When I explain what I do, often I discuss scale. When a company goes from an entrepreneurial start-up to a sizable force, things are bound to get lost in the shuffle. Some things about start-ups just “happen.” There is no planning, process or systematizing in place. That’s ok, because the right people are in the right places and are passionate about launching/growing/creating.

Then size happens. You’re hiring fast. You’re growing with your customer base. And some customers are starting to notice some changes. These customers rarely tell you directly until it’s a problem. Here are a few things they might say:

“I understand they need to put in more layers, but I really liked working directly with Bob/Brenda (CEO). I miss that. We were buddies.”

“You know, our relationship with Theresa (Sales Manager/Account Manager/All-Around-Great-Gal) was so good. It’s hard to move on.”

“They used to pick up the phone when I called. Now it’s a crazy Press 1 deal.”

“I love that there are more people to help me. I don’t have to wait days to get support now.”

“Seriously. Who did they hire in their call center? They had no idea I’ve been a customer since the beginning.”

“I love those guys. I recommend them to everyone. But I’m worried they’re getting TOO big.”

So what do you do as you scale as an organization? You need to hire, to expand and to serve more customers. But you also need to keep your top people without burning them out.

There are entire books tackling this subject, but I’ll offer one tip to help during those days of growth.

Communicate your mission, vision and brand promise to every employee every day.

I distinguish these this way:

1. Mission – What is your lofty goal as an organization? What’s your cause?

2. Vision – Where is the organization going in the next year to 5 years?

3. Brand Promise – What does your brand promise to your customers? What expectations are made?

This is what so often gets lost in growth. Suddenly, the unwritten rules about how you treat customers, how you treat colleagues, how you get things done and what promises you’re keeping need to be written down. But don’t get hung up on that. Just be sure that the top level is getting the word out to keep talking about these vitally important items. Hire according to them. Create processes around them. Don’t let go of passion for productivity.

There are lots of other things you can do to help with scale. What would you offer?

 
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