NINTH POST

Just heard about a very nice sale that a supplier made of this new Herman Miller System.  You may read it and think to yourself, is this the 2009 version of the KRONE Datathing circa 1998...OK maybe you didn't think that because you have a life and don't retain such useless facts.  

Anyway, read the link below.  This solution has some major benefits for green buildings and based on the size of the sale I heard about, could be a nice sale for suppliers and contractors.

http://www.convia.com/press/herman-miller-and-legrand/

Are you authorized to sell/install this?  Can you deliver a highly modular solution to your client that your competitors cannot and deliver real value.....stay RELEVANT!

EIGHTH POST

Value Engineer, Best and Final Offer, Last Look, Meet the Low Number, should I go on?  You finally won the project or you are on the doorstep and all you need to do is carve up your margin like a Thanksgiving Turkey and hope you have a good piece or two left.  Oh yeah, then you have to get paid, finance the project, and somehow make, I know its a crazy thought, a profit!?!  

 Contractors struggle with covering overhead, making a reasonable profit and covering cash requirements.  One contractor I spoke with told me that he spent 2.5x more  in credit line interest in 2008 and his DSO's were up 15% to 60 plus days.  He maintains good credit with distribution but suffers from having to borrow more.

Manufacturers watch their premium solutions get driven down to more base solutions or even worse substituted for less expensive product.  

Suppliers get scrutinized on every line item and if they are "high" on an item risk losing the entire bill of materials.

What can we do?  A few ideas for survival.

• Leave the business entirely and become a bankruptcy lawyer representing all of your former competitors...OK that's probably not happening.
• Talk to your competition about clients and what their experience are like.  I am not suggesting you divulge any competitive information but you can better understand negotiation techniques.  Some may say this appears like collusion.  Are the users and GC's the only ones allowed to have leverage?  Its not price fixing, its getting smarter.
• Negotiate for payment up front. Sounds crazy but I hear it happens and you don't get if you don't ask.  If the client wants a great deal, they might need to help finance that great deal so you don't choke on a lower margin than usual.
• Manufacturers should have a hedge strategy so they can default to a more competitive position if needed.  Don't give away the store at the outset.  If that is the strategy, then quote 20x more than your competition.
• Distribution can utilize rebates, value added services, assistance with bond expense in exchange for an order, and special inventory for projects.  
• All of us can improve how we qualify opportunities.  If we know price is king based on past experiences, invest an appropriate amount of time on the opportunity and increase the investment on more profitable opportunities.  
• Have you identified five accounts to take from a competitor(s)?  This is an unprecedented economic period, and vendors often get too comfortable with their long (or not so long) standing accounts, and your opportunity to pick off a great account might not be as hard as you think.  
• Acquisitions  Lots of companies, particularly contractors, are cash starved.  Many of those companies have great accounts.  Can you pick up a competitor for the right price.  Are you prepared for this as a supplier or manufacturer?  Are you putting companies together that benefit each other and you?  

Keep grinding and sharpening the saw.  Creativity and hustle are never out of style!

SEVENTH POST

The little things add up over time.  Here are a few examples of products you might not be asking for when you are selling a solution to a user as an installer or fulfilling an order as a supplier or manufacturer salesperson.

• PDU's are often overlooked.  Every cabinet needs two and they are an important part of the infrastructure.  Environmental monitoring, IP addressable, and meters that show load are just some of the features that can push the costs up to a nice sale.  
• Patch cords are generally forgotten until the 11th hour.  The user will decide to leave them out of the bid and buy them at CDW only to realize that they need them in 24 hours in 6 different colors and oddball lengths.  The contractor now turns to the best source viatheir supplier.  Stay ahead of this need and cash in on a nice sale.
• Wireless access points and POE switches are easy to configure and sold by just about every connectivity manufacturer in our business.
• Sound Masking Systems are a great way to create great acoustics in the workplace.  Some of the more advanced systems are IP addressable.  They are relatively easy to configure and install.
• Paging systems are installed in most commercial construction projects.  Are you asking for this business.
• Don't forget J-Hooks, Building Entrance Terminals, Firestop, and equipment rentals.  Have an equipment rental place to send your top customers when they need to rent lift trucks or bucket trucks.  
• I am probably missing some items.  Feel free to comment and we can all keep our eyes out for more ways to stay RELEVANT!

