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!
Showing posts with label Relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Relationships. Show all posts
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Growth is Hard Work
This is the fifth blog post regarding the 10 Things I Accidentally Learned on the Path to Growth. There is little question that many small business owners really don’t understand just how difficult the growth process really is. The common misconception is that if you show up every day and work hard – it just happens. That has not been my experience. There are many steps along the path to growing a business, and it must be done intentionally and executed continually to keep moving forward.
It all starts with you. You started your business because you wanted to be your own boss. You wanted to call the shots. There is a likelihood that you worked for someone else and decided you could do it better. But when you make the decision to grow – it can’t be about you anymore. Growth means you have to involve others – inside and outside your company. And that is the first step. You have to hire someone.
I remember those days well. It was a scary proposition. All of a sudden I was responsible for payroll which meant we had to be generating revenue. I sort of convinced myself it was ok to work some of the time and not pay myself – after all it was my company. But when you bring on that first employee they typically don’t quite see it that way. They come to work with the expectation they will get a paycheck and they should. So we have to know how we will generate enough revenue and keep them busy so we can pay them.
This is usually when the first lesson of growth occurs. It isn’t a straight line up. We have steps – take a few forward and then one backward. It looks something like this for many:
Seldom do companies grow with the green line – just up and to the right continually with no hiccups. Nor do companies maintain their situation like the red line – stagnant without change. I am a believer that if you are not growing – you are shrinking because I seldom if ever see a company just stay the same. But growth is a series of ups and downs and that is normal. It isn’t a mistake – and there isn’t anything wrong with you when it happens – it is the reality of how growth occurs.
There are a half dozen key stages I see in the growth cycle. The following chart shows some of them and areas where they may show up in your growth pattern.
You won’t necessarily experience all of these in the same order or at the same level as the chart describes, but as you grow your IT firm you are likely to experience all of them along the way.
That takes us to the second step – which is the need to become a sales organization. To be totally honest – this is the one where many companies get hung up. It may happen with 2-3 employees or you may make it to 7-8, but at some point sales will be your blocker to growth. Why? Nothing happens until someone sells something. I will go into much more detail on sales in a future blog post. It is essential, so embrace it and accept the fact it has to happen if you want to grow.
This is the first of what I consider to be the five key areas to growth:
1. Become a sales organization
2. Learn how to market
3. Put in place and execute process
4. Develop leadership
5. Understand the power of strategic relationships
My experience is that if you understand and work through these key blockers – you will grow and grow significantly. But each one can plateau you for years or for life. You can’t skip any step – the order may change – but all are essential to continually growing your company.
Realize that your business should serve you – not the other way around. If the business controls your life – you have a job. You probably left a job to start your business so don’t just trade one for the other. Dreams should be coming true. You should have more freedom – not less. It has to function without your presence – if you are required to make it work – you have a job with a different title on it. It should be predictable in meeting your goals and needs. It should not require you – or the 4 P’s from you:
· Your presence
· Your personality
· Your problem solving
· Your persperation
As you build your sales organization you begin to feel like you are losing control. Not everything goes through you anymore. You have to trust others. It is a huge step. But if everything flows through you – then you are the bottleneck to growth and not only will you restrict that – you restrict profit potential as well. You cannot be the center of your company forever. The only way you escape the problem is to keep growing and putting others in places you once were responsible. That is called delegation – not something many entrepreneurs are comfortable with – because no one does it quite like we do. But we have to get over that and let others do the work.
So you have began to build a sales team and hired a sales person or two. They are selling and then hit the wall. They run out of people they know and places to call on. That is when marketing has to kick in. Marketing is key to keeping a sales team productive. They don’t manufacture sales – they close leads and turn them into sales. Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking that just hiring a sales person fixes all the sales issues. In fact it just creates more needs. They have to be closely managed and there has to be a consistent lead generation system to keep them productive. They can’t just make this stuff up. It has to be fed to them so they can do what they do – go build relationships and close deals. That is what we hire them to do so now we have to equip them with the tools they need for success.
Next comes the need for some sanity in the midst of chaos. Many companies go for years without any process, procedures or policies in place. And then as they have some success and grow – things quickly get out of control because you can’t scale without processes. So in the teens for number of employees you have to get things written down and folks trained to follow them. It is hard work. We never have time for it. And changing behavior to follow is a difficult task because we are upsetting their world. Why do we need this all of a sudden? It is far easier to do this step early with few employees than wait for the chaos to require it. But most of us don’t make the time until it is mission critical. And that is driven as we grow to a certain point. Take it from me – it is far easier to write a process for two than for twelve. Do it early – do it well – and set the example to follow them.
