All In summary

When Sabine first sat down for the interview with Janet, things had already become desperate. During three years of solid growth in their regional B2B marketing company, Sabine and her partner had established a popular and successful firm with a diverse client base. There were now not enough hours in the day for two people to grow the business and successfully manage their current accounts. So, they launched a search with their team’s capacity already stretched to its limits.

Without time to really prepare, Sabine scanned through Janet’s resume – noting several years of client support in a larger B2B marketing firm. She was on time for the interview and looked polished and professional. She answered Sabine’s questions, without a lot of detail, sure, but nonetheless seemed friendly enough. 

It wasn’t difficult for Sabine to imagine Janet diving straight into customer support, and that’s exactly what stressed-out Sabine really needed. Someone who could step in and function autonomously to keep clients happy. After a mere fifteen minutes of back-and-forth conversation, Janet seemed a perfect fit, and Sabine felt enormous relief hiring her.

That relief lasted for just a short time, however. Sabine’s confidence in Janet’s abilities meant that on her very first morning, Janet was handed a list of clients who were desperate for support and sent right back out the door. Burnt out from customer service, Sabine couldn’t wait to turn her full attention to growing their business – and she did. 

But that meant that when Janet called in asking simple questions about account histories, client briefings, or even just passwords for analytic accounts, Sabine was slow to respond. She told herself that Janet would figure it out on her own just like she had. Over time, Janet stopped calling in, and didn’t ask for any more help. 

Signs of trouble surfaced. Clients began calling about Janet missing or rescheduling appointments, and Janet started to dodge Sabine’s calls instead. Clients seemed to view the business line as a means to contact Janet now, who was the only one who knew their programs, needs, or even passwords. 

Even that didn’t alert Sabine fully to the dire situation until Janet left a message one Saturday evening saying she’d be taking some time off. There’d been a death in the family, and she was headed home for the funeral. Sabine offered both genuine condolences and encouragement to put work out of her mind and be with family. 

When a client called to ask why Janet had said she’d be away at a funeral, but was posting from a bachelorette party in Vegas to her Instagram reel instead, Sabine saw red. How could a team member behave this way? 

But instead of stopping at the anger, Sabine took a long, hard look at her own expectations and behavior beginning with Janet’s interview. Taking stock helped her identify a host of pitfalls she’d unwittingly fallen into, and even better, gave her the wisdom to change her ways.