SIXTH POST

Copper and Fiber cabling systems are today's primary means of delivering voice and data in the enterprise, campus and data center. Manufacturers continue to develop systems that will move beyond today's requirements up to 100GB for fiber and 40GB for copper in the not so distant future.

Wireless networks are an overlay in most new installations. We certainly see fewer installs where each user gets 4 four pair cables. It is likely that we have two cables to each station. Wireless access points need cable so we pick up some there but it is still a net loss for total footage in twisted pair and fiber.

Fortunately companies aren't totally depending on wireless for their infrastructure and it does not look like this will replace fixed wiring anytime soon. The idea of a station and a network connection are changing. I read earlier today that web users in the next seven years will shift to a majority of handheld users. That means less people will be in front of a PC. Will workers still have as many cubes and desks? How will a network connection look in five or ten years as it relates to each employee?

Broadband over Power Line or BPL is a technology that is mainly a play for residential and limited commercial use. This technology involves the use of the electrical grid cabling to distribute voice, data and video. Click here to learn more about BPL http://computer.howstuffworks.com/bpl.htm.

In the premise, companies like www.telkonet.com and www.asokausa.com are leading the charge for triple play delivery in residential, MDU and in some cases, enterprise environments over the electrical cabling system. These companies are leveraging green benefits (no copper cable in the building, lower carbon footprint, etc) and incorporating energy management, security, and access into IP based systems that move over the existing electrical copper wire. You will find that the costs are much lower and there are some limitations, however, hotels, MDU's, dormitories, public housing, and hospitality are all markets where traditional cabling systems are losing share to new technologies. See the following link for more info on the Home Plug Alliance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug_Powerline_Alliance.

Wi-Fi and WI MAX (http://www.wimax.com/education) are considerable threats to service providers and further challenge the need for structured cabling systems as we've seen them installed thus far. What does all of this mean? Opportunity!

Are you in distribution sales or manufacturing sales? If so, does your company have an offering here. Think of it as a hedge. If you don't have the offering someone else will and can creatively win business. Start driving your product managers to have a solution in this space now!

Are you a cabling contractor? Undoubtedly, you've surveyed jobs in museums or historic buildings where you can't just crank up your hammer drill and go to town. Have you considered becoming authorized to install a PLC solution for a client where cabling a facility is simply not an option? The installation requirements are not that complicated and you can deliver real value to clients who are otherwise challenged to distribute connectivity throughout their facility.

How will you get your share back? How will you stay RELEVANT?

FIFTH POST

Ever have a sale that gets away and you knew that the prospect went to high school with your competitor?  At least that is the story everyone talks about at the local trade show from hell to make it easier to stomach the 40K dollar commission or 1.5M installation or 800K materials order that the high school pal wrote.

Maybe that is why the business went that way.  Sometimes we hear this information and might be less motivated to press forward on the sale.  You might say something like "I'm not going to invest all kinds of time in this sale when I know its going to his buddy."

In some cases, it might be a wise decision from a time management perspective to move on but before you do, remember, you should be  doing the math on the total dollar value opportunity, weighing that math (MONEY!) against other opportunities of that scale and then deciding if you can afford to pass up the opportunity.

If you decide to pursue the sale and in this economy I can't imagine letting anything go,  how do you beat a high school buddy?  No, its not with a picture of the guy doing a bong hit.  If you went to high school after 1965, chances are you have some kind of career threatening Polaroid out there that will undoubtedly be scanned into Facebook anyway!

Who do you know in the company that you desire to do business with or better yet, who can connect you with someone of influence in the company.  You might know the Senior VP of Manufacturing that has nothing to do with the cabling system specification or installation, however, that is a senior level contact and a downhill, downwind tee shot to your prospect's office.  Tools like Linked In are perfect for figuring out who can connect you or maybe you are already connected to someone that can help you.  Remember, most people want to help if you ask nicely.