After some more growth and success we begin to run into a leadership void. We typically expect our people to learn by osmosis and just being around us. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work that way from my experience. So we have to make investments and train folks on leadership. That is essential as we will need to grow practices around key technologies, vertical markets or opportunities. Many companies don’t have nearly the leadership they need to continue growing. It is a sad reality. It happens because we have been too cheap to invest and too busy to notice than no one else is really stepping up to lead. This costs money and takes time – intentional and significant time – which far too many small business owners never take. We seldom invest in our own skill building let alone that of others. But if we want to keep growing we have to build leadership and a team that can help make that happen.
At some point along the curve we grow past our ability to drive continued growth on our own. That is when the value of strategic relationships kicks in gear. I find it happens somewhere past 50 employees and it becomes essential to learn to leverage the investment other partners in the ecosystem are making. We need to use their marketing, lead generations, services and tools to help to continue drive the business. But it is all about building and maintaining strong relationships. It won’t happen accidentally and I find this one area to be a key blocker for many companies that are trying to grow. More on this topic in a future blog post as well.
Growth has many steps. They don’t all move upward and to the right. It is hard work and requires determination, dedication and a very big desire. But you can grow if you truly want to and commit to it. We have experienced it even on the farm in Iowa where our business is operated. It isn’t magic – it is hard work and execution day after day to work toward a strategic objective. Plan for growth and then execute to achieve it. Realize it means change often along the way. But you can achieve it if you want to!
It all starts with you. You started your business because you wanted to be your own boss. You wanted to call the shots. There is a likelihood that you worked for someone else and decided you could do it better. But when you make the decision to grow – it can’t be about you anymore. Growth means you have to involve others – inside and outside your company. And that is the first step. You have to hire someone.
I remember those days well. It was a scary proposition. All of a sudden I was responsible for payroll which meant we had to be generating revenue. I sort of convinced myself it was ok to work some of the time and not pay myself – after all it was my company. But when you bring on that first employee they typically don’t quite see it that way. They come to work with the expectation they will get a paycheck and they should. So we have to know how we will generate enough revenue and keep them busy so we can pay them.
This is usually when the first lesson of growth occurs. It isn’t a straight line up. We have steps – take a few forward and then one backward. It looks something like this for many:
Seldom do companies grow with the green line – just up and to the right continually with no hiccups. Nor do companies maintain their situation like the red line – stagnant without change. I am a believer that if you are not growing – you are shrinking because I seldom if ever see a company just stay the same. But growth is a series of ups and downs and that is normal. It isn’t a mistake – and there isn’t anything wrong with you when it happens – it is the reality of how growth occurs.There are a half dozen key stages I see in the growth cycle. The following chart shows some of them and areas where they may show up in your growth pattern.
You won’t necessarily experience all of these in the same order or at the same level as the chart describes, but as you grow your IT firm you are likely to experience all of them along the way.That takes us to the second step – which is the need to become a sales organization. To be totally honest – this is the one where many companies get hung up. It may happen with 2-3 employees or you may make it to 7-8, but at some point sales will be your blocker to growth. Why? Nothing happens until someone sells something. I will go into much more detail on sales in a future blog post. It is essential, so embrace it and accept the fact it has to happen if you want to grow.
This is the first of what I consider to be the five key areas to growth:
1. Become a sales organization
2. Learn how to market
3. Put in place and execute process
4. Develop leadership
5. Understand the power of strategic relationships
My experience is that if you understand and work through these key blockers – you will grow and grow significantly. But each one can plateau you for years or for life. You can’t skip any step – the order may change – but all are essential to continually growing your company.
Realize that your business should serve you – not the other way around. If the business controls your life – you have a job. You probably left a job to start your business so don’t just trade one for the other. Dreams should be coming true. You should have more freedom – not less. It has to function without your presence – if you are required to make it work – you have a job with a different title on it. It should be predictable in meeting your goals and needs. It should not require you – or the 4 P’s from you:
· Your presence
· Your personality
· Your problem solving
· Your persperation
As you build your sales organization you begin to feel like you are losing control. Not everything goes through you anymore. You have to trust others. It is a huge step. But if everything flows through you – then you are the bottleneck to growth and not only will you restrict that – you restrict profit potential as well. You cannot be the center of your company forever. The only way you escape the problem is to keep growing and putting others in places you once were responsible. That is called delegation – not something many entrepreneurs are comfortable with – because no one does it quite like we do. But we have to get over that and let others do the work.
So you have began to build a sales team and hired a sales person or two. They are selling and then hit the wall. They run out of people they know and places to call on. That is when marketing has to kick in. Marketing is key to keeping a sales team productive. They don’t manufacture sales – they close leads and turn them into sales. Many small business owners make the mistake of thinking that just hiring a sales person fixes all the sales issues. In fact it just creates more needs. They have to be closely managed and there has to be a consistent lead generation system to keep them productive. They can’t just make this stuff up. It has to be fed to them so they can do what they do – go build relationships and close deals. That is what we hire them to do so now we have to equip them with the tools they need for success.
