CEO Forum III

This past week HTG hosted our CEO Forum III in sunny Tampa Florida. We had 20 company principals join us for a day and a half of lively discussion about what it means to become a CEO in an SMB IT company today. We are grateful to ConnectWise for hosting our first day, and enabling us to have a discussion around what the role is, and how to create a structure around the CEO in the form of a leadership team. We discussed selection, compensation, evaluation and all things leadership team.

One of our featured sessions involved Arnie Bellini, CEO at ConnectWise, sharing his vision around what role a CEO fulfills. You can catch the presentation on ConnectWise University, but he really simplified it into two key areas (which I believe are right on the money):

• Strategy/Vision/Dreaming
• People/Counseling/Leading

When we take a deeper look - one of these areas involves the future and setting direction. A CEO is responsible to provide the general movement a company will take. They are not focused on the details - the how - but they are to provide the where and the why. Strategy does not just happen. It is intentional and takes effort. Arnie challenged the group to make the time to dream and be very clear about where we will lead our company.

The second area is all about the people. We will go nowhere that our people don't go. It is the role of the CEO to lead people down that path. We have to focus on helping them work at the level they are capable which is often more than they believe possible. At times we need to help them play nicely together in the sandbox. But always we have to remember that people are the main job of all we do - at every level. My experience is that every minute invested in meaningful relationships will always be a good investment.

Day two was focused on people and how we interact with each other. Dr Larry Little was with us - author of the book "Make a Difference" (which is available on LuLu.com) - and he led us through great learnings on how we are wired and more importantly how different personalities relate to each other. We learned that each of us are some combination of lion, monkey, camel or turtle - each with unique qualities and characteristics that make us who we are. The magic was not so much in the animal labels as in the communication it enabled. We were able to relate the different personality types to each other and talk freely about things that occur between them. It truly was an eye opening experience for the group.

This year HTG is focused on the fourth pillar in our trek toward excellence as IT companies. We are working on the top of the pyramid - the most challenging area - people. We identified this as a core area of competency we all need to achieve to be able to truly lead best in class organizations. We will be continuing our quest to learn more about leadership, management and people skills this year. Dr Little gave us a great starting point - it is essential we understand what makes people tick - and then learn to manage the interactions that will occur between folks who are not wired quite the same - or maybe are wired too much the same - or maybe are just plain wired. We have a ways to go - so let the journey begin.......

Tale of Two Customer Experiences

In January 2011 we experienced a very different set of experiences regarding our hotel stays in China. We arrived in Shanghai on January 6, 2011 and were taken by taxi to the Renaissance Shanghai Pudong Hotel. We were greeted and checked in for a delightful two days in the city. We were located conveniently close to the Metro for the Science and Technology Museum and found the service and the staff to be very helpful. We stayed at this property using our Marriott Rewards Platinum Premier points.

After two days in Shanghai, we took the train to Hangzhou where we were scheduled to stay 10 days at a different hotel chain. This was a fairly new hotel and we were booked using points through our hotel membership program. Upon arrival at the Hangzhou train station, we secured a taxi to take us to the hotel for check-in. Upon arrival we discovered some major problems with the reservation that was offered under our Platinum membership. The website had indicated the room was capable of up to three people – so the assumption was a room with two queen beds would be available. However there was only an option of a king bed, or two single beds available. We were offered, after some strong displeasure with the finding, to put a rollaway bed into the room for 200 RNB per night. The room was barely large enough to put the bed into and left no room for moving around – it really was an unworkable solution. We also were told that there was no breakfast included with the room, nor access to the executive lounge. Having stayed in dozens of this chain's properties over the past years – this was quite a shock since the website only shows three available room types and all include items we were not offered nor being allowed access to. Our normal experience is to be upgraded to the next level as a club member – not downgraded because we were using points for our stay to a room offer that is not even listed on the hotel website. (Web shot below)

