| Sales
Territory Revenue and Customer Impacts |
| $ |
Whether
existing or newly created, an open territory will generate more revenue
when being properly worked. What is the projected potential for the
territory? How much is being lost because the territory is open? |
| $ |
Customers
like consistent attention. Even those with a long-standing relationship
will look elsewhere if they feel neglected, confused about who to go for
help, view your company as getting weak in the marketplace, etc. An open
territory gives your competitor an opening. Using Pareto's Law, what
would a 20% loss on your business be in the short term? |
| $ |
What
would a 20% loss on your business be in the long term? |
| R&D
and Product Launch |
| $ |
First-to-market
can make a huge difference on market share. How deeply is your product
development and/or product launch being compromised? |
| Team
Effort |
| $ |
The
team concept is shared responsibilities. A missing team member means more
work has to be assumed by others. How is this affecting their
productivity? |
| $ |
What
is being lost in ideas, experience, and leadership? |
| $ |
Team
morale translates to individual morale and both translate to
productivity. Are team and individual morale being adversely affected? |
| $ |
Missed
team incentives because of an open position result in resentment and
more openness to other positions. That could lead to more open
positions! Are you running risks in this area? |
| Individual
Side-Effects |
| $ |
Watch
out for the domino effect. One person fills for some function, then
someone else fills in for that person with another function, etc. The
result: lots of people doing what they don't do well. Frustration grows
and productivity tumbles. Are people getting behind on responsibilities? |
| $ |
Training
and vacations may be delayed and conferences skipped. Valuable contacts
may be lost, stress levels raised, adding to the growing unhappiness and
dissatisfaction. |
| Management
Time |
| $ |
Opportunity
cost is a big issue. What could the manager be doing if not for the
burden of increased maintenance with teams and individuals, filling in
for the open position, ignoring top performers, or short-changing
development of average performers? There are significant morale and
revenue side-effects here! |
| $ |
Another
part of opportunity cost is time managers spend in the search process.
The time cost (and attendant productivity cost) can be enormous if not
handled efficiently. How much time is your manager consuming in search
functions that can be handled by a recruiter? |
| Image |
| $ |
What
conclusions might be drawn in the marketplace if a position is open for
an extended period, and what is the potential effect of these
conclusions (accurate or not)? |
| Competition |
| $ |
Panic-hiring
weakens the organization and becomes an ever descending spiral. Top
performers are looking for companies that are strong. |
| $ |
Vacancies
signal vulnerability in the marketplace. |
| $ |
It's
the old "foot-in-the-door" opportunity to your competitors.
This can be really costly, for it's a whole lot easier to retain than to
regain a good customer. |
