, customer's daily operating rate, etc.

The issues that were not identified were asked to be identified during the meeting by a working-level official who did not attend the meeting so that we could be discussed during the meeting. The first thing to check is the previous day's sales performance. There should be a reason for the low or high performance of the quantity scheduled to be sold on the previous day. There are countless situations in sales. Even if we set up a sales plan and proceed, it rarely goes as planned. But I insisted on this. I thought that sales could only be controlled by continuing with this. There was opposition, but I kept it going. Then, when it comes to sales, we have achieved our goal. At first, the employees had a hard time. It's true. I admit it. As time passed, the employees also learned how to control sales, and gained strength from seeing how they were actually being achieved.

캡션 추가

The market situation is important. I believed that the market situation could also be controlled. In fact, there are cases where there is no other way. I know that. Sometimes it's impossible. But in front of the staff, I also said that the market should be controlled. Difficulties are everywhere. All I wanted was for our employees not to excuse with the market situation. Especially in emergency situations such as the recent Corona virus, it is even more difficult. Predicting may also be meaningless. It was not the same situation as Corona virus at the time. But the market situation was difficult. However, we cannot afford to let go of it. I thought of the worst scenario first. And I made a scenario one by one to the station. Then we divided roles. If the market becomes difficult, we are not the only ones who has the difficulties. It's difficult for everyone on the Supply Chain that's connected to us. We all had to survive. I visited all companies who are on the supply chain. And I checked out their situation and sorted out what we had to do, what they had to do. We organized what we needed to do, and we brought it up to the morning sales meeting and carried it out. We cannot completely control and change the flow of the big market. What I wanted from myself and my staff was not to blame the market situation. The market situation should always be analyzed and viewed as the current situation. The market situation should not be an excuse. In any market we have works to do, and in that job we only do our best. Every morning I emphasized this. Even if the market was good, we didn't relax. If the market is good, we have raised our sales target. And I checked every day. The basis for me to achieve my sales goals and realize my profits was morning sales meetings. I kept it going. Every day's meeting result was mailed when I was on a business trip or when I was away from the company. I checked the mail and if there was any change in performance, I immediately contacted the manager in charge to find out the reason and to confirm what to do. So we've achieved our sales goals and we've achieved them.

* In the next episode, I will write down what our employees felt during this series of activities.

The basis of a leader is to take the initiative.

The basis of a leader is to take the initiative. The presence of members in the organization creates a leader. The most important virtue for a leader, from a beginner to CEO, is taking the initiative. A leader who does not show the initiative is not qualified as a leader. Unqualified leaders are fatal to companies that value performance and profits. In the past, manufacturing was a time when all products was sold in a supplier-oriented industry. In today's diverse industrial era, hard work is needed to sell products that have been produced. Effort can be done by anyone if they want to. Leaders have to be different.

It was when I was working as CMO in a overseas corporation. I checked the sales process after I was assigned to the corporation. There was a fairly good system in the process. But there were many months when the company failed to meet its monthly target sales. I began to analyze the causes one by one. Although improvements in processes and systems have been seen here and there, compared to other companies, we have built an excellent system. After looking at the process one by one and consulting with the staff, I realized that there was no urgency to achieve the goals in their mind. For them, the goal was just a number, and achieving the goal was almost impossible under the current circumstances.

 First of all, I asked the staff not to say "impossible" in front of me. The expression "impossible" in sales could be told only by me.  In our organization I'm the only one who can say "impossible". All members of the marketing department were asked to gather in the conference room. Then I told that in the future we would never fall short of our sales Then I said that I would hold a sales meeting at 9 a.m. every morning with directors and managers. Then I asked for the sales form they had been managing, then I looked at it carefully. There was no immediate need to modify the management style. I didn't want many changes which could add the staff's work. I tried to make the most of it if I could use the existing one. As time went by, I could revise it with my staff. Employees and leaders must go together. The leader decides and leads, but it is not desirable for employees to be dragged reluctantly.