Next comes the need for some sanity in the midst of chaos. Many companies go for years without any process, procedures or policies in place. And then as they have some success and grow – things quickly get out of control because you can’t scale without processes. So in the teens for number of employees you have to get things written down and folks trained to follow them. It is hard work. We never have time for it. And changing behavior to follow is a difficult task because we are upsetting their world. Why do we need this all of a sudden? It is far easier to do this step early with few employees than wait for the chaos to require it. But most of us don’t make the time until it is mission critical. And that is driven as we grow to a certain point. Take it from me – it is far easier to write a process for two than for twelve. Do it early – do it well – and set the example to follow them.
After some more growth and success we begin to run into a leadership void. We typically expect our people to learn by osmosis and just being around us. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work that way from my experience. So we have to make investments and train folks on leadership. That is essential as we will need to grow practices around key technologies, vertical markets or opportunities. Many companies don’t have nearly the leadership they need to continue growing. It is a sad reality. It happens because we have been too cheap to invest and too busy to notice than no one else is really stepping up to lead. This costs money and takes time – intentional and significant time – which far too many small business owners never take. We seldom invest in our own skill building let alone that of others. But if we want to keep growing we have to build leadership and a team that can help make that happen.
At some point along the curve we grow past our ability to drive continued growth on our own. That is when the value of strategic relationships kicks in gear. I find it happens somewhere past 50 employees and it becomes essential to learn to leverage the investment other partners in the ecosystem are making. We need to use their marketing, lead generations, services and tools to help to continue drive the business. But it is all about building and maintaining strong relationships. It won’t happen accidentally and I find this one area to be a key blocker for many companies that are trying to grow. More on this topic in a future blog post as well.
Growth has many steps. They don’t all move upward and to the right. It is hard work and requires determination, dedication and a very big desire. But you can grow if you truly want to and commit to it. We have experienced it even on the farm in Iowa where our business is operated. It isn’t magic – it is hard work and execution day after day to work toward a strategic objective. Plan for growth and then execute to achieve it. Realize it means change often along the way. But you can achieve it if you want to!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Doing Customer Touch Right
This past week I was blessed with an invite to attend the Compudyne TechFest - a gathering of customers of HTG member Compudyne in Duluth up on the frozen tundra by Lake Superior. My role was to deliever the keynote address about what is coming in the technology arena in the coming years. It was a 9 hour ride north, but a beautiful day and my bride and I thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
We arrived in time for the vendor dinner the evening before the event. There were a half dozen vendors who were sponsors and key providers of technology for the solutions that Compudyne implements to their SMB customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. We gathered for dinner along with a dozen or so of the Compudyne team for a very nice Italian meal and lots of interaction. It set the tone for the following day - which was all about the importance of relationships. First thing done right - practice what you preach. Compudyne not only talks about the importance of vendor relationships - they live it and the event prior to the TechFest was a great way to reinforce that to their team and the vendors on hand to participate.
The event began at 7:45 AM for breakfast. I was a bit skeptical about how many folks would get up on a rather rainy and dreary morning to come to Clyde Iron Works recently restored into a nice event venue. Second thing done right - they worked within the community to help showcase a new business and expose the hundreds of attendees to some of the positive things happening in their community. The venue was really nice - a former Iron Works plant that has been completely remodeled for events and includes a bar, restaurant and other things.
We had arrived before 6:30 and the place was already busy with the entire Compudyne team putting finishing touches on the event. Another thing I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it myself. Third thing done right - involve the team in the production of a customer facing event. From planning to detailed execution - everyone was there pitching in and taking orders from the few making decisions. There was no standing around and saying "this isn't in my job description" - everyone did what was needed to finish getting ready.
By 8 AM the place was buzzing with customers and I could hardly believe my eyes. This is almost an all day event and already folks were in the house ready for the day ahead. The vendor booths were busy and people were eating breakfast and engaging. Fourth thing done right - create an environment where the positive interaction between customers lights a fire in all who attend. It was a very interactive and alive place to be. I have been to plenty of events where people come, eat, take the trinkets and leave. Not at this event. No one left.
The event began at 8:30 and began with a vision casting session by Compudyne president Brad Schow. He talked about the importance of relationships - with customers, vendors, distribution, and staff - and how they go to market to serve the needs of all involved. He opened the komono on how they approach the SMB marketplace, and shared 5 things that they see as "game changers" in the coming years. It was a very engaging presentation and it ended with a live demo by one of the vendor sponsors - Quorum - around business continuity. Fifth thing done right - tell it like it is without all the marketing fluff and let customers see the insides of your company and heart. As the first part of the morning session came to a close - there was clear understanding of the Compudyne vision and mission and how they were engaging customers and vendors alike.
