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Open Eyes on the Road

Open Eyes on the Road

Guest writer Andy Fanter takes us through the drive he made today in his blog post, “Open Eyes on the Road.” There are hopeful signs everywhere.

I want to tell you about the 100-mile drive on US HWY 56 I made today, Marion to Great Bend, went through McPherson population 14 000, and ending in Great Bend population 14.500.  You may have heard of McPherson, home of McPherson College with largest endowment for a college at $1.5 billion. It is known for old car restoration. Great Bend, if you are a duck hunter or bird watcher, is famous for Cheyenne Bottoms and thirty miles south Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

Here is the summary of construction that I saw today:  new building McPherson College, new RV park, new pipeline at natural gas facility, finishing of a 30 acre pond, two major concrete parking lot projects, new Starbucks, new Wendy’s, miles of pavement work on 56, a new hospital, two building demolition jobs, a 5000 square foot slab waiting for a building.   This is what I saw today in nowhere—not Wichita or KC or the Topeka-Lawrence-KC corridor.

I saw several trucks with a variety of machines in both directions. I saw more windmill parts heading to sites. I saw everything from a CAT scraper to a wheeled skid steer. I also saw six reasonably new RVs for sale in people’s yards—it looks like the toys from 2020 got expensive to keep, and people got too busy to use them. The weather up until now has been great for the outdoors in Kansas.

What does this mean to the dealer, the personnel, and the manufacturer—-everywhere is busy, nowhere included. You cannot forget your smaller, more rural accounts. I am seeing billions of dollars per week on the construction sites about big jobs in big places. My drive today confirmed the construction industry is busy, record high busy. It should continue with infrastructure dollars, CHIP plants, and EV plants. I saw smaller plants announced near the Ford Blue Facility near Memphis. Buying a home to be built or under construction is now easier than buying a house in the US. The builders are doing well, buying more land, land that will need machines now and through 2024 and beyond—only 2 to 4 million houses short in the US.

I doubt the major manufacturers can catch up during this cycle, but that is not an excuse to quit trying.

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1% Increase in Income Equals 2.6% Reduction in Expenses

1% Increase in Income Equals 2.6% Reduction in Expenses

Guest writer Ron Wilson dives into the financial management scene with this week’s blog: 1% Increase in Income Equals 2.6% Reduction in Expenses. He even touches upon something Ron Slee mentions frequently: the downside of discounts.

During complicated economic times businesses tighten up on expenses, spending, and accounts receivable. 

Rafi Mohammed, in his book “The 1% Windfall” provides an additional effort that can assist in meeting the needed changes to the bottom line.

Basically, the concept revolves around increasing income by 1%, without increasing the cost of sales, or reducing direct expenses.

The example below shows that a 1% increase in sales (without impacting cost of sales or direct expense) equals a 2.6% reduction of direct expenses. Apply your organization/department gross profit and pretax percentage to see the impact it has on your own organization.

We have all been through the difficult experience of reducing direct expenses, and it can be very painful.

Here are a few examples that can help to make a positive impact on sales without adjusting the direct expenses areas.

Current Status of Discount Programs– often discount programs are provided to customers based on a request from a salesperson. No doubt the programs may have been needed at a specific point in time, but a review of discount programs may show discounts being given that are not providing the expected increase in sales. Often the OEM provides some type of shared discount program over a specific timeframe. It is important to verify customers’ discounts reflect the OEM’s current program. An OEM may discontinue a rebate program and the dealer may not have applied the same changes and unintentionally may be caring the full burden of the discount being provided to the customer.

Effectiveness of Discount Programs-Verify the discounts are providing the expected results, which is usually increased volume, or expanded use of other products and services within the dealership. If the discount program was not effective, a different approach may need to be reviewed with the sales representative.

Below is a handy website that shows the impact discounting has on gross profits.

The example below applies to a 10% discount on $1 million in sales. Sales need to increase 20% to make up the same dollars.

https://www.growthforce.com/blog/how-giving-discounts-can-destroy-your-business-profits

This can be a great tool to share with the sales representatives when discussing providing a customer with a discount. What can be expected in increase volume over time?         

Providing Repair Options can offset the discount a customer is wanting on a component rebuild, for example. Rebuild options providing a “good-better-best” offering can accomplishing the customers rebuild needs within a specific price range. The variable rebuild options allows the dealer to rebuild a component that meets the level of rebuild needed by the customer within a selected price range. The repair options eliminate the “discount” of a full rebuild while providing a price based on the level of rebuild needed by the customer.

Value Based Pricing requires understanding the customers’ needs and priorities. For example, a customer is focused on reducing the hazards/injuries related to changing ground engaging tools (GET) on a piece of mining equipment. Promoting reduction of the number of GET changes will contribute to reducing the hazards as well as downtime to complete the GET change out. It may not always be about the dollars and cents.

