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DAVID CUTLER editor-publisher dcutler@ioc.net

Promises, Promises

The message in the advertisement from the company was clear: Under New Management. The promise implied was that the old sins and omissions were gone. The flyer also made explicit promises: Better Service, Better Pricing, Better Quality. In other words, what you didn't like about us is gone and all the things you want are now ready for you today.

So far, so good. But when I returned to lny tarnished favorite of old, I found none of the prornises had been kept. The service scemed worse, the priccs were the sarne or higher, and the quality wasn't any better than when they drove rne away in thc flrst place. Tlre tarnish was still firrnly in place.

The cornpany had rnadc two classic nristakcs. Nunrbcr one was pronrising sontethin-{ thcy wcrc not rcady to proviclc. Numbcr two was lturrying a nlcssagc to the rnarketplacc bctbrc thc lrard work had bcen clone to col-rcct thc problcnrs.

In a turnaround, rrtanirgcment is uttdcr prcssurc (o stop quickly any hcnrorrhaging whilc kccping old customers and attracting new ones. The rush to act is an understandable failing. Yet we see these mistakes replicated often as new owners and managers of troubled firms try to right old wrongs. It's as true of the rnom and pop lurnberyard as it is of the giant international building products manuf'acturer.

Companies internally comrnit similar sins. Management tells the ernployees that the conditions that caused the grief have been eliminated. Then, either nothing ever happens or only halfhearted. even insincere. efforts are made to alleviate sources of friction.

When trust, that rnost fragile of ernotions is lost, consequences quickly resonate. Sotnetimes. like Hunrpty Durnpty, it's impossible to put back together again.

When custorucrs l'ind promises not backed by pcltbrrnance, thcy seldonr return. When employccs losc suttlcicnt trust in their cnrployers, company lailurc can hc the lcsult.