Mary- wake up and help us out. We are getting our butt kicked and yet we continue to have the northeast marketing Rep live in The Midwest. Keep your head in the sand until we lose half of our market.
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When Follett lost Ewert, Flanagan, Sullivan, Deaton, Dowdy, Fryer- all marketing within a few years, it's only logical that the company would take a step backward with the loss of so much experience---what we didn't know what that much talent leaving within a short time of each other would spell such a disaster for us. Combine that with the loss of Pribyl and other key operations personnel and all of a sudden the loss of existing customers and the inability to win new customers all makes sense. The new folks that Mary Lee has hired can't hold a candle to those we lost and the numbers reflect this. So two things will happen--we keep the current leadership and will most likely be out of business in 5-7 years or immediately begin hiring real marketing and operations leaders.
This is the second time the subject of the East Coast Marketing VP has come up. It's also the second time the name of Joe Flanagan has come up as well. I certainly remember Joe Flanagan, and must confess that myself and others never really appreciated his values/talents. He was always around. Visiting my contacts, visiting my stores basically, being" the face" of corporate FHEG. Since the last post to this web site on this subject, I did some research into Joe Flanagan's impact on the East Coast region. First, he was in store operations for 5 to 6 years before joining the marketing team at the request of Bob Follett. Second, it seems he added over 200 schools in the region worth around $1 billion dollars in first year sales. Third, had a renewal rate of nearly 98 percent. If these numbers are only half correct, they would still dwarf those of his replacement. In checking the won lost numbers for the East Coast region since Flanagan's retirement, they look like this. 28 new schools and 48 losses! What's that old saying? "Figures don't lie but liars do figure"
Leadership does not respond to needs and comments of "legacy" employees. They have proven that over and over. When they hire one of their own, then they will listen.
next step, let's fire the current VP and give you someone out of California