After careful reviewing of the form, the form was put on the screen at the morning sales meeting. To directors and managers, it was the first time that CMO has attended a meeting every morning to discuss the sales. For me, I  have had a meeting every morning since I dispatched to Mexico. At that time I was the head of a overseas corporation, so I could brought the managers from all departments, including sales/production/financial/maintenance/quality/general affairs, to attend. This meeting had been going on every single day unless I was away on a business trip. In the course of the meeting, it was necessary for employees to clearly recognize why sales objectives are important and how they should be managed and what should be done to achieve sales goals.

The meeting started at 9 a.m. the next morning. The form was shown on the big screen in front of it. It's just an Excel sheet. The sheet showed the departments, teams, customers and dates. First of all, each column was blank. As it was the first meeting, I explained the purpose of the meeting. After explaining the purpose, I asked the managers what our sales target is for this month. Some knew and some didn't. I then asked what the goal of the team was. Some knew and some didn't. There is no reprimand or rebuke. There is my way of doing it from now on. We will achieve our sales targets every month.

The directors and managers attending the meeting were made sure they were not late for the meeting. Every morning, the team preparing for the meeting was asked to be ready before five minutes, and the meeting could begin at nine o'clock on time. I told the attendees why I was here. I am here to take charge of the sales of our corporation and to realize our sales goals so that our corporation can continue to realize its profits. Then I told each of the attendees that they should be clearly aware of why they are here. Each of the attendees as a sales manager, they were here to manage the carrier of their employees so that they could develop, and then to achieve the team's sales goals.

Then we divided the corporate sales target into departments. And we divided this into teams. After that I ordered them to distribute the target to their respective customers. They could have just divided the number up to the team's goal, but it was not easy to set the goal as a customer unit. Corporate goals, department goals, team goals, and customer-specific goals were expressed in quantity. Now we can divide this by the day of the month. It is not easy to predict daily sales for each customer. I knew it wasn't easy either. However, they were forced to divide it into daily and fill the form. So for the day we have completed the form for our daily sales meetings. Through this form, we have achieved our sales goals with detailed management during our daily sales meetings.

* The following story will specifically tell you how we managed sales meeting and achieved the targets.

Preface : How to run a manufacturing company.

Preface

My most favorite place - Banff

If someone ask me "How can you make profits in the manufacturing company?", I would answer "It is very simple. Just sell the products with higher price and lower the cost.". It's this simple. But of course that's not easy. So how can we make a profit and maintain it? In fact, the answer can be or may be influenced by many factors, such as the situation of a company or the ability of a CEO. All these analyses should be used to find ways to make profits and maintain them. I don't want to find these factors outside of the company like market situation or customers. I will not make any excuses. I will see this from the aspect of the leader. And I implemented, realized and continued the company's profits in a short time. I have been working for a large company and have worked abroad for a long time. Working abroad, I established, built and managed a company as a resident employee. It was the best experience for me. I decided to keep a record of my experience like this way. I posted the first article today.

After establishing a company, full-fledged sales began and when I could turn it into a surplus was my immediate task. There is something I have never conceded in my long career at work. It was the quantity of the sales. When the sales target was set, I tenaciously held it in my whole body. I had to achieve the targeted sales. I couldn't sleep if I thought I couldn't achieve it. All day long I had in mind of achieving the target of sales volume. Then I achieve it.

My most favorite place - Banff

I have worked in the company mainly at a time when the operating rate must always be above 100 percent. If the products go into warehouse then those have to be sold. Sales target was a top priority for me. It looks like there's an error here. A lot of sales wouldn't make profits all the time, nor do they maximize profits. The concept of marginal profit has to be put in, and I don't want to discuss it here. I'll just talk about how I made the profit. I ran a company in a different culture. Many people from the headquarters have experienced the same thing as me. But I don't know what experience they had. Just based on my experience, I would like to record the way I actually managed the company and thus how I built the company solidly with our employees, who are foreigners to me. I hope my experience can be of help to someone, and be of power of living.