I have a new blog!

Hi everyone,

I've decided to get with the times and start using a custom blog platform. But what does that mean? It means I'm no longer posting here. I'm posting here. So come on over!

Hope to see you there,

Tom

Don't Waste an Economic Downturn

I honestly do not know who said it first, so, we'll just say it was me-

Never waste an economic downturn....

I think its brilliant- I listen to the traditional business people discussing the traditional business responses to the economic downturn - Lots of blah, blah, blah- let's face it, old-white-guy-lip-flapping... Here is a sample-
"Companies need to ride out the economic downturn..."
"Only the big, stable companies will survive this recession..."
"There will be a shake-out which will leave a very few winners..."

Where do these people get their data? The strong, scrappy companies know that it is harvest time for the sharp and courageous- You do not bury your head in the sand during a fantastic period like this one-
Here is what I am talking about-

Headhunt - There is so much great talent available right now. Larger companies, following traditional thinking and quarterly driven expectations, have cleaved off many talented people- REGARDLESS of talent or performance. You pick up your best people during times like these, because frankly they would not be available during more stable conditions. Go hire, right now, this is the time of opportunity.

Moneyhunt - Wow- money is tight- I am not going to blow smoke on this issue. However, I have been in 15 cities in the last 90 days and there is money out there- but you will need new banking relationships to get it. The banks with money are using this time to gain marketshare- so they are poaching through lending. Don't even bother with the usual suspects- they are still digging out of the last cycle of bad decisions.

Build Capacity - You cannot invest in your business at a better time than right now. Equipment, land, technologies, buildings are all at fire sales prices. Back to the money- you are going to have to clean up your Balance Sheet and get your story- all that there is to know about you and your industry- put together and cleaned up. Having said that- this is the time to re-position your company and to own the next business cycle against your competitors. Do what your competitors are doing and you will be in the same position at the end of this cycle as you were when you started. You have to go against the tide in this cycle to own the next one.

I read Berkshire Hathaway's Chairman's Letter every year, written by Warren Buffett. He has complained for TEN YEARS that the market was too strong to invest in- read that one again slow. What is he doing and having his portfolio CEOs do right now? Headhunt, build capacity, make strategic acquisitions- because opportunity is found in the downturn- don't waste it.

Roller Coasters

In a grim little post-industrial town on the edge of Lake Erie, there is an amusement park called Cedar Point. I will confess that amusement parks, bus terminals and Iowa caucuses leave the reasonable person in the role of contemplative human observer saying- "God, what were you thinking?"

Cedar Point is known for one thing - roller coasters. They have 5 of the top 20 roller coasters in the country. They have 17 roller coasters in all. This is why people travel thousands of miles to a place where the "T to T" ratio, (tattoos to teeth) exceeds 1.0 and it seems that even the fountain drinks are deep-fat fried- because this is the holy place of roller coaster thrill seekers.

This past weekend I kept thinking, "Why is this place packed!?! Why am I paying Manhattan prices for Pocono rooms? How come every person I know across the country knows about this place, and yet I can't find hardly any marketing or media campaign that is memorable?"

It's about the roller coasters. Period. They spend unholy amounts of money on one thing, they neglect almost everything else, (trust me, the listless zombies running the rides were the gold star level of service for the whole joint), except the roller coasters.

What about us? What is the absolutely laser-etched thing that you and your company are known for everywhere? Can you name it in less than 3 words? Can your clients?

People are lining up at Cedar Point today at 7:30am for a 10am opening time. Roller coasters.

Best Business Dinner Conversation Starter

I went to a great business dinner this week. Usual suspects of trappings - Morton's for the meal, ridiculously expensive wines, private room, great server- you get the picture. But, that's not what made it so memorable.

One of the owners of the firm stood up and gave a toast to his grandfather- "My grandfather was an immigrant who came to this country at 11 years old with a buck in his pocket and no ability to speak the language. I am his American dream- to have his grandchild complete an advanced degree, own part of a great company and live in freedom was why he came and worked so hard. I toast him tonight."

The CEO then said- "Thank you for that great toast. We are probably all a part of our parents, our grand-parents or great-grand-parents American dream. I would love to hear some of the other people's stories." And with that, great stories, laughs and relationship building started happening at a much more remarkable level.

