What is “Managing Up?”

Imagine that one of our great service technicians is wrapping up a service call with some bad news for the customer. “Your compressor is grounded and cannot be repaired. I’ll have a salesman call you,” he says glumly. The customer tenses up, knowing that he is about to spend money he was hoping not to spend. To make matters worse he likes the technician and is reluctant to meet someone else who might be motivated to sell him something he doesn’t need.

What if the technician changed his approach and said the following? “I’m sorry to report that you are going to need a new system but I’m always happy to introduce our customers to Brian Lackey who will guide you through the process. Brian has been with Tom’s for more than 20 years. Not only is he knowledgeable, but I also trust him completely to steer you in the right direction. Would you like me to call him to schedule an appointment?”

Building up another employee instead of simply handing the customer off is what the concept of “managing up” is all about. Using your credibility to create credibility in another employee is a truly powerful tool. And the concept is not limited to business. What if you introduce your spouse to a stranger as, “The nicest person in the world”? Instead of an awkward interaction, the stranger now has something to talk with your spouse about. Your spouse feels special and you did something really nice. That’s a win all the way around!

As good as this concept is, it gets even better when you learn to connect people based on common interests. Dogs, kids, grandkids and sports teams are all easy subjects. If the technician in the above example noticed family pictures on the homeowner’s walls and added that Brian is a devoted family man with two daughters, the sale is practically guaranteed!

A secondary benefit of “managing up” is that people sense that we are proud of our company and of our co-workers. Contrast this approach with one you often experience where the company representative takes a shot or two at management. Although this is normally done to make the employee feel like a hero in the customer’s eyes it usually has the opposite effect. Why would anyone want to do business with a company which has incompetent or uncaring management?

“Managing up” can and should be used as often as possible. Instead of saying “The office will call you,” how about saying “You will either hear from Jessica or Misti. Both of them take such good care of our customers.” Instead of saying “The part is on order” how about saying “Our warehouse manager, Nefty, is incredible at locating parts. When he finds it Misti or Jessica will call you to schedule installation.” Instead of saying “You’ll need to talk to accounting” let’s try “Debbie will call you about your invoice. She’s great at answering invoice questions and will be happy to help.”

One word of caution when using this technique. There is no need to oversell or overhype. It is far more important to refer to Brian as honest and knowledgeable than to say he is the greatest HVAC salesman ever (whether it is true or not!) Misti may be awesome, but it is more important to a customer to know that she cares about them. You get the idea.

Once you get the hang of it, ‘managing up” is fun. You get to make every new interaction a little better and you get to think up new ways of putting smiles on people’s faces.