The description on the website for even the lowest end room indicated it would be more than adequate. Upon a return trip to the front desk to again express displeasure, the night clerk called a manager to see if we could be upgraded to a family suite so we could at least all sleep comfortably. After waiting in the lobby for 15 minutes or so, the message came back that no upgrades would be made available and if we wanted to stay in the property we would indeed have to pay the 200 RNB per night cost for the rollaway and no breakfast or lounge privilege would be provided. At that point I indicated we would be checking out in the morning and moving to a Marriott property. I will give credit to the manager that they did refund the unused points for the other 10 days of our stay, but to be honest, my faith in this chain and particularly the value of their club membership program have been badly damaged. The total unwillingness to seek a satisfactory resolution for a member of Platinum status was quite unbelievable.

We moved to the JW Marriott which was just opening a few miles away. At the time we booked our trip, there were no Marriott properties available to make reservations at. This property was in soft opening mode – so we expected some slight glitches as they were training and putting things into operations. I realize that the level of the JW Marriott is not exactly par with the hotel we had left – it is a couple levels higher in terms of the quality of the property – but the true differentiator has been in the customer service area. We arrived at the hotel at 8 AM – as we checked out of the very uncomfortable environment at the other hotel and moved to the JW Marriott first thing in the morning. We were greeted and immediately checked in – upgraded as well – which is the common Marriott practice for Platinum members. We had two guest service representatives who escorted us to our room and explained all the benefits we would receive while staying in our room – also paid for with points as we had planned to do at the other property. (Interestingly, the points needed at the other place were 15K per night while the JW Marriott was only 12K per night for a much nicer property). We had a slight elevator issue on the way up to our room but our guest service representatives resolved the issue and got us safely to our room. They then escorted us to the executive lounge for breakfast, even though we hadn’t spent the night before. That was service beyond our expectations. We had full executive lounge privileges for our entire stay which was a significant value for us.

We stayed at this property for 10 nights and it is with joy that we highly commend the Marriott brand for customer service the way it should be expressed. From the moment we walked in to the property, we were treated exceptionally well. From Simon and the team in the executive lounge who greeted us daily and are sure we got a hearty breakfast and evening meal, to Tony and Andy who helped us as concierge’s extraordinaire and printed us maps, directions and helped us secure train tickets for our return trip to Shanghai, to the bellmen, desk staff and every other member of the Marriott team, we experienced superb customer service. The omelets which were prepared for us by the executive lounge chefs were perfect, our room was kept clean and tidy with care, taxis were secured as needed, and we were greeted by name and with a smile every time we walked back into the hotel. The differences between our experiences with the two hotel chains there were staggering. Marriott has trained their staff extremely well and taught me the importance of creating raving fans. They have done exactly that with us on this trip. As we return now to the US, and plan meetings and travel for the dozens of events and trips that will occur over the next 12 months, Marriott properties will be the clear choice when available. They have earned the right and mostly our hearts as fans of their customer service.

So what’s the lesson here? Quite honestly there are several that I want to be sure you understand clearly:
1. Always listen to the customer. It was obvious that we were not being listened to and understood. It is impossible to deal with problem resolution without a clear understanding of what the issues are.
2. Check out the facts. I requested multiple times that the clerk look at the website to see exactly what we saw as the facts in the matter. We were told that it didn’t really matter what the website said – this is the way it is. If there is misinformation, it is important to know that and correct it.
3. Understand what needs to be done to satisfy the customer. We were never asked what would be required to resolve the situation. There was no understanding nor apparent concerns with what our expectations were.
4. Know the impact. At HTG we book well over $750,000 worth of hotel meetings each year covering thousands of room nights all over the country. The impact of the treatment we received will result in a significant opportunity cost to the other hotel brand over the coming months and years. It is critical to understand the long term impact of customer service decisions.
5. Remember that the customer has to be treated as if they are always right – even when they are not. The end result of customer service has to be coming to a satisfactory resolution to the issue.

