Dear Miss Manager:

The director of the law library just came to me and said that his friend, the director of the main library, is being forced to let a particular staff member go, but only for budgetary reasons. My director has suggested (not demanded, although it's hard to tell the difference) that we hire this staff member from the main library in an empty slot we have. Now comes the mess: I had intended to fill that slot with someone from another department on campus whom I've known of for some time, a person I know to be a good worker and very interested in this position. To further complicate things, reliable grapevine communications indicate that the staff person from the main library is a lazy trouble-maker who has been having an affair with another department head! Also, this staff person has very little relevant experience. What should I do?

Sick in the South

Dear Sick:

What should you do? First, you should be sure of your information. "Reliable grapevine" sounds nearly oxymoronic. Will you be allowed to interview this person, talk to references, and perform all of the normal checks we have available when we are looking at a potential staff member? If you are not allowed to go through these normal procedures, if you really are forced (either explicitly or implicitly) to hire this person without any reasonable chance to make an assessment, then your situation is dire indeed. If that is the case, you won't bear any of the responsibility for the disaster that is probably waiting to happen, but you will have to live with its consequences. Unless your director is really completely unreasonable, you should be able to go to him or her and explain why your preferred choice is more qualified, at least on paper, than this recommended person. If you can conduct normal interviews and then present all of the facts clearly to the director, you will have made your case. You should make it clear what your opinion is, why you think the preferred choice is better, and ask the director to justify the decision if something other than your clear choice is required.

Having said all that, we should now acknowledge that some workplaces are filled with politics, and that you must exercise your political skills in a situation like this. You may say you are not a games player, that you don't participate in these kinds of shenanigans, that you are a department manager in a library, and you have plenty to worry about without also worrying over gossiping and old boys' networks. Unfortunately, though, the price of working in many places includes taking those sorts of side issues into account. The daily happiness of your staff and the efficient operation of your department often depend more on those kinds of personal issues than they do on direct work-related policy. I can't tell you from this vantage point whether or not you should become a crusading whistle-blower or a more quietly subversive element in your organization. If this sort of personnel-shuffling is a common practice in your organization, if people frequently get moved rather than fired, if everyone has to take a turn dealing with the troublesome or marginally competent worker from time to time, then perhaps it is your turn not only to absorb this person into your work, but to help break the cycle. If you can bring good work out of this apparently awful employee, you will do the most good for everyone. On the other hand, if you are in a place that is seriously corrupt, a place where favoritism and personal attributes are rewarded capriciously and in defiance of accepted standards, then it may be time to put your foot down. Perhaps you work in a place where these sorts of activities are a rarity, where this may be the first instance of such a thing happening. If that is the case, it may be even more important to stand your ground as much as possible so that the proper precedents may be set.

As in most management decisions, there is no easy answer. So much depends on local circumstances and practices. Management is more art than science. Finally, you should rely on your own good judgment. Fight for the right in this case, but keep in mind the big picture.

Dear Miss Manager:

What should I do about harassing sales representatives? I hardly ever want to speak to these people, but when I do need to, I'd like it to be on my terms, and not whenever one of them happens to need a new pinky ring.

Fed Up in Frisco

Dear Miss Manager:

I am so unhappy with the sales people who come to see me. They don't seem to know anything about their own products – I have to tell them what they are supposed to cover! – and they treat me like an idiot child. I chewed one out the other day. Just because I look like a stereotypical librarian doesn't mean I can't be tough!

Frumpy but Firm

Dear Fed and Frumpy:

Now, let's not get testy. Sales representatives are like people in any other profession: some provide excellent service, some provide mediocre service, and some are not good at all. Many people suggest that the merging of legal publishers has not been particularly beneficial to the development of strong sales representatives. One often hears the lament of the experienced acquisitions librarian bemoaning the loss of the long-ago days when those unmerged companies employed long-term, loyal, knowledgeable, hands-on sales people; the kind librarians used to name their children after or go on vacation with. Maybe sales people were different back then, or maybe the whole information universe was a cozier operation. Whatever the case may have been, we have to deal with the here and now.

One thing to remember is that being concerned with the bottom line is not a new concept for legal publishers. Those older companies weren't in the business to lose money either. They determined that the best way to go about building profits involved a particular set of behaviors and they adhered (more or less) to those behaviors. Companies now may have a different outlook, may see profits arising out of a different set of behaviors, and that is their right. Rather than reminisce about the old days, we need to operate within the new universe to our advantage as much as possible. That means being firm when necessary, being clear about your needs at all times, and doing your part to make things work. Here are some specific points.

Advice for customers:

1. Learn as much as you can about the products available for your library. One of the best ways of negotiating with sales people is being able to tell them that you know the score. If you know that there are two other products on the market that do basically the same thing as the one being presented to you, you will be able to concentrate on the details that might make a difference. You should also make sure that you are not being sold something you don't need. The sales representative may be offering you a great product for ERISA coverage at a great price, but if no one in your organization is working with ERISA, where is the bargain?
2. Be clear about the sales approaches you will accept. This usually works best when you state and maintain a clear rule: for example, we do not commit to anything based on a telemarketing call; we will not accept approval books unless we order them. Let them know whether or not you want them to visit. If you don't want them to drop by unexpectedly, tell them.
3. Be patient. Not all sales people are treated well be either employers or customers. Some of them may not deserve good treatment, but giving them the benefit of the doubt gives you a chance to start on the right foot. It isn't the new sales rep's fault that she is the 3rd representative in 2 years sent by the company. Do your part to make the representative effective for the company so that she can be effective for you.

Advice for sales representatives:

1. Know your products. When you ask someone to spend several hundred or several thousand dollars a year on something, you must be able to articulate what it is about that product that is providing value. If you come into an office to pitch the newest thing, the customer is not happy to hear phrases like "I'm pretty sure it covers that"; the customer is very unimpressed with "I'll have to get back to you on that"; and the customer will escort you out without further ado if you say, "Just call customer service for that" more than once.
2. Describe your products honestly. When the customer asks, "Does this cover all 50 states?", please say whether it does or not. Don't say "yes" when you really mean "it covers a bit more than half"; don't say "yes" when you really mean "all the ones you are likely to need." Don't say "no, but it will cover all 50 by next month" if you really have no idea what the development plans are.
3. Know your customers. Learn from asking them how they want to be contacted, whether they find face-to-face meetings helpful or not, whether they want regular check-ins or prefer to contact you as needed.
4. Be supportive of customer needs. Customers want to be able to go to the company with questions that get answered properly. They want to rely on the company to know how to fix problems. Work within the company as much as possible to help that happen. Let the people in customer service know that what they do affects sales very much. Customers are much happier buying from a company they see as backing up products with good service.