After the break, it was time for a short vendor presentation and then the keynote. My role was to follow up and build on the foundation that Brad had laid. It was pretty easy to do since our philosophy around relationships is identical in most ways. I shared some of my experience of 25 years in the industry, some crystal ball projections around the economy and business in general, and then my list of key industry changes that we will be working through the next few years. Feedback was good on the message I delivered, and no one through anything or walked out, so I believe it went well. Sixth thing done right - have alignment in the messaging and make sure it connects with the audience. One of the attendees is a power blogger from Duluth. You can see what he had to say about the keynote here. But in emails from attendees post event - the main comment I recieved was that it was genuine, simple and easy to understand. My delivery probably wouldn't play as well in Silicon Valley, but the folks here in the Midwest just want the story without all the marketing and that is what I deliver.
By now it was lunch time and no one has left 4 hours into the event. The reason - there was 30K+ of prizes sitting on the main stage behind the presenters to be given away over lunch. Hundreds of prizes from computers to monitors to printers to gift cards. It was a solid half hour of giving things away - one after another - just draw and deliver and move to the next winner. Seventh thing done right - don't cut corners on the drawings. There is no doubt that people were in their seats through lunch because they wanted to win something. But it kept people there and they heard the message that the Compudyne team wanted to deliver - so that is a very good motivation. So many events are filled with a few drawings of rather worthless stuff or one big item. Here the odds of winning were really high - not everyone won - but well over half the audience walked away with a gift that meant something.
I was sure that following lunch people would scatter. Wrong again. There were breakout sessions during the afternoon and people filed up to those areas and it was standing room only. After 5+ hours in the venue and still wanting information. Eighth thing done right - provide quality content around topics that are relevant and interesting to the crowd. The breakouts were not about products but solving pain points of their business customers. People will attend sessions that can help their business. Too often we put a vendor up front to sell some product and miss the opportunity to engage deeply with our customers around things that matter.
The event was finished around 3 PM and a good crowd was still on hand that had been their since before 8 that morning. Why? Because it was well done and targeted. It has a history of seven prior events hitting the mark. But the main reason - the ninth thing that was done right - was that it was all about relationships. People were personally invited. They were greeted and pampered and made to feel welcome. We are in the people business. The more we understand and execute at the relationship level - the better all aspects of our life will be. Are you focused on relationships?
Congrats to the Compudyne team for setting the bar high for the rest of the HTG member companies. We can all learn from this example and go deeper in every relationship we have!
We arrived in time for the vendor dinner the evening before the event. There were a half dozen vendors who were sponsors and key providers of technology for the solutions that Compudyne implements to their SMB customers in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. We gathered for dinner along with a dozen or so of the Compudyne team for a very nice Italian meal and lots of interaction. It set the tone for the following day - which was all about the importance of relationships. First thing done right - practice what you preach. Compudyne not only talks about the importance of vendor relationships - they live it and the event prior to the TechFest was a great way to reinforce that to their team and the vendors on hand to participate.
The event began at 7:45 AM for breakfast. I was a bit skeptical about how many folks would get up on a rather rainy and dreary morning to come to Clyde Iron Works recently restored into a nice event venue. Second thing done right - they worked within the community to help showcase a new business and expose the hundreds of attendees to some of the positive things happening in their community. The venue was really nice - a former Iron Works plant that has been completely remodeled for events and includes a bar, restaurant and other things.
We had arrived before 6:30 and the place was already busy with the entire Compudyne team putting finishing touches on the event. Another thing I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it myself. Third thing done right - involve the team in the production of a customer facing event. From planning to detailed execution - everyone was there pitching in and taking orders from the few making decisions. There was no standing around and saying "this isn't in my job description" - everyone did what was needed to finish getting ready.
By 8 AM the place was buzzing with customers and I could hardly believe my eyes. This is almost an all day event and already folks were in the house ready for the day ahead. The vendor booths were busy and people were eating breakfast and engaging. Fourth thing done right - create an environment where the positive interaction between customers lights a fire in all who attend. It was a very interactive and alive place to be. I have been to plenty of events where people come, eat, take the trinkets and leave. Not at this event. No one left.
The event began at 8:30 and began with a vision casting session by Compudyne president Brad Schow. He talked about the importance of relationships - with customers, vendors, distribution, and staff - and how they go to market to serve the needs of all involved. He opened the komono on how they approach the SMB marketplace, and shared 5 things that they see as "game changers" in the coming years. It was a very engaging presentation and it ended with a live demo by one of the vendor sponsors - Quorum - around business continuity. Fifth thing done right - tell it like it is without all the marketing fluff and let customers see the insides of your company and heart. As the first part of the morning session came to a close - there was clear understanding of the Compudyne vision and mission and how they were engaging customers and vendors alike.
