Creating a New Culture

We spent the better part of the next 5 years changing the culture of the Diebold Sales, Manufacturing, Service/Installation, Administrative, Data Processing and R & D organizations.  They all had to understand and embrace the new world of technology oriented; systems, and self service products. 

The sales organization was the biggest challenge.  They had to develop new contacts and prospects in their existing accounts that in many cases their old contacts did not even associate with.  We were asking them to talk to data processing, systems, and retail bankers instead of security and construction people.  In some cases where they had moved up in the organization and made contacts with higher management in financial institutions it was easier.  Unfortunately that was not the norm.  In many cases the sales people were afraid to go to new people, fearing they would upset their established relationships.  We were aware of all these challenges due to our interaction with this organization during our Product Management days.  The frequent trips to the field helped develop an understanding and empathy for our field organization.  This also helped me select, orient, and develop the five new Automatic Banking specialists that were hired to provide support and sales assistance to our field organization in the field.  We wanted them located in the Five Area Sales management offices so they could be closer to the field and become part of that culture.  We also added account managers for the larger financial institutions and a field support organization. 

The field support organization was designed to support the sales and service team with customer specific systems designs for proposals and installations, training for our customer and sales personnel, and service support related to systems issues.  As you can see this was a very critical resource.  Interestingly it was the first time, as a company, that we ever employed women in a professional salaried position interfacing directly with customers.  Another culture change for our company and I discovered later for some of our customers also. 

I think it is worth a short digression here to relate some of the challenges these women faced.  As much as I tried, I am not sure I completely prepared them for some of the situations they might face.  Inappropriate advances were made by both some of our people and customers.  Our employees were easy to deal with.  They were terminated immediately.  Unfortunately you cannot terminate a customer.  However I did find myself a few times having to have a very serious discussion with customers.  Having committed to our associates that any inappropriate behavior was unacceptable, I did tell, even, customers that we would cease our relationship with them if the behavior continued.  I recall one convention where I found our first and best support person, Judy, crying in the study of the suite we had rented for entertaining and socializing with our customers and prospects.  It was the last day of a very busy week and she had worked long hours every day.  She had just forcibly rejected a married customer that she had worked with for some time back in her territory.  She was both shocked and worried that she would damage our relationship with the bank.  I reassured her that she was more important than any customer relationship and we can fix the relationship by doing the right thing.  I spoke to the banker and asked him to apologize to her the next time she had occasion to be in his bank.  He apologized profusely to me and did put her at ease over the next few weeks.   I told her to take the rest of the night off and moved her to first class with me for the trip home.  We talked a lot about a number of similar situations that she had endured but was afraid to talk to anyone about.  I think I was able to assure her that she was more important than any customer that could not use proper decorum when working with her and she should not be afraid to tell us about these situations.  This of course prompted me to call the entire field support team into Canton and discuss our policies regarding these situations.  It was also a great opportunity to get their input on all the issues they were dealing with.

I will discuss the sales and service culture changes in the next chapter.

Lessons learned:

1.  Take time to understand why people resist change.

2.  Help everyone understand the reason change will be good for them and our company.

3.  Take time to listen to the people who are interfacing with your customers.

4.  Do not hesitate to demonstrate your moral and ethical principals to both associates and customers.

5.  Always treat people as the valuable asset they are and be sure to let them know it.

The Beginning of a New Era

About a week after the consultant’s presentation on Cash Dispensers and ATMs, I was asked to join Ray and Earl in Ray’s office to discuss the presentation.  They asked me what I thought and I said although I understood the reasoning behind their recommendations, everything I had been reading and hearing from our customers indicated a potential new business opportunity for our company.  I realized this was only a gut feel not necessarily based on hard facts, but to me it was a strong feeling.

Ray took a minute looked and Earl got a nod and said they agreed.  Then he said however we don’t think we can be successful with this kind of a product with our current organization structure or talent pool.  We would also have a problem with our existing sales and service organization.  What they proposed was the establishment of a new Automated Banking department separate from all other existing organizations in the company.

Then he said we want you to run that organization.  He added you would be provided all the resources you will need, justified by business plans, and we want to run it as though failure will mean you are out of a job.

I thought for a few minutes, convinced that this was a great opportunity, and agreed to take on the challenge.

I discussed it with my wife over cocktails that night.  We always had cocktails without the girls before dinner.  She was a bit concerned about putting all our eggs in one basket but agreed to support me in the decision to go forward.  The girls were still a little too young to understand all the implications but agreed.

