Q1 Newsletter from VP of Operations

As Q1 has come to a close, I would like to pass on a few thoughts as to how we did as a company.  Before I do, I would like to share a story from my boyhood:

I was one of three starting running-backs in the wishbone offense for my Pee-Wee League football team.  Though I wasn’t a prolific scorer or rusher, I played an important role on the team (even if at the time I didn’t recognize it).  Our team was incredible; our rushing attack pounded on teams with us sometimes winning games by three or more touchdowns.  Finishing the year 10-1, we easily road through the playoffs towards the championship game.

On a bus ride to our final game, I began to be filled with fear. At first I wasn’t sure what it was. But soon I realized how afraid I was of letting my team down. To be candid, I was afraid of being a leader.  I went to my coach and told him of my dilemma.  His responds kindly with cliché coaching advice to overcome adversity and pull through.  The words were less than comforting.  I couldn’t shake the fear and anxiety.  I was terrified.

As we all exited the bus, I approached my back-up running back and asked him to start the game for me.  I had convinced myself he was the faster and stronger runner so what I was doing was noble and honorable for the team.  I knew I was lying to myself but I couldn’t shake the paralyzing fear. I gave up my starting position minutes before the championship game.

I sat and watched as we fell behind, 14-0 at the end of the half.  I stood on the sidelines as the opposing team shut us down time and time again.  I hung my head as we left the field—defeated.

Now I don’t think that my being in the game would have turned the tide, but I know that in my mind the event would have been different.  I would have at least gone down giving it everything I had.  I would have least gone down with a fight.  Instead, I hid; I hid behind my fear of leadership.

A key principle of aviation is this: if you turn from the oncoming wind you cannot takeoff.  You have to face the wind.

Are we facing our winds?

This last quarter has shown great moments of success.

·         Our overall hours grew by 7% from Q4 to Q1 which makes eight consecutive quarters of hours growth. This is unprecedented in our company’s history.

·         The Saveology project has grown by 937% since its first month of dialing last April. It has grown by 144% since Q4 alone.

·         Calvin Bradbery was promoted to the Director of New Business in Dubuque, Iowa. He has been with Focus for a long time and helped achieve record highs of success in QAS and performance for years.

·         Ron Greve was promoted from the top coach in the Dubuque, IA facility to be the PA. Ron has been a long-time successful coach for the IB Bundles team and possibly the most successful coach in the history of the campaign from a revenue per call perspective

·         John Patton II is one of the top performing coaches at Focus and comes from the Roy, UT facility. He is such an inspiration to hard work and dedication. He rides his bicycle to work every day, drives incredible results from his team, and is a living testament to beyond expectations. Most of all, every time I see him, his positive attitude and energy drive me to be better

·         Kevin Montano was sent on an assignment to our partner located in California, to help manage their team in our own Beyond Expectations format. He sacrificed two weeks away from his family to help us through a crucial time in our launch of the IKANO project (in our Philippines call center).

This is a fantastic list. Something we should all be proud of. But what about our wind that challenges us? We had some signification misses:

·         We missed Service Level on Change Service for four months in a row

·         Qwest Consumer Outbound in Rock Falls had another month of very low performance

·         We had over thirty-five documented quality concerns from our Philippines and Stateside clients

·         We lost a new business program due to performance issues to an internal center in Ohio

·         Our company attrition finished at 21.75%. We lost over 200 employees in the month of March alone.

Our company objectives for Q2 are as follows:

·         Hit Service Level on all programs

·         Decrease company attrition to 15%

·         Hit revenue targets for all programs including Outbound Consumer each month

·         Double the Saveology program in Roy and Central Ogden, Utah

·         Double the Direct Response team in Central Ogden, Utah

·         Launch two New Business programs in Dubuque, Iowa (May)

·         Launch the Central America facility (May/June)

Each one of us can contribute to these objectives in a significant way. Every Agent, Coach, Site Lead, PA, Director, Regional Director, and Vice President plays a crucial role in the reaching of these objectives. All of us can recommit to being more engaged, more focused, and better leaders. I hope we can all learn from my mistake of running from my fear of leadership.  Let us face the wind before us and hit every mark.  My mentor, Greg Brohlen, a LT. Colonel in the U.S. Army, taught me “Don’t ever stop.  It’s never enough.  You don’t stop until you’re number one on every list, on every program, for every minute of every day.”

To heed that challenge, we need leadership.  We need individuals who will face the wind, take the challenge, and fight with everything they’ve got to be victorious.

Is that you?

 

Don N. Markland

Vice President – Operations