Proper Care and Feeding
of your
Country Manager
by
Charlie Smith
Operational Insights Inc.
While making an official visit to our Japan office as an executive for a direct selling company several years ago, I was amused by the magazine article that our general manager was translating for me about one of our very successful competitors. The interviewer in the article was asking the country manager what the secret of his success was. His reply? “I completely ignore marketing directions given to me from our headquarters in the United States.”
I would certainly hope that none of your country managers feel the same way. While the frankness of this country manager is noteworthy, I am sure that your country managers can relate in some small way to the frustrations that accompany the responsibilities that all country executives take on when being a subsidiary of a multi-national organization headquartered elsewhere. In this article we will explore how your country management is organized, common traps, how to tell if your country manager is doing a good job, and the expatriate question.
Who’s Number Two?
Is your country manager a flashy guy, able to speak with enthusiasm and fire? Is he a dynamo with distributor leadership, radiating charm, warmth, and confidence in the company? Is he a financial and operational genius, managing his staff with efficiency and effectiveness while getting the most bang for his buck? Does he understand the nuances of the culture, language, and momentum as it relates to the direct selling industry? Is he a team player, walking hand in hand with corporate headquarters in strategic decisions regarding marketing and finance?
If the answer is “yes” to all of these questions, then congratulations are in order. You have successfully employed Superman.
My guess is that you may have a few tested and trusted country managers that approach this “ideal”. I would suggest however, that even in those few cases where the “ideal” country manager is in place, that he actually has a very strong number two executive who compliments his strengths and weaknesses. Most people think of a number two person in a direct selling management structure as an operations/finance guy. The reverse can certainly be true, where the number two guy becomes the “face” of the company and the country manager runs the day to day operations, but this type of situation is less common. In your mind, go through your country managers and see if you can identify the number two. This person may not ever have the skill set necessary to be a country manager themselves; however their particular attributes are central to a country manager’s success.
Traps for Country Managers
Being a country manager is a very difficult job. He is constantly trying to balance the needs of the distributors, his staff, and corporate expectations. Over the years, I have seen many country managers drift in and out of a few of these common traps.
• Picking up
pennies, ignoring the dollars – Because measuring the success of
all of those late night distributor meetings, phone calls, and emergencies
are difficult to do, sometimes the country manager feels like he has to
measure something quantifiable, and that means he starts “managing
the shop” by micro-managing staff, operations, and finance. When
your country manager starts focusing too much or exclusively on warehousing,
distribution, human resources, etc., instead of the game plan on growing
the business, it is time to re-focus him on the fact that this is indeed
a direct selling company and the focus should be on revenue and distributor
growth and retention.
• Greasing the dollars – When working with aggressive distributor
leadership, sometimes it is possible for the country manager to take on
some of their characteristics in negotiations, deal-making, and “making
things happen”. Some of the warning signs may include “creative”
ways to get product in and out of a country, involving themselves and
the company clandestinely in “too-good-to-be-true” schemes
with distributors and countries that shall remain nameless but happen
to be populated with billions of people. While creativity is a key characteristic
of a good country manager, it should be applied to actually working within
the country that they manage, and within a consistent framework of sound
business principles and ethics.
• Devaluing the dollar – When you are the lead person in a
sales organization, and especially in the ultimate people business like
direct sales, there are ups and downs. All country managers go through
a down cycle of some kind where they get fed up with all the beef they
are getting from their distributors, unreasonable corporate expectations,
and unmet business goals. While this phase is normal, a prolonged time
period where your country manager seems to be involved in a lot of “hand-wringing”,
complaints, excuses, and negative feedback, you have got a possible burn-out
on your hands. If you do not correct this situation, then you can find
that your sales can go in a death spiral because this business feeds off
of hope, and prolonged negativity emanating from your country manager
can be disastrous.
• Hoarding the dollar – Any country manager who has fiscal
responsibility wants to keep a financial “safety net” to avoid
the dreaded call to headquarters asking for more money. You may find it
difficult to pry the profits away from the country manager and put it
where your organization needs it. In reality, the country manager may
forget that the money actually belongs to the worldwide organization and
may devise ways to either hide the money or spend it so that he doesn’t
have to “share” it. While this is a natural reaction to the
adage that he who has the money has the power, the country manager needs
to be educated and held accountable for keeping enough money in the country
to satisfy budgeted needs (and tax liabilities) while supplying corporate
headquarters with the maximum amount of available cash to grow the business
as it sees fit.
How is success measured?
Any good bonus program for country managers should include several sometimes competing factors to achieve proper balance and sustained growth. Increases in sales, recruiting, and retention should be measured from the marketing side. There also needs to be an equal weight applied to the financial side by measuring and rewarding bottom line profits, cash sent back to headquarters, and employee retention. If you have just a sales based bonus model, then you may be encouraging behaviors that generate revenue, but lose your company money.
Expatriates on the cheap?
The loneliest of the lonely country managers are our dear expatriate friends. They actually have to measure up to a higher standard of success simply because it costs so much to keep them housed, educate their children, and provide the myriad of other financial considerations that must be addressed when sending out an expatriate. Actual compensation can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, so for better or worse, they need to be a star.
I have also seen a successful tactic used by some companies that gives them the value of an expatriate presence to represent corporate wishes, while reducing the tremendous costs that a normal expatriate would require. Sometimes they will send a young up and comer with no or a very young family who is inserted into a middle manager role within a country as an assignment. The company gets the benefits of giving a promising employee some fantastic experience, while also making sure that country management does not stray too far from corporate strategy.
Communication
As parting advice,
please feed your country manager constantly with company news and happenings.
Make sure that they don’t find out about major corporate policy
or personnel changes via some guy in the shipping department. Have regular
and frequent teleconferences and make sure that you provide feedback regularly
on his performance. Make as many personal visits as practical. While the
country manager may literally be on an actual island, he is in fact working
alone on a business island with infrequent and sometimes confusing communications
from the home office. Your consistent support, understanding, and counseling
can go a long way to ensuring the best possible situation for your country
manager to grow your business overseas.
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About
the Author:
Over the past 15 years Charlie Smith has had the opportunity to work for Fortune 100 and 500 firms, as well as privately held multi million dollar companies. His various positions have included; COO, Vice President of Operations, Vice President of Global Logistics, Director of Manufacturing, Director of Engineering, Director of R&D, Electrical Automation Manager, Maintenance Mechanic, and the guy in the "Rat Suit" at Chuck E. Cheese.
With collegiate degrees in Electrical Automation and Robotics, Technology Management, and an MBA from Brigham Young University, Charlie has a great breadth of secular knowledge to go with his global experience. He has honed his skills in logistics, supply chain, and manufacturing operations working for companies such as Dannon Yogurt, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Unicity International, and Young Living.
Charlie's brand of wit and humor, combined with his common sense approach to operations, allow him to communicate with every level of management and line personnel. He has a very positive personality and the ability to inspire others.
An accomplished presenter, Charlie has spoken in front of thousands of people, successfully talking operations without causing a massive outbreak of spontaneous comatose amongst the audience. He has been published in Controls Engineering magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Direct Selling News.
Charlie resides with his wife Christi and their five children
in American Fork, Utah.
Website: http://www.operationalinsights.com
E-Mail: csmith@opinsights.com
Phone: 801.443.1084