As is always the case, things happen for a reason. There is little doubt that our experience here in China was significantly enhanced because we stayed at the JW Marriott. The location was better, the service superior and we were pleased in every way. Had we actually received our expectations at the other hotel, it would not have measured up to what we were blessed to experience. So while the experience was definitely frustrating for 12 hours or so, the outcome was magnificent as we made the move and enjoyed a time beyond our dreams or expectations. Thanks to the JW Marriott staff in Hangzhou for creating a memory that will last a lifetime. We are grateful for your service and are raving fans!

Relationships Matter

This is the tenth and final blog post regarding the 10 Things I Accidentally Learned on the Path to Growth. I saved the biggest and best until last. There is no question that the single biggest thing I have learned in how to grow a business comes down to this: it is all about relationships. There is no other single factor that comes anywhere close to driving growth as this one - a firm understanding and competency in creating, maintaining and growing relationships. From these interactions all sorts of powerful things happen. There are relationships needed in many areas - with your team, your vendors, your distribution partners, your customers, your strategic partners, media and PR folks and on the list goes. If you want to truly grow your company, or you life for that matter, you have to get this part right!

Community
Relationships for me all started with and continue heavily to focus around community. First Ingram's VTN, now HTG - but meeting with like minded folks is so very important. There is so much to learn from others in the industry, but in order to do that you have to spend time together. So being part of community is a critical component to the relationship area. What groups are you part of? For me:

•Community has provided perspective
Without it you don’t know what “good” is
•Community has provided relationships
With distribution, vendors, peers, subject matter experts and media
•Community has provided guidance
Without it the ability to stay relevant is more difficult
•Community has provided growth
6 M&A’s resulted from the relationships in communities
•Community has provided success
Without it we would still be a little technology company in the middle of a cornfield


Power of Peers
The bottom line is that there is extreme power when you become intimate with a set of peers. Here are some of the foundational things that define HTG:

•We engage other companies in the channel
•We share and give openly
•We ask for help when we need it
•We share our financials openly
•We plan together around business and life
•We execute together
•We are accountable

Not only do you learn from others, but as community goes deep, relationships become so much more. It quickly gets down to accountability and life and making sure we are doing what we intend. That is the power of true relationship - it causes us to be more than we were without it.

From where I sit

I have been blessed to be part of this industry for the last 25 years. Lots of things have happened during that time. The Internet has become main stream. Cell phones went from small suitcases to the palm of your hand. Portable pc's went from 40 pound luggables down to a few pounds. Change happens - it has been but even bigger change is coming….

The rate will accelerate as we move more and more to the cloud. And how IT impacts businesses will continue to morph and become more deeply integrated. However there remains one constant…and that is the fact that people are still at the end of the wire running things.

At the end of the day

We are in the people business. That is what we do. We sell technology and services but our job is really managing change and helping those we serve adapt to it. It won't be easy. All of us resist change at some level. But to truly have a handle on relationship we have to realize our opportunity to help people handle change. There are lots of places for us to do that:

•Ourselves
•In our business
•For our customers
•With our employees

Our success will be directly tied to how well we help people adapt to change. It really is that simple. Relationship will always win over technology because it is about people, not the bits and bytes. We must never lose sight of that fact.

The final reality and lesson is this: PEOPLE ARE THE ONLY THING THAT TRULY MATTERS. If you get this one thing right - most everything else takes care of itself. That means knowing how to build and maintain relationships. It is THE most important thing!

Customers Matter

This is the ninth blog post regarding the 10 Things I Accidentally Learned on the Path to Growth. Ther reality is that we must always keep our eye on the customer. It seems so simple and almost foolish to include - but I am amazed at how many of us lose connection with what customers truly want and we miss the boat completely in our solution and service offerings. We have to be willing to get back to basics and listen carefully to what customers are asking for. It isn't about them buying what we want to sell. It is about us offering what they want to buy. We tend to get it backwards sometimes. After all, we are the experts aren't we. We know best what they need. And we go to events where we hear the formulas for how to build the right cloud offer or managed services program so they should just line up.