I need to mention another type of mentor that entered into my life around this same time.  It was my executive assistant, or secretary at that time, Mary Ann.  We affectionately referred to her as MA. MA helped me in so many ways and stayed with me for the remainder of my career with Diebold.  MA was a long time employee with the company and really knew many of our associates, their skills and attitudes; she knew where the bones were buried, so to speak.  She was also an outstanding organizer of my schedule and very busy travel itineraries.   Most importantly she was not afraid to tell me when I was making mistakes or did things to offend others. 

We started our new department, The Automatic Banking Division, by moving to new quarters north of the city across the freeway from the Akron/Canton airport.  We began to recruit a new employees in product management, sales, and marketing.  We were looking for people with experience or at least a desire to be involved it technology, electronics and or computers.  At the same time our corporate engineering, research, and manufacturing divisions began doing the same thing.

Our first task was to develop a strong business plan.  Since we had some experience with an imported product, and had a very detailed market analysis done by the outside consultants, we were able to complete this task and get it approved in a couple of short months.

Organizationally, the plan called for a separate sales support team in the field reporting to me.  A separate engineering, and manufacturing group with a strong dotted line to me.  My own marketing and product management staff.   A separate service group both in the field and home office.  More about that later.  Finally, a separate P & L to allow us to measure our financial progress.

The next year was spent staffing the organization, training our new team, defining our new product specifications, and designing, testing and launching the new Diebold ATM product line.

The next phase of this new venture was probably one of the most challenging I have ever faced.  This was the challenge of changing the minds and attitudes of an experienced team of sales, manufacturing, engineering and support people who grew up developing primarily physical security and mechanical service products for banks.  This was a new world for them and their customers.

Lessons learned:

1.  Don’t be afraid to seize the moment.

2.  Always discuss major decisions with your family.  You need their support.

3.  Always look for new mentors and appreciate their efforts to help you.

4.  Always invite criticism and take it seriously.

5.   Good communications at all levels is the key to getting the support you need for success.

Managing Multiple CEOs

Managing Multiple CEOs

Soon after my appointment as Director of Product Management Earl called me into his office for a long chat. That is when he began to be my most important mentor. He wanted to talk to me about managing managers. He emphasized two major points. First, do not try to do their jobs for them. Help them do their jobs by removing obstacles they might face from other departments or divisions. Remember that you must work for them as much or more than they work for you. Second, help them learn your CEO approach to Product Management.

The first point was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. What it really meant was that I would have to acquaint myself with virtually every department and division in the company that might touch or be touched by our Product Managers. I had already done that with a number of them but I had not spent much time with the administrative groups. What Earl really knew was that this effort would provide me with invaluable knowledge about how our company really worked. Boy, was he right. What a great education and opportunity to get to know a broad base of fellow associates and them to get to know me. I was now ready to really assist our team.

The second challenge was not as easy as I thought it might be. The reason was that most of the Product Managers had been in their jobs for a number of years and had not been acting like CEOs and were a little intimidated by the concept. Although they all were aware of my success with this philosophy, they thought it was because I was new and didn’t really understand the Diebold traditions. Eventually we were able to overcome this attitude in most but not all cases. We did it together. I spent a lot of time with each one of them in their meetings with other departments they depended on to perform the work necessary for their products success. I was always careful to just observe and provide my feed back after the meetings. This seemed to work very well. Soon all product groups began to achieve their goals on a regular basis.

In addition to our standard product lines we were able to develop and introduce a very sophisticated electronic security system and began to market a cash dispenser imported from the UK. The cash dispenser was not very successful but we began to hear about other companies like IBM, NCR, and Docutel (now defunct) from our customers. We also began to get questions from our customers regarding our plans for this product line. In response to this Earl and Ray commissioned a major market study to be developed for us by one of the major consulting firms. They came back with an extensive study, which ended with a recommendation to get out of the business. In their opinion, automated cash dispensers and ATM were a fad that did not have long term potential. I did not agree. I found out soon after the presentation the Earl and Ray did not agree either.

Lessons learned:

1.To be a successful leader of other managers you must understand that you work for them as much or more than they work for you.

2. Be empathetic with the concerns of your team when you are attempting to introduce new philosophies of management.

3. Go with your managers to face difficult situations but don’t provide feedback until you are alone with them. Then let them change on their own.

4. Don’t be afraid to listen to your gut. Consultants are not always the last word.