CNA Update 1

The day I posted the first CNA story, 22 October 2012, their Marketing Manager, Terry Dale, called me having read the article on the Destiny Man site the week before.

I told her about the blog post, which I had also emailed to the two heads of CNA, Mike Kimmings and Ettienne Brandt, and the CEO of mother company Edcon, Jürgen Schreiber.

Terry and I spoke sincerely and at length about the problems and my solutions, and I delivered three books as examples of the ‘Fully Booked’ process for her and the two heads of CNA to see. I have not heard anything from Mike Kimmings, Ettienne Brandt or Jürgen Schreiber, but I have spoken further to Terry. She kindly sent an email to the book buyer to remind him to consider stocking my books.

Then I received this email from Terry on Wednesday 24 October:

Hi Robin

Have collected your books and literature thanks very much!  Ettienne has received a copy and Mike will receive his after conference this week.  I have chatted with Ettienne concerning your proposed intervention and we’d like to have a meeting with you to further understand opportunities that may exist between us early in the new year.  This period in our fiscal is crunch time as you can appreciate and its all hands on deck with staff focused on Christmas and Back to School and budgets tied up in executing (year end March 2013)!

I will be in touch early next week to schedule that appointment.

Kind regards

Terry Dale Marketing Manager | CNA

I responded on 29 October 2012 as follows:

Hi Terry

Thanks for your email and update, and for handling this matter. Your reasoning behind leaving this until early in the New Year makes a certain sense. However, I feel and suggest the following about it:

First, it diminishes the chances of anything being done by an enormous amount, to the point of looking like a cop-out. I may not be available early next year, as I have numerous other projects that I am working on. There is only now.

Second, if your budgets are ‘tied up’ (which sounds like corporate speak to me), consider that I am doing this with no budget at all, just my ingenuity and sweat equity. This shows what can be done with the right approach. I am more committed to CNA’s service than you are. If you took this seriously, you would find budget, at least enough to initiate action, demonstrate your commitment, and engage me without delay. I have already done a lot of work for you.

Third, you have been presented a golden opportunity on a platter. Your inability to see and take this opportunity here and now is further evidence of the weightiness and inefficiency of your corporate structure.

Fourth, your delaying until next year means that current service levels will prevail over the Christmas and Back-to-School periods, so thousands of customers will have to endure that while you rake in seasonal turnover from us all. For me personally, it means buying my favourite magazine for a few months under the prevailing service conditions until you are (possibly) ready. Um, I don’t think so...

Please also keep in mind that you are not considering me as a service provider. If you try to engineer this to look that way, we are back to square one, so to speak. I have initiated this project owing to lack of delivery on your part. I am leading this project because your leaders are not getting it right. It is not up to them to approve, they are at the core of the problem. They are where the solution needs to start.

If you delay this until the New Year, with the view that you need to decide on it still, you are positioning it as a pre-sales meeting. As such, I would have to try to impress you to get the business, and in so doing, sweeten the project to your liking. This would give it less integrity, which is not acceptable. Alternatively, I can keep being honest, but then you will not like what I say and not buy it. So the delay is not an option.

I launched this ‘Suing for Service’ campaign in a few weeks. We could do the same for a ‘CNA for Service’ campaign by mid November and have over a month to give everyone in South Africa, including CNA staff, a great festive season 2012. Imagine that! No more delays, and no more bad service in the meantime. Just a super success story, in the media, right here and now.

So, this is what I propose.

I will continue in the media showing how excuses prevail over opportunities. I will continue to make consumers aware, to galvanise them to stand for service, while allowing them to see how you are handling it. This is going ahead and your choice is simply whether to look good or look bad. If you work with me to the standards I set, we will collaborate. Anything less will just be the long way round.

Consulting with me is not free until you decide to pay. You need to pay upfront to see me. Each day that passes is another one wasted while thousands more customers leave your stores with a bad taste. Your leaders need to get this going right now and to use the festive season as the ideal opportunity.

Happy staff, thoroughly impressed customers, an in-house and media campaign that crystallises your commitment and responsiveness, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Best wishes
Robin