What is the logistics?
7 replies (most recent on top)
To @jjd+1mo9JQU4, from Original Poster:
Thanks for adding that “frosting” to the unfortunate “cake” I tried to describe.
End note: I was watching the CEO of Intel on a business news program yesterday. He spoke very clearly and eloquently for 20-30 minutes regarding their products, applications, customers, and markets while sharing his vision for the companies future success. No catch phrases, no corporate bingo jargon, no bulls**t. Just clear communications from what seems to be a competent leader.
No way anyone on 3M’s executive management team could do this regarding the company. I even doubt most group Presidents and VPs could do it regarding their DIvision’s business.
My favorite is seeing the people who literally designed this layoff and the model moving forward (example VP CC in asd ) claiming this is so tough and they are so sad. Its like pushing ur friend off a cliff and then crying at his funeral!!
“Relentless focus on the customer”
- Mike Roman and his merry band of sheep ,,, in every earrings call for the past 3+ years
Please give me just one example of this?
Additional comment on the digital marketing note -- We've since let go of the majority of our digital marketing team, if not completely cut over the past 6 months. And as a reminder, any time budget gets cut (this year it was Jan 2023), so does digital.
The decimation of the sales force is increidbly hard to see. Hard-working, critical talent has been let go. Leadership must assume be assuming a lot more rep travel in the field given the new estimated average territory size...
It's obvious MV does not value the sales team, risking millions of business in Q4 with inventory reductions. They've directly put us in a cycle of "can't scale" due to plant cost restrictions and at further risk in the future if they think channel can sell premium value.
From a 20+ year former marketer in one of the company’s largest divisions:
For years (2005 and beyond) the mantra from upper management to marketing was “we need to get more digital” as if we had a magic wand to do so. Finally around 2014 or so, 3M brought in people with digital e-commerce knowledge (notice I didn’t use the term “expertise”). Initial wave was all talk with no clue on how to execute or implement. Next wave brought e-commerce people in who could implement, but did so while convincing senior management that sales resources ($$) should be diverted to them since 80%+ (paraphrased number) of buyers get their info online now and have made their purchase decision before ever seeing a sales person. The flaw in this concept was that it mainly focused on consumer online purchasing not industrial, commercial, institutional, nor specification driven businesses (which is the majority of 3Ms sales success). So take this flimsy foundational perspective senior management now has, factor in COVID disruptions and here we are today. Diluted sales teams, CTB managers, and senior management that has no clue how important a well trained, accountable, and fully resourced sales team is. To make matters worse, too many of the Director / VP / President roles are people who have limited working knowledge regarding the products, markets, applications, or customers 3M serves.
3M is their own worst enemy with stuff like sales and marketing.
The problem is 3Ms "best-in-class" and "customer focused" brain trust (cough, cough) brilliantly decided to ground the entire sale force when covid happened, got enamored with the "cost savings" and get the force downed for years to come.
Meanwhile, frustrated customers who used to get treated to Wonewok found out that customer service is reduced to a very occasional Teams phone call. Oh yeah, and 3M decided in some cases to cut out the middleman (3Ms long time customers) to save a penny or two by going through distributors.
The strategy is the Scarsdale Diet without food. Who needs carbs or protein or even sugar to survive?
Meanwhile, Tireman is passing away meager profits on bumbling Kearney buffoons.