One of the things I also enjoy doing is web development. My first project was the TSS website. Then I developed an e-Commerce site for my brother-in-law’s maple syrup business in Vermont. I’m very proud of Orchard Hill Farm’s site and hope you’ll visit or more importantly, BUY SOMETHING! Check it out and let me know what you think.
Orchard Hill Farm
September 10th, 2010Why conduct business at all?
June 5th, 2010Do we work to live or do we live to work? You would not want to be accused of being a workaholic. But, assuming we have other interests and activities than cultivating a couch potato patch of one, do we work at those activities? If so, what differentiates what we would call work from other activities we might call leisure?
If you hate the work you do, but have to do it to have the financial resources to do what you love, then do you work to live? Is this a good thing?
On the other hand, if you love what you do as work so much that you really have no other activities and very little life outside of your work, then do you live to work? Is this a good thing?
Is it all things in moderation then, a carefully crafted blend of work and play?
What do you say? Is there an answer to this conundrum?
“I’m sailing! I’m sailing! I sail! I’m a sailor! I sail!”
April 28th, 2010
I felt exactly like Bob Wiley in the movie “What About Bob” last weekend during our first regatta of the year. We raced our Highlander 906 to a 5th place finish in the Mid-Winter Regatta at Lake Norman Yacht Club near Charlotte. It’s fantastic to be back on the water and competing with great sailors. Each tack or jibe requires an entire symphony of movements and perfect timing so can maintain our speed and fend of competitors. Changing course from upwind to downwind can require 6 – 10 line adjustments while competing for space with boats bunched up at rounding mark. The slightest weight shift, taking in or letting out a line by the smallest amount at the perfect time is what determines who wins.
Complex systems require constant fine tuning and adjustments. Plans are made and then have to be changed to adjust to the current conditions. If there’s a puff of wind to starboard yet the finish is to port, sometimes you have to go a longer distance to get to your goal first. Business is just like this. You need good strategies, good tactics, great communication, frequent adjustments based on changing conditions. Plans don’t win races or achieve goals. Executing and adjusting over and over with resolve and determination wins. And doing so as a team where everyone is safe to make a mistake or two with the rest of the team there to help achieve a victory. You just can’t beat the feeling of winning.
Can’t We All Just Get Along
April 15th, 2010I just returned from Charleston, SC where I attended my first Power-Motion Technology Representatives Association (PTRA) conference. Having previously been involved in several distributor trade associations both as a member at large and in leadership roles for many years, I thought I’d comment on my perceptions of how PTRA, as an independent rep association, differs from distribution based associations.
But first, let’s discuss the easy stuff – what’s the same or very similar.
- Manufacturer Involvement – Commitment level and involvement seems to be very comparable
- Networking – One the common core value of being active in trade associations
- Speakers – Similar speakers and often the same ones.
- Sales – Both distributor and rep associations leave no doubt they are focused on selling.
- Technology – Not much emphasis on the technologies we sell. It is the “tie that binds us together” but, generally association a not a significant resource for technology training or trends.
Now the hard part.
There is a significantly greater focus and churn on principal/rep relations vs. manufacturer/distributor relations during the official parts of the meeting and the unofficial networking. This often precarious relationship reminded me of a greatly respected sales manager that preceded me once at a distributor. If he didn’t like the way a salesmen was performing, his words to his employee were, “I don’t like you, do better or you’re fired.” His management style was very subtle. I bet some reps would like to receive and even dish out that kind of feedback on occasion versus some of the stories I heard.
As declared “independent representative” that are totally beholding to the goodwill of their principals, it’s obvious why reps spend so much time rationalizing their value to manufacturers. It is really identical to selling and marketing to customers. A reps firm’s value proposition is only obvious to principals when aggressive sales objectives are being met. Otherwise, when growth is harder to come by, all the commitment, professionalism, sales and marketing efforts can go unnoticed even if no one could do any better. So, I get why you cannot over communicate with principals. However, it’s not a one way street.
Sometimes, something I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about has practical meaning and importance. I don’t care that this sounds self aggrandizing but some reps and manufacturers clearly need to practice this (from the TSS home page):
Interdependency – The highest level of maturity where independent people understand through collaboration, where you share deeply and meaningfully with others, one can enjoy far greater outcomes by gaining access to the limitless potential of other human beings.
Enough said.
Get Your Story Told – Distributor Channel
March 24th, 2010One of our principals has a very good value proposition based around rugged, market focused custom solutions for products that are not quite commodities in the fluid power industry but, close to it. There are countless examples of manufacturers that have found a “unique and valuable” position in a highly commoditized market. Some have done this consciously by implementing a well designed strategy that exploits a “sustainable competitive advantage,” applying what they’ve learned during their MBA program from gurus like Michael Porter and other Harvard Business Review types. Others have happened upon this market position out of necessity as the big players redefined the industry with new and innovative product designs. They wedged their way into spaces left by those who want to make the same thing over and over for the lowest possible cost. Specialize, customize and be very easy to do business with. That’s the common characteristic of smaller manufacturers in industries dominated by big players.
It doesn’t matter how you survived the manufacturing depression. Now is the time to solidify your position by focusing marketing efforts on how your product or service offering eases customer’s pain and creates value. Several of the manufacturers TSS represents sell their products primarily through distribution. The fundamental issue facing manufacturers selling through distributors is to gain sufficient “mind share” and “time share” of the distributor salesrep so your product gets in front of customers and right ones. When you’re the big name manufacturer, you can demand this since the distributors are so beholding. But, when you are a smaller tree trying to reach the sun through a canopy of giants, you have to provide focused and obvious value the distributor will easily recognize will help them win business at higher margin and at lower risk of price only buying decisions. We are attempting to provide our distributors with tools that make it easy for them to answer these 3 basic questions:
- Who are the customers? What specific markets and applications within those markets do I attack? We give him a list.
- What do they want? Wise distributor salesreps know the answer to this question before they walk in the customer’s door. This helps him intelligently question the customer and positions himself or herself as a trusted advisor vs. a peddler. We provide him with a list of typical customer’s pain that our manufacturer’s product or service offerings ease.
- How do we give it to them? What does our solution look like? How does it specifically address the customer’s pain? What tangible value does it provide? How does it lower the total cost of ownership and/or increase value as the customer defines it? We give him a picture and a description of these attributes.
We feel this is part of our job as an outsourced sales and marketing resource for our principals. It’s one way we justify our commissions and add value in the channel. We’d love to have your comments.