After the break, it was time for a short vendor presentation and then the keynote. My role was to follow up and build on the foundation that Brad had laid. It was pretty easy to do since our philosophy around relationships is identical in most ways. I shared some of my experience of 25 years in the industry, some crystal ball projections around the economy and business in general, and then my list of key industry changes that we will be working through the next few years. Feedback was good on the message I delivered, and no one through anything or walked out, so I believe it went well. Sixth thing done right - have alignment in the messaging and make sure it connects with the audience. One of the attendees is a power blogger from Duluth. You can see what he had to say about the keynote here. But in emails from attendees post event - the main comment I recieved was that it was genuine, simple and easy to understand. My delivery probably wouldn't play as well in Silicon Valley, but the folks here in the Midwest just want the story without all the marketing and that is what I deliver.
By now it was lunch time and no one has left 4 hours into the event. The reason - there was 30K+ of prizes sitting on the main stage behind the presenters to be given away over lunch. Hundreds of prizes from computers to monitors to printers to gift cards. It was a solid half hour of giving things away - one after another - just draw and deliver and move to the next winner. Seventh thing done right - don't cut corners on the drawings. There is no doubt that people were in their seats through lunch because they wanted to win something. But it kept people there and they heard the message that the Compudyne team wanted to deliver - so that is a very good motivation. So many events are filled with a few drawings of rather worthless stuff or one big item. Here the odds of winning were really high - not everyone won - but well over half the audience walked away with a gift that meant something.
I was sure that following lunch people would scatter. Wrong again. There were breakout sessions during the afternoon and people filed up to those areas and it was standing room only. After 5+ hours in the venue and still wanting information. Eighth thing done right - provide quality content around topics that are relevant and interesting to the crowd. The breakouts were not about products but solving pain points of their business customers. People will attend sessions that can help their business. Too often we put a vendor up front to sell some product and miss the opportunity to engage deeply with our customers around things that matter.
The event was finished around 3 PM and a good crowd was still on hand that had been their since before 8 that morning. Why? Because it was well done and targeted. It has a history of seven prior events hitting the mark. But the main reason - the ninth thing that was done right - was that it was all about relationships. People were personally invited. They were greeted and pampered and made to feel welcome. We are in the people business. The more we understand and execute at the relationship level - the better all aspects of our life will be. Are you focused on relationships?
Congrats to the Compudyne team for setting the bar high for the rest of the HTG member companies. We can all learn from this example and go deeper in every relationship we have!
Monday, July 12, 2010
WPC Day One
I am in Washington DC to attend the most important vendor event of the year - Microsoft's WPC. The attendance is touted at 14,000, and there certainly are a lot of folks here. Not bad considering the registration fee was $1795 for the four day event plus hotel and travel. For many, who come overseas for the week, this is a pricey event to attend. But it is worth every penny from my perspective. There is no other event one can attend where you can get access to as many people in one spot with a very well designed way to connect - called ironically WPC Connect. A decent web portal to create appointments and hundreds of tables that are assigned to enable people to connect the old fashioned way - communication between four eyes. In this day of social media, email, and cell phones - talking to one another face to face is sort of a treat. And the way I spend my week here is taking advantage of that very opportunity - making as many face to face, eyeball to eyeball, connections as I can fit in.
I have to admit I skip the keynote addresses - they are recorded and available online. Plus the bloggers, tweeters, and media do a great job letting me know what was said. I have gotten over the need to sit with 10,000 of my closest friends to watch demos and hear execs give a glimpse of the future. It is valuable information - I certainly don't ignore it - but from a time use perspective - I am going to use the time to be face to face with people.
Today's key messages can be defined in one word: CLOUD. Microsoft has been talking about the cloud for at least three or four years. It is coming, it is real, and I certainly don't believe we should stick our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist. It does and it will impact how we do business. Ballmer is quoted as saying: "We’ve been shouting about cloud for about four years but 2010 is the year when the opportunity and transition to the cloud is absolutely clear." The message has been coming for some time. Had we moved four years ago we would be doing something differently for a living right now. I agree it is slowly progressing. But it is still a very immature technology in terms of how it fits in a VAR business model.
My major question is how a partner who still makes a significant amount of margin from implementation of solutions including hardware and software sales can make the transition. I am yet to see how we can take our 16M business - about half of the margin coming from selling hardware, and half from managed and project services - and generate that on 6% BPOS margins. Do you know how many $10 per user sales at 6% margin it takes to generate the replacement margin to keep our company in business? It is millions of users. Sure in three years we are all good. I can do the math and see that there is a point at which the cloud model actually becomes more profitable. But how do I make payroll for the three year transiton? Do I just stop doing payroll while we make the change? When I checked last with my staff if they love coming to work enough to come if I stop paying them - the answer was no.
