American Exteriors Holly Ollier, Jameka Spencer Resignation Denver Nationwide

5 January 2015

Dear Jameka,

It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from American Exteriors as the National Service Manager. I have worked with American Exteriors long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. I can honestly say that the environment you create for me now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen. It is apparent Jameka, our working styles and approaches to Customer Service are not a cohesive fit and that you will continually refuse the opportunity for us to mesh well in the best interest of American Exteriors customers. After numerous conversations, I wish we had. Still the overall experience has certainly been an intellectual opportunity to realize the options of more productive opportunities. I do hope you take the time to read this entire letter.

To put the problem in the simplest terms, the only real motivation that you now have towards me is fear. Since discussing with you my health issues and needing to make appointments you have decided to not allow me to attend to such sensitive issues without, as you have made abundantly clear, threatening to lose my employment with American Exteriors.

Having now been let down by you on multiple issues, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day, even a week at a time, away from my family along with not being allowed to address my health for the benefit of those who have let me down. I am disappointed as you can imagine, since there has been a tremendous amount of serious thought and discussion about how we should respond to your breach of trust.

The rest of this letter will hopefully further shed light, as the interests of the customer continues to be sidelined in the way American Exteriors operates and thinks about making money. The company has veered so far from the place that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for. One being broken promises by our sales department to the customers who have entrusted their hard earned money to us, and enforcing upon your staff to “look the other way”, is simply ethically distasteful.

Culture too has always been a vital part of American Exteriors success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our customers. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our customers trust for more than 30 years. It wasn’t just about making money; this alone will not sustain a company for so long. It had something to do with pride and belief in the organization. I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for American Exteriors. I no longer have the pride, or the belief, as I have always taken a lot of pride in treating my customers to do what I believe is right for them. Even if it means costing a small amount of money (investment) for the company to gain loyalty and praise. This view is becoming increasingly unpopular at American Exteriors. Another sign that it was time to leave is when I realized I could no longer look customers in the eye and tell them what a great place this is and what it is aiming for.

Our weekly meetings are derivative drivel where not one single minute is spent addressing the other hard questions about how we can help customers. When I bring it up it is simply brushed off. It’s purely about how we can make the most possible money off of them. It makes me ill how callously people talk about how much was made on a customer and how we don’t give money away to satisfy our customers, we fix things. No humility? I mean, come on. Integrity? It is eroding.

It astounds me how little senior management gets a basic truth: If customers don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart, or totalitarian, you are.

My proudest moments in life — turning millions of dollars in losses for a billion dollar corporation into millions of dollars of profit; and starting my own company from scratch, running it successfully for 12 years with zero call backs/zero complaints, and nothing but positive reviews — have all come through hard work, with no shortcuts. AEI today has become too much about shortcuts and not enough about achievement. It just doesn’t feel right to me anymore.

I hope this can be a wake-up call to the Board of Directors when reflecting back, that you have been instrumental in losing hold of the company’s culture on their watch. I truly believe that this decline in the company’s moral fiber represents the single most serious threat to its long-run survival. Make the customer the focal point of your business again. Without customers you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist. Weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how much money they make for the company. And get the culture right again, so people want to work here for the right reasons and customers will buy because of trust and reputation. People who care only about making money will not sustain this company — or the trust of its current and potential customers — for very much longer.

So what am I to do? There’s no easy answer.

I wish others at American Exteriors luck finding peace with their difficult circumstances, and only hope their judgment is not clouded by fear. Example - Kimberly Phillips, as you have made it apparent you have had a vendetta against her since I first met you in Denver, regardless if she makes accomplishments for American Exteriors, it is simply not the way YOU would do it so you choose to put her “out of sight out of mind” or simply fire her so you do not have to have opposition. Furthermore, I do not see how American Exteriors can claim to be Veteran friendly when I presented you with more than customer oriented quality Vets from the career fair. Yet mystically you present your nephew for me to hire who has zero construction experience and even less customer experience. You put me in a very uncomfortable situation and helped me realize you are only out to help yourself. Another example on that note; you clearly did not learn from Tammy as she let her husband help himself to items in our warehouse, and then hiring Kurtis’s wife Kristine. That decision has caused a lot of drama for the Omaha office, and potential repeat problems in the future. However, you do like promoting your friends and then pushing them out the door when they no longer promote you. Your very good friend Paula was a prime example of that.

Jameka, I do however wish you success in your commitment to honor the full quality service promised by American Exteriors though, and luck with the continued unwinding of the company’s diverse structure. I’ll continue over the short term to help and remain silent to others with my decision should you wish to keep me as long as needed, but after what’s happened during my time here I cannot remain much longer.

I’m not sure how you will greet my resignation, but you have set an example which seems to me unfortunate, and I feel obliged to send you my resignation. You had an opportunity to lead in an enlightened way and it seems to me that you have failed. I realize that you will not agree with me, but feeling as I do this seems to me the only proper procedure to follow.

Respectfully,

David W. Robertson