Lesson #4: An Open Door is A Company Score
Lesson #4: An Open Door is A Company Score
For as long as he has been in business, Sinegal’s managerial style has been as unique as his business model itself. Choosing to maintain an open door policy, Sinegal has striven to create a company of real people – and of equal real people at that.
His office in Issaquah, Washington is a small one with little but a second-hand desk and chair. To look at it, one would never know it is the home of one of America’s most successful businessmen. But, what makes this office even more astonishing, aside from its modest furnishings, is the fact that its door is always open. Any Costco staff member can walk right into this CEO’s office and have a chat with the millionaire. With no secretary, Sinegal even answers his own phone. “If a customer’s calling and they have a gripe, don’t you think they kind of enjoy the fact that I picked up the phone and talked to them,” he says.
Sinegal is not just a friendly man, although he may well be that too. His open door policy reflects the belief that it will foster greater managerial accountability, across his Costco stores. “If warehouse managers know that their own regional bosses have open door policies and will talk to any employees about their issues, then they are going to be a little faster to talk to the troubled employees themselves,” says Sinegal. “They don’t want the problems to come back to them through their bosses.”
Once a year, Sinegal makes a personal visit to each and every Costco warehouse. He wants his employees to feel like, at least in theory, they could have the chance to talk to the company’s CEO himself. This, he says, will make them feel like a more valued part of the Costco team. And, when he visits, he wears a name tag that reads just, “Jim.”
“We have said from the very beginning,” says Sinegal. “We’re going to be a company that’s on a first-name basis with everyone.” For Costco, that is not just a fluff statement; that is its living and working mantra.
Sinegal is no softie; do not make that mistake. He runs tough budget meetings and spares no sympathy for managers who fail to meet profit margin goals. But, soft or not, he does not want any Costco employee to ever be able to say he was not there for them.
Lesson 4 An Open Door is A Company Score
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You have been on the job for five years now. You come in every day at 8 a.m. and stay until well past closing time. You work hard, you work well, and you have never taken a sick day. So, when that better position opens up, you think you have a good chance of getting it. But, when your application comes back rejected, what do you do? You feel like your efforts are not being justly rewarded, but who can you talk to about it? Well, if you work at Costco, you can go straight to the head honcho, the man in charge, Jim Sinegal.
For as long as he has been in business, Sinegal’s managerial style has been as unique as his business model itself. Choosing to maintain an open door policy, Sinegal has striven to create a company of real people – and of equal real people at that.
His office in Issaquah, Washington is a small one with little but a second-hand desk and chair. To look at it, one would never know it is the home of one of America’s most successful businessmen. But, what makes this office even more astonishing, aside from its modest furnishings, is the fact that its door is always open. Any Costco staff member can walk right into this CEO’s office and have a chat with the millionaire. With no secretary, Sinegal even answers his own phone. “If a customer’s calling and they have a gripe, don’t you think they kind of enjoy the fact that I picked up the phone and talked to them,” he says.
Sinegal is not just a friendly man, although he may well be that too. His open door policy reflects the belief that it will foster greater managerial accountability, across his Costco stores. “If warehouse managers know that their own regional bosses have open door policies and will talk to any employees about their issues, then they are going to be a little faster to talk to the troubled employees themselves,” says Sinegal. “They don’t want the problems to come back to them through their bosses.”
Once a year, Sinegal makes a personal visit to each and every Costco warehouse. He wants his employees to feel like, at least in theory, they could have the chance to talk to the company’s CEO himself. This, he says, will make them feel like a more valued part of the Costco team. And, when he visits, he wears a name tag that reads just, “Jim.”
“We have said from the very beginning,” says Sinegal. “We’re going to be a company that’s on a first-name basis with everyone.” For Costco, that is not just a fluff statement; that is its living and working mantra.
Sinegal is no softie; do not make that mistake. He runs tough budget meetings and spares no sympathy for managers who fail to meet profit margin goals. But, soft or not, he does not want any Costco employee to ever be able to say he was not there for them.
Lesson 4 An Open Door is A Company Score
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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