Couple of tips if you are going to do this-

1. Don't push - someone doesn't want to share or seems really uncomfortable, then just say, "We can come back to you later if you want or jump in when you want later." If the person doesn't jump in, don't go back.
2. Keep it moving - some people love a stage and they can take a story out forever. If you find someone like this, grab a thread of their story and interrupt- for example, "Your grand-parents came through Ellis Island? I wonder how many else's grand-parents came through Ellis Island- can I see a show of hands?" then re-direct the conversation to one of the other people who hasn't spoken. Monopolizers, often CEO's, can be a real buzz-kill on a conversation like this one.
3. Help out the speaker - since you have opened up the conversation through this approach, you need to keep the conversation interesting and moving through questions to speakers when they are either telling a boring story or droning on.
4. Get your own story right - if you tell the first story, you need to include fun details, a quick anecdote, a physical description, even something risque- You are setting the bar of whether these stories will be sleepy travelogues or fantastic fun.

This was a great conversation starter for a table of 6 - 12. If you have a great conversation starter, I would love to hear it- post it up!

Speaking Whale

Whales listen for a special language when they buy- Whales buy money, they buy time and they buy risk. For a whale, it doesn't matter what you sell to them, they will translate it into these 3 ideas-

However, we have a bad habit of selling what we think that whales want to hear- Quality, Service, Capacity, Innovation, On Time Delivery, Guarantees.... the list is a long one. But the fact is that these are not the reasons that whales buy- in their minds they are speaking an entirely different language.

When you use these words you are asking the whale to translate what you believe is valuable to what they believe is valuable- For example, for a whale,

• Quality means Time - production lines not going down because of faulty parts, customer service calls not received because products work and so on
• Quality also means money - repeat purchases, reduced waste in production and so on
  
• Quality means Risk - or really risk management - fewer product returns, investment confidence and so on

The more complex your offering, the more difficult it is for a whale to hear the three things it needs to hear to understand and purchase. Our job as whale hunters is to talk to a whale in its own language. We have to do the translation of value based upon what result is produced by what we deliver. The results that a whale cares about are Time, Money and Risk. For us that means doing the translation real-time when we are presenting the benefits of what we sell- Every benefit needs to be accompanied with an impact statement that translates to Time, Money or Risk in the whale's business.

Simple exercise- Pick a marketing piece or Power Point that you are using currently to interest a whale. Read through it and circle every feature/benefit that your company is highlighting for the whale. Draw a line from that circle to the clear statement you are making about Time, Money or Risk. If you can't connect the circles, neither can the whale.

If you are interested in learning more about how to Speak Whale, attend our workshop on July 24th, Building the Unstoppable Harpoon - register on our website, www.thewhalehunters.com.

Whale Hunters Love Nasty Weather

I have been getting a lot of questions on the road lately about how The Whale Hunters’ clients are doing under these economic conditions- So, I asked a few of them- and their responses were very positive. Whale hunters like nasty weather because of what it does to their competitors. The big competitor’s reactions to tough economic times seems to create lots of opportunities- here is what they do:
• Hunker down – Freeze hiring, travel budgets and capital expenditures. Push out product release dates and new version releases. All of this says to customers that they are going to receive less for the same money.

• Cut back – Reduce hours of service, cut headcount, close facilities. This tells customers that the long-term viability of their provider is at risk.

• Re-organize – Change leadership, move key contacts around, shuffle work loads so that the whale’s support team is now burdened with more responsibility and can spend less time on its account.

All of these approaches scare whales and create opportunities for smaller companies to hunt. What to do?

1. Focus your scouts on the competitors – Using your scouting resources, look at your biggest competitors and determine if they are doing any of the things described earlier. Using that information, go back through your Whale Chart of prospects who are in Baja, and see which ones are using those competitors.

2. Have Harpooners re-contact all vulnerable whales – A call to the key contact in the whale that says; “We have been hearing about some dramatic changes in service levels for companies like yours because of cutbacks, changes in policy and reorganizations in some of the major providers. If you are experiencing this or anticipating this, maybe now is a good time for us to re-connect.”

3. Surgical strikes – Just as big competitors are scared, so are whales. Entire program shifts may be outside of what is possible at this time. Focus on pieces of business that you can move quickly and relatively independently from the larger contract. The market pressure will continue to move work to you once you have established yourself as a strong alternative.

To win in whale hunting, you need to do the opposite of your competitors- don’t hunker down, HUNT!

More Great Questions for Whales

I am a business book junkie- at the same time, that many books can make you very picky- which I am- but I have a recommendation for you-

I have found a great book for Harpooners who are working on all of their 1st meeting skills as well as key scouting efforts. It is called; Good in a Room by Stephanie Palmer. If you are a fan of The Whale Hunters and our regular newsletter, Whale Hunter's Wisdom, (you can register to receive it free at www.thewhalehunters.com), then you have probably read our series, "Good to Great Questions." Ms. Palmer provides more thought-starters and examples in Chapter 25 - "How to Ask Great Questions." I strongly recommend it for all Harpooners.