Any time there is a disruptive technology it creates opportunity. That has been the case the dozens of times we have re-engineered our companies as VAR's over the past few decades. And it has been the history of our industry - we will again find a way to make the transition and stay relevant and in business. But it isn't going to be a shift from our current state to a new world of cloud overnight. There are lots of reasons that doesn't even work technologically, let alone financially. So the hype is a bit over the top. VAR's own the last mile of the customer relationship. VAR's will decide when the transition to cloud occurs in the SMB. The real need to move this along is to create transition models that enable VAR's to create business models that enable that transition. New technical skills, a need to become sales organizations, marketing and pipeline growth, and many other areas have to be addressed for us to make that change.
So thanks for continuing to push us along Microsoft. We are moving, not at your speed probably, but the more you help us figure out how to transition successfully, the faster we will embrace the model and make cloud the thing 2o1o is remembered for.
I have to admit I skip the keynote addresses - they are recorded and available online. Plus the bloggers, tweeters, and media do a great job letting me know what was said. I have gotten over the need to sit with 10,000 of my closest friends to watch demos and hear execs give a glimpse of the future. It is valuable information - I certainly don't ignore it - but from a time use perspective - I am going to use the time to be face to face with people.
Today's key messages can be defined in one word: CLOUD. Microsoft has been talking about the cloud for at least three or four years. It is coming, it is real, and I certainly don't believe we should stick our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist. It does and it will impact how we do business. Ballmer is quoted as saying: "We’ve been shouting about cloud for about four years but 2010 is the year when the opportunity and transition to the cloud is absolutely clear." The message has been coming for some time. Had we moved four years ago we would be doing something differently for a living right now. I agree it is slowly progressing. But it is still a very immature technology in terms of how it fits in a VAR business model.
My major question is how a partner who still makes a significant amount of margin from implementation of solutions including hardware and software sales can make the transition. I am yet to see how we can take our 16M business - about half of the margin coming from selling hardware, and half from managed and project services - and generate that on 6% BPOS margins. Do you know how many $10 per user sales at 6% margin it takes to generate the replacement margin to keep our company in business? It is millions of users. Sure in three years we are all good. I can do the math and see that there is a point at which the cloud model actually becomes more profitable. But how do I make payroll for the three year transiton? Do I just stop doing payroll while we make the change? When I checked last with my staff if they love coming to work enough to come if I stop paying them - the answer was no.
Any time there is a disruptive technology it creates opportunity. That has been the case the dozens of times we have re-engineered our companies as VAR's over the past few decades. And it has been the history of our industry - we will again find a way to make the transition and stay relevant and in business. But it isn't going to be a shift from our current state to a new world of cloud overnight. There are lots of reasons that doesn't even work technologically, let alone financially. So the hype is a bit over the top. VAR's own the last mile of the customer relationship. VAR's will decide when the transition to cloud occurs in the SMB. The real need to move this along is to create transition models that enable VAR's to create business models that enable that transition. New technical skills, a need to become sales organizations, marketing and pipeline growth, and many other areas have to be addressed for us to make that change.
So thanks for continuing to push us along Microsoft. We are moving, not at your speed probably, but the more you help us figure out how to transition successfully, the faster we will embrace the model and make cloud the thing 2o1o is remembered for.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Lessons from the Folks Down Under
I was blessed to spend a week with our HTG21 friends from down under a few weeks ago. As expected - when we boil down the real issues facing partners in ANZ (Australia-New Zealand) it starts to look extremely familiar to those facing partners in the US, UK and Canada. In fact, it is just almost the same list. Here are the challenges I believe face all of us if we want to be ready for the coming changes cloud computing brings to the marketplace.
1. We have to become sales organizations. Gone are the days when technical genius will win - we will have to sell some things before we ever get a chance to show that we even have any technical talent. Nothing happens until the sale is made.
2. We have to learn to manage a sales team. This is not like managing engineers. It is not about utilization, nor is it rocket science. But for many it is very unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory that must be conquered.
3. We have to learn how to market. Sales people only take us so far. Good ones require a solid marketing plan driving opportunities into the pipeline for them to close. That means we need to spend time and money on reaching out to new prospects. It is not magic, nor are vendors going to hand them over to us on a silver platter.
4. We have to learn to build repeatable processes. Margins will shrink and the only game in town will be volume and driving every last dollar from the deals we sell. That happens when we have process, procedure and discipline.
5. We have to build leadership. The days of one person leading an entire company to success are coming to a close. This will require teamwork, practice leaders, C-level partners that can get things done. They don't magically appear - we have to train and build them.
6. We have to build relationships. With vendors, with distibutors, with customers, with other partners - I am convinced the truly successful will have this one nailed. It will be the differentiation that will separate the winners from the rest of the pack.
I didn't need to go to Australia to come up with this list - but by going - it certainly has verified that the challenges are the same no matter where folks are doing business in the IT space. It is just a matter of the size of the issue and where companies are in addressing them.