Customers control the wallet
But that is not exactly how it works from my experience. We can have the greatest services and solutions and never sell any of them if we miss the customer expectations and needs. When we lose sight of this reality - we can set ourselves up for some difficult days at the least. Customers decide when to write checks and for what. So it is critical we listen and listen well. That means we need to spend time with customers - in their offices - observing their pain points. It means we need to pay attention to their requests and study their service utilization. We can learn a lot by just perking up our attention to their needs.

So what are they asking
I don't know about you, but here are some common things we hear from customers in our patch. See if your's are different:

•Reduce my costs
•Use my data
•Get more from my investment
•Help me communicate better
•Prove an ROI
•Just make it work – reliably
•Help my workers be productive anywhere
•What is this cloud thing anyway?

There are some pretty basic requests that continue to come, along with some new things as well. In HTG we see the future this way:


The cloud is causing some confusion and uncertainty in exactly what is needed or wanted as it gets defined and matures - but the basic requests are the same. What may change is how we meet those needs - but customers are pretty consistent. They want to spend less, get more, and have it work all the time.

How are you paying attention
So just what are you doing to hear the voice of the customer. We use surveys and roundtables and face to face discussions. It is important to have ongoing interaction constantly so you are current in meeting their requirements. Don't ignore the need here. If you serve your customers well, they will come. But if you fail to meet or exceed their needs - they quickly vanish. Don't make that mistake. Listen, respone, serve and execute.

So What About The Economy

Each year I write some thoughts on my perspective around the economy. I am not an economist - so take this with a grain of salt. It is just an Iowa farmboy's opinion as to what lies ahead. As I look at 2011 and the next few years, there are some realities that underlay the current market conditions that are a bit troubling. I am not usually a pessimist by nature – I consider myself to be an optimist but over time have migrated to more of being a realist. And the reality is that here in the US, and worldwide for that matter, the issues that caused the economic meltdown have not been truly dealt with. A significant amount of money has been spent – billions here and there thrown at the surface issues – but underneath it all remains the root causes which have not been addressed. We have been somewhat effective in putting a Band-Aid on things but definitely not effective in truly solving the core issues.

As I talk with folks in the financial industry, I hear over and over how the more obvious and simpler issues have been or are being corrected. But everyone is quick to point out that there are a significant number of big rocks left on the path that will take several years to correct at best. There are still billions of dollars of bad loans being carried by banks that have not been addressed. There are billions of dollars of bad credit card personal debt that is currently just being ignored as to not upset the apple cart during this apparent recovery. While every part of me wants to believe we truly are in recovery mode, I can’t make that step, because the fundamentals have not been fixed. There must still come a day of reckoning. The only question in my mind is – will it be in 2011?

A lot depends on the way the new Congress approaches the issue. If they take the hard line approach – we have to stop the spending and fix the problem – correction will happen sooner than later. Should they continue the path of pushing the hard decisions to some future year – it could drag on a year or two giving us short term relief. I can’t predict legislators any better than I can outguess the weather in Iowa. So I am cautiously optimistic about the economy this year because I tend to believe they will not make any short term moves in 2011 to upset things. I do think 2012 will be a different story.

One industry I am rather familiar with is the agriculture sector. We have seen record grain prices and the result has been skyrocketing land values and input costs. For those who don’t recall history – the last time we saw these dynamics was back in the late 70’s and early 80’s – you may recall it being called the “Farm Crisis”. Many farmers lost all they had because of a significant drop in value of their crop inventory and land values. I see those days coming again for agriculture in the not too distant future. The reality is that the current pricing situation is not sustainable. And throw in the reality that no politician will ever be elected for having high food prices for the general consumer and something has to give. There will be a correction – I believe a very strong one – and it will happen in the next couple years. That will spill over to the general economy rather quickly which is just another reason why I see trouble ahead.