Who are you networking with?  In our space, the obvious communities are Commercial Real Estate Brokers, Architects, General Contractors, other technology salespeople, or any company that benefits when an organization moves.  Lead groups are everywhere.  Are you in one?  If not, why haven't you started one?  Fresh, RELEVANT information is the lifeblood of any salesperson in any business.  The translation of that information into a tangible benefit for your customer is how you will win and win big!

OK, you got to the prospect.  Now you need to uncover the likelihood of your getting a fair opportunity.  Remember, if you had a senior level referral, most people will report the final decision back to the person that referred you.  Do you mention to your champion that your competitor went to high school with your prospect....hell yes.  Now a senior level manager knows that there is a relationship in place that might effect that best interest of the company. One suggestion would be to make a comment like this.  " I hear that your IT director is an old friend and high school buddy of one of my competitors so I will need all of the help I can get and greatly appreciate your referral. "  

Whether its an old friend, a former colleague, family, golf buddy, we've all been on the outside looking in.  Its our responsibility to figure out how to get into the Jack Burns Circle of Trust and take what is rightfully yours!

Now its time for you to use all of your best salesmanship to position your solution and distance yourself from your competitor.  You will never have the relationship that your competitor does in this instance, however, that doesn't mean you can't win!  Keep fighting and stay RELEVANT!

FOURTH POST

Well isn't that special?  My cabling is perfectly combed and tie wrapped.  Beautifully labeled, definitely yellow (good luck getting that color in a pinch form your manufacturer/distributor...yeah can you ship me 2K feet of 6A CMP shielded yellow for a few adds...ah sure, the min order is 36K feet and its two to six weeks.  But I just bought 2.1M feet.  Yeah that's great but we can't help you.  One word of advice on colors, blue and white, its a Colts world in the twisted pair manufacturing business!)  

Seriously, a great install and undoubtedly a reference site that will bring more work and referrals.  

How are you leveraging your best accounts?  How are you maximizing referrals from current or past employees that have moved on  (note, those people are often in a position of influence at their next job).  Do your customers here from you?  Are you in touch via email or inviting your past and current customers to trade shows or seminars that help their careers and strengthen your relationship with them?  Lest we not forget low hanging fruit is the easiest to pick.  Often the way to new business is all around us.  Your outlook contacts may hold your best opportunities!

Here is an idea, call every good client you have that you have not talked to for over six months. Lets face it, we all have people that fit in this column.  Are you still getting their business?  If not, how do you get it back?  Be honest and accept fault for not being in touch.  Have something of value when you call...a new labeling system that you think this client might benefit from, a better supplier that you can recommend or a design firm that you feel the user should know. Bring value and bring it often...stay RELEVANT!

THIRD POST

Have you ever sat in a sales training and said to yourself "how much money has this clown ever made actually selling?" Or better yet, " if he/she was so good at selling why are they training?" Some sales trainers look like they dress in the dark and would struggle to sell batteries in a blackout. One guy, I will never forget, slipped and fell cutting his lip minutes before the training started. The cut bled all day and the guy was a tough SOB, he finished the training and was pretty good. Sales trainers aren't all bad, there is often too much focus on process rather than thinking differently.

I think salespeople are naturally skeptical when it comes to change and generally resist. There are two things that I've noticed over the years that make us change. One is more money and opportunities for earnings in new areas. Another is peer pressure. None of us want to lose to the jackass on the other side of our fancy 8X8 cube. You know, the person you poach from on every opportunity and continually tell yourself how much better you are at sales than they are.

In some of those trainings you hear expressions like "find the customers pain points" or "what is the compelling event that is driving the client to buy?" I love all of these phrases. They sound so cute. Not too many people ever talk about creativity. Its not a hard concept, just takes a little bit of processing on the old hard drive between your ears.