It is good to be back on the farm again. Now we can tackle the next set of issues and get ready to put the cloud to use!
1. We have to become sales organizations. Gone are the days when technical genius will win - we will have to sell some things before we ever get a chance to show that we even have any technical talent. Nothing happens until the sale is made.
2. We have to learn to manage a sales team. This is not like managing engineers. It is not about utilization, nor is it rocket science. But for many it is very unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory that must be conquered.
3. We have to learn how to market. Sales people only take us so far. Good ones require a solid marketing plan driving opportunities into the pipeline for them to close. That means we need to spend time and money on reaching out to new prospects. It is not magic, nor are vendors going to hand them over to us on a silver platter.
4. We have to learn to build repeatable processes. Margins will shrink and the only game in town will be volume and driving every last dollar from the deals we sell. That happens when we have process, procedure and discipline.
5. We have to build leadership. The days of one person leading an entire company to success are coming to a close. This will require teamwork, practice leaders, C-level partners that can get things done. They don't magically appear - we have to train and build them.
6. We have to build relationships. With vendors, with distibutors, with customers, with other partners - I am convinced the truly successful will have this one nailed. It will be the differentiation that will separate the winners from the rest of the pack.
I didn't need to go to Australia to come up with this list - but by going - it certainly has verified that the challenges are the same no matter where folks are doing business in the IT space. It is just a matter of the size of the issue and where companies are in addressing them.
It is good to be back on the farm again. Now we can tackle the next set of issues and get ready to put the cloud to use!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Key Steps Along the Path to Growth
I am presenting a breakout session in Orlando on Friday afternoon that focuses on the key decisions that business owners need to make along their journey to grow their company. For most, I see five major areas that tend to be the "big rocks" that need a lot of work and are hard to overcome. We will focus on those areas and try to identify important considerations that company leaders need to work through in order to leave the plateau that so many end up stuck on as they hit the wall with these things. Here is my list of the major hurdles to overcome:
1. Transitioning into a sales organization. Hiring your first sales person is a challenge. Managing sales people is an adventure. Running a sales organization is mind numbing.
2. Supporting your sales team with quality and consistent marketing. Once you actually find a good sales person and build a team, there has to be a system to keep the pipe full of opportunities and prospects for these guys to chase.
3. Building process and actually executing them. It really is the 3 P's - process, policy and procedure. You can't grow without a consistent plan in place on how your business will operate day after day to do the right things right every day.
4. Developing a bench of leadership. This is necessary in a lot of areas, but once you reach a certain point there is not nearly enough "you" to go around. When you grow to the point of needing to build practices - you need leaders. When you begin to hand off responsibility for areas of the business - you need leaders. Your management team needs to be built with - you guessed it - leaders.
5. Building strategic relationships. This is THE single MOST important differentiator I see between technology companies today. Most seem to believe that the vendors and distributors are the enemy. The reality is, I know of no successful growing company who takes that approach. Sure you can grow to a point all on your own, but the fast growth and sustainable companies understand this in spades. It is their secret weapon. It is the competive advantage in the marketplace. Relationships are the thing that separate the men from the boys.
There is a lot more we will cover, but this gives a general overview of what I have observed are the key factors for most technology company leaders to get under their control. Are you successful in these areas? If so, I want to meet you because you are exactly the kind of company we would love to get into HTG. If not, I want to meet you too because you need to be involved in HTG to learn from your peers how to overcome these obstacles. Either way, I hope to see you at 3PM on Friday in the Scribe room!
1. Transitioning into a sales organization. Hiring your first sales person is a challenge. Managing sales people is an adventure. Running a sales organization is mind numbing.
2. Supporting your sales team with quality and consistent marketing. Once you actually find a good sales person and build a team, there has to be a system to keep the pipe full of opportunities and prospects for these guys to chase.
3. Building process and actually executing them. It really is the 3 P's - process, policy and procedure. You can't grow without a consistent plan in place on how your business will operate day after day to do the right things right every day.
4. Developing a bench of leadership. This is necessary in a lot of areas, but once you reach a certain point there is not nearly enough "you" to go around. When you grow to the point of needing to build practices - you need leaders. When you begin to hand off responsibility for areas of the business - you need leaders. Your management team needs to be built with - you guessed it - leaders.
5. Building strategic relationships. This is THE single MOST important differentiator I see between technology companies today. Most seem to believe that the vendors and distributors are the enemy. The reality is, I know of no successful growing company who takes that approach. Sure you can grow to a point all on your own, but the fast growth and sustainable companies understand this in spades. It is their secret weapon. It is the competive advantage in the marketplace. Relationships are the thing that separate the men from the boys.
