Inaccessibility Makes You Feel More Important But Are You Missing Growth Opportunities?

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The Wall Street Journal is calling . . . they want a quote from your CEO for an article they’re running about your industry, and it would behoove your company to be represented. Would result in numerous franchise sales leads, as well as other inquiries that could lead to growth opportunities for your business! Something not to miss!

Thank you for calling . . . don’t sue us!

Problem is, the WSJ reporter can’t reach your CEO! The reporter phoned your company and got the mechanical voice . . . you know the one, she talks like this:

You have reached XYZ Company. We thank you for your call and it’s very important to us (you’re pretty sure she was laughing when she recorded that). If you know your party’s extension, dial it now and be prepared to get another voice mail because everyone who is important here is inaccessible. If you don’t know the extension, press 2 for a company directory and pray that it works! If you don’t know the name of the party you want to reach, just hang up because you’re an unsolicited caller and we don’t like you. We don’t care that you want to buy the master license to Romania. . . . And, oh yeah, don’t bother looking up contact information on our Web site — our attorney told us that if you can find us you might sue us!

Really, we’ve taken inaccessibility way too far.

Where is your CEO?

Try calling your company, pretend you don’t know the CEO’s name, and see if you can reach the CEO. Then, look at the company’s Web site and see if you can find the CEO’s name. Can you find any executive’s name and contact information?

Chances are good you’ll fail at these attempts because we’ve all been convinced that it’s important to be inaccessible.

Growing the company is important . . . isn’t it?

Important is good, but growing the company is better. And if the CEO isn’t charged with growing the company, why do you need the CEO?

Some people think their inaccessibility improves their chances for success. After all, they’re already smart enough, they already know everyone they need to know, and by just leaving them alone to work their magic they can make miracles occur for XYZ Company. Plus, they’re important!

Inaccessibility stunts growth opportunity

But I think the inaccessibility of many executives only serves to further isolate them and keep them away from otherwise outstanding opportunities — like an interview in the WSJ.

Isn’t being left alone a good thing?

We can easily make a case for inaccessibility. It’s a good thing to be left alone, especially if you’re busily engaged in productive work. Providing, of course, that the productive work you could be missing isn’t more productive than what you’re doing! Thing is, when you’re inaccessible, you’re taking a chance that what you’re doing is absolutely the best thing for you to be doing and that you’re not missing anything valuable by not answering the phone, not receiving emails, not making yourself known on a Web site.

You’re not (yet) McDonald’s

I suppose if your company is McDonald’s, inaccessibility makes sense because — well, you’re McDonald’s. But if you’re not McDonald’s (maybe only hoping to someday be) and you’re in the hunt for more franchisees as well as people and ideas that will lead you to growth, then come out from behind the walls of your office and let the world contact you.

Quality prospects want to talk to you

There are, in fact, other important people in the world and some want to talk to you. People who want to do business with you. Consider, for example, the educated franchise prospects who are looking for acquisitions today. Or, how about the former executives who are thinking about buying a franchise now? Many of these people — especially if they also think they’re important — want to talk to the CEO before they get into a franchise sales representative’s voice mail loop. Granted, working with a sales rep may be the fastest route to the CEO’s office for a meeting, but if you think about what the consumer wants, and what you need, you might decide that a little more accessibility makes sense.

Accessibility pays off

I’ve made myself accessible throughout my career and am pleased to have done so — and I still consider myself an important person! I cringe to think about the opportunities I might have missed had I not been willing to answer the phone, or at least have someone answer the phone for me. (Read this blog and you’ll understand why it’s important).

Accessibility helps sell franchises

I know that my early conversations with prospects led to franchise sales when I was the CEO of HomeVestors, and when I was a master franchisee of an accounting franchise. While I may not have been able to take a call when it arrived in my office, at least the caller was confident that he or she had reached me and if I wanted to, I would return the call. Sometimes, by the way, I didn’t want to, and I didn’t (but someone else returned the call for me). Nothing wrong with that, either.

Another way to create a negative for your brand

Inaccessibility not only misses opportunities, it creates a negative notion about your brand. Do you really want to do business with a company that makes it nearly impossible for you to contact the CEO? Do you want to be a franchisee in that kind of leaderless network? And don’t tell me that it’s different once you’re a franchisee because I talk to many franchisees who do not have access to the CEO of their company.

Managed inaccessibility makes sense, no doubt about that. There are times when all people need to be left alone and uninterrupted. The really important people figure out how to achieve that level of inaccessibility and still be accessible. If you don’t know how to do that, contact me! I’m accessible.