How can creativity lead to more business? Yesterday I talked with a customer who is losing an account because his competition has a minority owned status and procurement is driving the IT group to increase spend in this area. I suggested to my customer that he ask his client if the minority dollars had to come from cabling services. Turns out they don't. Last week I read an article about a minority owned company that is in the business of disposal and recycling of PC's, switches, etc and the company is looking for agents who can earn commissions when securing new contracts. I suggested to my customer that he become an agent and see his client to help them fulfill their diversity spending requirements in a manner that allows him to keep the account and potentially make a few bucks. How did I know this information? It was suggested to me by a smart guy (my dad) that I read trade magazines and periodicals about new businesses and this article was in a magazine focused on people developing new companies. My competition did not have this idea. I think that I will be perceived as compelling and relevant and further secured that lasting profitable relationship we all seek. Visit www.gitomer.com for great ideas on creativity!

SECOND POST

OPPORTUNITY....THERE ARE A LOT OF BAD CABLE INSTALLATIONS!

Was this your best certified installer's work??? Hope not.  This picture was taken in the fall when I was waiting in line at the local IRS office.  No faceplate, just a twisted pair cable with an RJ45 jack sticking out of the wall.  How many offices have you seen where patch cords are simply strung over walls between offices?  How many closets or data centers look like a blind man is doing the MAC work?  

One thing that gets a user interested in a properly installed structured cabling system is having to live with an unmanageable mess.  Here is the opportunity, when the user is moving or getting ready to re-cable, ask how their their cable plant adds value to their overall network efficiencies.   Their frame of reference is going to determine how much money they will fight for to get the job done right. The user may have nightmares in past jobs where the cable plant was a real drain on operations.   How do we become RELEVANT, understand their pain, both past and present,  and help them get the right solution!  

THE FIRST POST

Do you have a sales manager who asks you how you spend your time.....you know, what percentage of your time do you spend with end users, consultants, distributors and, god-forbid, contractors?  Do you want to scream, tell them to take their best guess at the hundredth report they are rolling up to someone who won't read it and a few other choice words (suggestion, the economy sucks, hold off on the choice words for now) and slam down the phone?  

Ah, the economy.  It is really bad right?  Some of the major distributors and manufacturers are forecasting down this year.  Unfortunately, salespeople in many cases work largely or exclusively on commissions.  I don't know about you but my household isn't forecasting down.  The kids need clothes, the 529 looks like a change dish at 7-11 and retirement is looking great at about 80 when Category 71 cabling hits the street or maybe by then it will all be fiber like I heard nearly twenty years ago.

Our space is weird isn't it?  IT and Telecom people have to deal with cabling but when you ask, would rather have needles stuck in their eyelids.  Ultimately, most end users want a good cabling contractor or two who understands what they want and can get the product installed successfully.  The brand that is installed is a whole different story.  

If you are like me, you sell for a manufacturer, supplier, design firm, or contractor.  We all have an objective and I will guess that we want to build lasting profitable relationships, ideally as the exclusive provider or brand.  We prefer to have no competition but that is unlikely as users become more and more savvy.  So how do we become RELEVANT!  Beer, ballgames, cultural dancing establishments (I hear that some of our industry goes to these places) golf, fishing, hunting, shirts, pens, hats, notepads, memory sticks, koozies (who invented that word) and lastly, bribes (when the going gets tough, the cash starts flowin!).  

Some users are willing to pay for the very best.  The local structured cabling sales community will do our best to convince them that our copper and fiber cabling systems are better than the next one.  Suppliers and manufacturer sales teams will disagree on who brought who to the dance (where is the damn dance).  Price protection is handed out like candy and all bets are properly hedged by both groups.  

Ever have a prospect do a bake-off?  You find out that you lost a deal because your ELFEXTnumber didn't quite make the grade?  Translated, the user saw seven different brands of cabling system products and in the end picked the one that was in last or the incumbant because there is little thought involved.

I think users, designers and contractors are all looking for the same things when they select brands or suppliers.  My hope is that salespeople and sales managers form our industry community will share their experiences, anonymously or by name (stripper name is OK also), and we can all become more RELEVANT!  Humor is key and this should all be done with the intent of making our sales efforts more profitable!