There is a lot more we will cover, but this gives a general overview of what I have observed are the key factors for most technology company leaders to get under their control. Are you successful in these areas? If so, I want to meet you because you are exactly the kind of company we would love to get into HTG. If not, I want to meet you too because you need to be involved in HTG to learn from your peers how to overcome these obstacles. Either way, I hope to see you at 3PM on Friday in the Scribe room!
Monday, April 20, 2009
HTG Summit 2009
This week over 400 people will come to Dallas to the Omni Mandalay for the Q2 meetings of HTG. All 19 of our groups are meeting this week. All our vendor sponsors will be here to engage with us. We have a keynote address from Bob Burg on Tuesday. Wednesday is filled with 18 breakout sessions featuring the best and brightest from within the HTG ranks as well as the industry as a whole. It is going to be a great week!
Today the core focus of HTG is in full swing. We have 11 peer groups meeting in their own communities tackling the problems that each face. That is the real key to HTG - a community of 12 companies focused on helping each other reach their goals and take their business to the next level. It is powerful stuff. Those goals may be growing their business, overcoming a challenge, tackling a life issue - it doesn't really matter what it is - the groups dive in and help one another. The value is in helping each other achieve and execute. As that happens, good things happen to all. It is the Go Giver in action.
Part of the focus for HTG is also beyond business. It is about life. This morning (like each morning this week), we began our day with over 30 attendees gathered for morning devotions in the Presidential Suite on the 28th floor at 6:30 AM. That is execution in full swing. We had a weekend prayer vigil coordinated by one of our HTG members where 48 people prayed for 30 minutes each to ask for God's blessing over this week of activities. There will be many other life interactions this week - some spiritual in nature - others around family, marriages and people - but all about relationship. That is really the bottom line for HTG. It is about the relationships we have. At work, home, play, spiritually - life boils down to relationships. We all need to focus on taking care of them whether they are with a customer, employee, spouse, child, banker, lawyer or God Himself - relationships matter and do create the outcome of our life. How are your relationships going? What score would those you are in a relationship with give you?
Today the core focus of HTG is in full swing. We have 11 peer groups meeting in their own communities tackling the problems that each face. That is the real key to HTG - a community of 12 companies focused on helping each other reach their goals and take their business to the next level. It is powerful stuff. Those goals may be growing their business, overcoming a challenge, tackling a life issue - it doesn't really matter what it is - the groups dive in and help one another. The value is in helping each other achieve and execute. As that happens, good things happen to all. It is the Go Giver in action.
Part of the focus for HTG is also beyond business. It is about life. This morning (like each morning this week), we began our day with over 30 attendees gathered for morning devotions in the Presidential Suite on the 28th floor at 6:30 AM. That is execution in full swing. We had a weekend prayer vigil coordinated by one of our HTG members where 48 people prayed for 30 minutes each to ask for God's blessing over this week of activities. There will be many other life interactions this week - some spiritual in nature - others around family, marriages and people - but all about relationship. That is really the bottom line for HTG. It is about the relationships we have. At work, home, play, spiritually - life boils down to relationships. We all need to focus on taking care of them whether they are with a customer, employee, spouse, child, banker, lawyer or God Himself - relationships matter and do create the outcome of our life. How are your relationships going? What score would those you are in a relationship with give you?
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Have you connected with your Microsoft Field
Monday I made a trip to St Louis - a short day trip - to meet with the area general manager of the North Central region for Microsoft. I also was able to meet with another manager who oversees the PAM and PCM resources in NCA. It was a great visit. We talked about HTS and HTG and again found out how important it is to market ourselves to our vendors. As much as we work with Microsoft I am continually amazed at how many touches it takes to get the message out about who we are and what we do. It was a revelation that we actually sell software - the feeling was that we were influencers but in fact we actually transact over 300K in licensing ourselves plus influence a bunch more. So it requires us as partners to reach out and make sure our vendor partners understand who we are and what we do. That is our responsibility. Too often we want to just sit in our offices and wait for vendors to figure it out. That is crazy. Is that how you deal with your customers - sit and hope? Some may but that is not the formula for success. We need to be partners with our vendors. That means we build a relationship and we reach out and do things. So I encourage you to take time to meet with key vendors and help them understand your business and goals. I am confident my three hours in St Louis will be one of the best investments I will have made this month. I also followed up and called a few other folks in the region when I got back just so I could deliver the same message to them. Market thy company to your vendors and disty partners. It is critical for your success.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Welcome to Peer Power
This blog is devoted to those who try and make IT happen every day for their clients. It can be a real challenge some days, but those of us in the game know that it is rewarding to take technology and apply it to business problems and issues. We love this stuff. I believe that the real benefit is that we can impact people through our relationships. We can take technology and change businesses and lives. Doing it together with a community of peers is what makes it so much more fun. I will update this blog with news and thoughts relevant to peers in the IT industry. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I do.
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