Please don’t take this as a doom and gloom message. That is not the intent. But it is my desire to balance the excitement that is being driven by the media around a recovery that is only skin deep. Be cautious, take advantage of all the goodness you can right now, but save for a rainy day because there are clouds in the sky. Conserve cash and make sure you are ready to go through some rough days in the not too distant future. As we say on the farm “make hay while the sun shines”. There are some very positive opportunities right now we should definitely pursue. But don’t get too far away from the barn because when the rain comes you will need to get inside and have a place of safety.

Life Matters

This is the eighth blog post regarding the 10 Things I Accidentally Learned on the Path to Growth. Without a doubt this is the most important of the ten items - that success without balance in your life is empty. Some of the most successful people alive are also the most unhappy. The reality is that success does not equal happiness. Success does not equal fulfillment. Success by itself, and certainly alone, means nothing. So before you go chasing success - having the biggest company or the most profitable EBITDA or the most customers or employees - know why you are doing it and how you will make it meaningful so it brings happiness along with it. Otherwise you are wasting your time, and ultimately your life, pursuing a dream to nowhere!

The Problem
The world is full of the results of folks who fail to keep balance in their lives. Here is a short list of things I see every day:

• Marriages crumble
• Families are destroyed
• Friendships become distant
• Businesses crash and burn
• People self destruct

As small business owners we seem to think that working hard will cover a multitude of sins. It doesn't - it might take care of the bills and put some money into the retirement account - but money never buys happiness. It will not ever make up for the lost hours with your spouse, kids, family or friends. Money can't buy the important things in life - it bandaids the real problem most of us have - how we use and prioritize our time. Working hard is not the answer. Being intentional and disciplined is.

Hard Reality
Here are the cold hard facts. Every human being on this planet gets 168 hours every week. No more, no less. The biggest responsibility we have is how we will use those precious hours to make the most significant impact. There are some jobs that only you can do. No one can really replace you as spouse and father. Oh we certainly try to do that a lot - but divorce is messy and painful and not a solution to failure to put people first. The facts are that you are not indispensible at work. There are plenty of people capable of filling the roles at the office. Maybe not exactly the way you would do it. But those tasks will get done. But no one can truly fill your role as husband/wife or dad/mom. We try to offload it - but it doesn't work. Figure out the things that only you can do - and do them first.

Why we work all the time
I know what drives most of you to work too many hours. You get validated more easily there than at home. Let's be honest - it is pretty easy to be validated by people who don't really know you. You can become the hero pretty quickly at work. There are a lot less messy things to deal with - and you normally have help to deal with a lot of areas at work that fall only on your shoulders at home. It is tough to sometimes recieve validation from our spouse and kids. We can get into a negative cycle and just want to run to work to avoid feeling incompetent. But we have to understand the dynamics of home life. Living with people 24/7/365 is a whole lot different than the 8-10 hours or so we are together at work. We don't do holidays with our co-workers. We don't go on vacations together. It isn't a fair comparison so we just need to realize that it often "feels better" at work than home. BUT that is no excuse to spend every waking hour there or run back to the office if things at home get a bit tough. Nothing is more important than taking care of business at home first. That is where our first use of the 168 hours we are blessed with each week need to be spent.

Balance is a hard thing
Balance is a challenging target to aim for. There are so many things pulling us in so many ways that it is difficult to achieve. But I know no one in their retirement or on their death bed who ever said they wished they had worked more hours. I have heard many people say they wish they had spent more time with those they loved. We only get to use our precious 168 hours once - we can't bank them - we get no do-overs - we have to do it right the first time. It is critical we truly spend time planning how we do that.

Do it well
It is important to know what success really is so we don't get to the end of our career and decide we totally missed it. Have you defined success? Do you know what it means to truly achieve? Life matters far more that success by itself. If we blend success with a solid plan for what matters in life - which always involves people - we can have the best of both worlds. If we don't - we will miss one or the other and end up frustrated and unfulfilled. Don't miss the mark. Get some balance and a plan for what it means to truly be successful in your life. It is much more than work. A life plan is a critical part of that process. Don't wait another year - get started now!