Walkers complain about not having enough clients, but do not feel invested in getting more. This must change.

Preach it, sister.

While I was pottering over my response, you all added so much great feedback. Thank you!

I think we have much the same "get shit done" personality, bonny, and are alike in other ways: I also have no probs with saying "I said shit, I'm sorry, how can we work this out?"

Totally this.

Being a die-hard non-confrontation sort I have an employee that does the crew supervision because I just can't do it effectively.

This is precisely my role int he supervisory sense. One of us is soft, one of us is hard. I just need to be hard in a more constructive way.

I did not ask them to repeat things back to me and that was a failing of my excited energy. Under other circumstances, that is exactly what I would have done. Damn. I shoulda made up a checklist for myself.

If people are on the clock they need to be doing things how they are told, or should at least discuss another possible way to do things and get the supervisor's permission.

I saw too much red from this. I maintain that the woman should have told me she could not/or didnt' choose to do the job. I might not have liked it, but I would totally have respected it.

she sounds like someone for whom extra reassurance was needed

Steph, in retrospect, I have identified a particular hot-button of my personal experience that I really need to manage better in this context. The woman isn't a great walker, but she is adequate. She IS what my personal prejudices consider to be a 'weak' woman. This is a problem for me that is nobody's fault but my own. I really, really need to get a handle on this because my irritation does nothing for the woman and ensures I do not succeed with that personality type.

Major lesson to learn here.

I forgot about the positive feedback part, if there's any to be had. Man, that can be a streeeeetch sometimes.

I totally fell down on the positive feedback portion of the program yesterday. I got so excited and wound up, I had my eyes too glued to the goals and the people I was talking to about things I feel strongly about.

I know I was encouraging and cheerful with the folks who were cheerful. I did not help those who weren't. a

Yeah I have to say from my perspective, only being given what you said here, I personally would have been horrible at this. And I would have been terrified to tell you I couldn't do it. Given what they came back with and their understanding, they obviously didn't understand what information they should have been gathering and how it would have been used, much less how to gather it from random strangers. I work a lot of conventions, where basically everyone walking past my booth has a stated interest in my product and it it still, after ten years of working at it, insanely difficult to engage people appropriately. What you are asking is hard, and I don't know, but the average dog walker's personality might not be a marketers one.

What you are asking is hard, and I don't know, but the average dog walker's personality might not be a marketers one.

This.

That's a good point, Liese. She may not have known what she was signing up for when she agreed to work the event, I don't know. Again, setting expectations is key. ETA: As is keeping expectations within the parameters of the job description.

I think there is value in expecting and encouraging people to stretch beyond their comfort zones, assuming everything is ethical and above board. It's good to learn new skills, and it's good for business. There are a lot of situations I would have been completely uncomfortable with ten years ago had I not been asked to stretch. I'm better at what I do (did), and the business should expect me to improve unless I'm already perfect, which, no.

And, you know, you have people who want to learn and grow, and there are people who are not interested in that in their part-time job or whatever. I get that. But if you explain to the dog walker that, hey, if you want more business, you're in the field and have a chance to make that happen, and then train on how to do that and set some achievable goals, I think that's reasonable.

I would bet that in this market, you will find excellent dog walkers who are more than happy to market. Seriously!

That's a good point, Liese. She may not have known what she was signing up for when she agreed to work the event, I don't know. Again, setting expectations is key. ETA: As is keeping expectations within the parameters of the job description.

On this, I feel pretty secure. I described tasks for the event, in person, at a staff meeting. Then, the entire staff received 3 emails with encouraging descriptions. We then demonstrated the job on the moment.

The form we gave them to collect the information very clearly requested first name, last name, email address and pet name. At the top it said, email list and raffle entry form. I can't imagine that any of those slots seemed optional, least of all the email address.

I would bet that in this market, you will find excellent dog walkers who are more than happy to market. Seriously!

Absolutely this. The sad part is that some walkers are completely incensed that former employees are poaching their territories but they aren't willing to speak to their own clients about staying with them.

I really do understand people not wanting to be marketers. Goodness knows I would not want to work on an assembly line.

But, knowing that this was an event specifically geared to introducing themselves to potential clients, it doesn't make sense that this woman showed up to do a job she wasn't willing to do.

OH! I should add that the walker's supervisor made it very clear that he was not a talkin' kind of guy. He came early, learned to tie a wicked balloon (seriously, the dude has talent, and kept the behind the scenes stuff rolling. When the set up was done and the talking reached a crescendo, he scampered.

Total respect.

Yeah, if they knew what they were signing up for, then I'm at a loss for what the problem was. Maybe she felt compelled, who knows. You'll find that out when you talk to her, I imagine. I got nothin'.

As far as collecting the information, naturally not everyone you ask for will provide it, but that's why you ask lots o' people. The forms certainly sound straightforward. One name, no e-mail, two hours? That's just bad. Hell, I'd have called my friends and gotten their info. if I'd been too reserved to talk to people, which at some point in my life, I might have been. Something!

One or two quick things.

The first is to echo what a few folks have said which is that being a dog walker and doing person o person marketing are two very different skills and I would not be surprised at all to find that many of the folks are not great at doing the direct marketing.

Here is the other one. If your job was to be overseeing all of these people then that's all you should be doing. Your job is not to do the direct marketing. I go through this with the folks I hire to supervise on job sites. I tell them directly I should not catch them on a ladder or working with tools. Their job is to keep everyone else working at peak efficiency and they can't be doing that if their head is in the middle of a different job.

Here is the other one. If your job was to be overseeing all of these people then that's all you should be doing. Your job is not to do the direct marketing. I go through this with the folks I hire to supervise on job sites. I tell them directly I should not catch them on a ladder or working with tools. Their job is to keep everyone else working at peak efficiency and they can't be doing that if their head is in the middle of a different job.

This is a very good point, and one I need to keep in mind when doing this sort of event in the future.

I wasn't actually tasked with supervising anyone. My job was to design and decorate the event and then to show up and promote myself as the doggy lama, new Director of Training and Communications.

Partner made it clear, as we were refining my job description, that my role is not HR. The problem is, that role doesn't belong to anyone! The walkers' supervisor is the above-mentioned non-talking guy. He's great and does a wonderful job with the logistics...stuff that would make me insane.

I present as the one 'leader' in the crew that employees can bring their issues to, but it is not my job to fix them. I'm supportive, to the degree that I listen carefully and take their parts in whatever policy suggestions I can make.

The supervisory aspect of the event was simply that no one else was directing traffic and traffic needed directing.

As a result, I spent waaaaay more time promoting Partner's new venture...which I do strongly believe in...than I did my own stuff. In the end, I made good contacts and was glad to get my 'On' on, but it was an exercise in not pushing my own agenda when I really could have.

To point one, sure, but I think there's a big gap between not being good at doing direct marketing and not being able to get anything but a first name and a pet name in two hours walking around with a clip board. That's information gathering not a hard sell tactics, or even soft sell, really. I don't disagree with what you're saying, I just don't think what they were being asked to do required sales training or skills, especially, but I think scripts might have helped.

So, if you're speaking to my "find a dog walker who is good at marketing," yeah, I can see where that would be a challenge, and probably a shift in how the company operates. I still think there's value in teaching field associates how to market, but, some will be good some won't. Up to the company to decide how important it is.

Point two: yes, ideally, the supervisor will only be supervising. You have to get to the point where you have enough payroll and talent to make that a reality, which isn't always the case.

I feel like it's getting prickly up in here, and if I've contributed to that, I apologize. If I'm coming off as... something annoying, it's not intentional, and feel free to call me on it directly.