When developing value statements your existing customers can be a great resource to find out what value you bring. Ask your customer to explain the real value of your offer. This will provide a view of their perspective, while building relationships with customers and at the same time it gives you a chance to learn an incredible amount of invaluable information.

Below is an example of a value statement that has identified four areas of importance to the customer. This information was taken from an ESCO GET (Ground Engaging Tool) promotional piece. As can be seen there is no discussion about “discounts,” the discussion is related to “value add” offerings:

Increased Machine Availability

  • Superior alloys and optimized system profile result in longer-lasting components
  • Simple, intuitive locks provide safer, faster parts replacement.
  • Reliability and wear life unmatched in the industry keeps machines operating with minimal downtime.

Lower Maintenance Costs

  • Proprietary alloy, increased lip protection and large bearing areas extend operating intervals.
  • Longer lasting and more dependable G.E.T. reduces planned and unplanned service events.
  • Quick and easy parts replacements by fewer crew members, with no hot work required.
  • Shrouds and adapters are engineered to protect more of the Nemisys lip leading edge, extending the service life between lip rebuilds by up to 70%
  • Improved wear metal placement increases shroud life by up to 30%

Lower Total Parts Expense

  • Longer lasting and more dependable G.E.T. results in fewer parts purchased versus competitors.
  • Fewer parts purchased reduces mine site inventory to ship, stock and manage.

Improved Safety

  • Keep your crew away from crusher maintenance through superior locking systems that keep teeth and shrouds on the lip.
  • Safer installation and removal with integrated pry points and compatibility with the ESCO SecureLift™ system

Best of Both Worlds

1% increase in Sales Without increasing Cost of Sales to Improve the Bottomline:  It would be unrealist to think the 1% increase model is the only option. No doubt there needs to be a combination of both direct expense management and reviewing the pricing models and programs currently in place. Below are some pros and cons that will show the importance of combining the two:

Advantages of the 1% Increase in Sales to Improve the Bottom Line:

  • Incremental growth may seem small but overall can have an enormous impact on the bottom line.
  • Growth in the business comes from income growth, not from reducing expenses.

Disadvantages of the 1% increase in Sales to improve the Bottom Line:

  • The 1% increase is not guaranteed and takes time to implement. Reviewing and developing impactful value statements takes time and resources to research, understand, and develop.
  • Takes time to implement, communicate, and evaluate the results of the changes implemented.

Reducing Direct Expenses to Improve the Bottomline:

  • Has an immediate impact depending on how drastic the effort?
  • May improve efficiencies through improvement/streamlining processes.
  • Requires a focus on the core business and focus on what is important.

The best Solution is a Blending of the Two:

Take some time to review the various recommendations provided in “The1% Windfall”, while reviewing the rest of your key performance indicators, to provide a balanced improvement to the overall financial results. 

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Employment – Wages – Inflation

Employment – Wages – Inflation

Guest writer Andy Fanter tackles the topic of economics in his blog post for this week: Employment – Wages – Inflation.

A little over halfway through construction machine unit deliveries by state, Ron messaged me about another blog.   I have done the big states, and the numbers are up!!   The topic for this blog:  employment, wages, and inflation—most know general economic stuff is not my favorite, but this will be fun.

Employment:  We are in the 3s, unlikely to get much lower, and unlikely to go much higher for years.   The construction industry needs people, and if you think Gen Y and Z will suddenly want to operate machinery or tools you will be mistaken.  Immigration, we need it for construction, food processing and the restaurant business.  If the banks would tighten the lending requirements for restaurants, like they did for housing after the GFC, it would help a little.  People from all over the world would enjoy working our “dirty jobs” so they can have a good roof, water, sewer, and low chances for tanks in the streets.  Friendly reminder, most of us do not have roots dating back to early America—it is a melting pot.  Even agriculture is back up, so getting people from rural America just got tougher! 

Wages:  Choice is simple:  pay people well, treat people well, have some meals and snacks at work or they will leave.   Looking back over the last 20 years, you needed to make 3 to 5% to stay ahead of inflation.  I know the companies that overwork, underpay, and have more respect for laptop computers.  There are ex-employees from those dealers all over the US working at other dealers.

Inflation:  Oh yay, natural gas and eggs are way down.  Housing and autos, no easier way to say it welcome to “screwedville”.  Home prices are not going to make a big drop, not enough inventory.   Builders are trying—but back to employment issue.  Autos:  new inventory is increasing but nowhere near 2019 levels.  Used auto prices are dropping some, but how much of that was post-graduation, post wedding season?   High interest rates making auto payments $1000+ a month, but this is the 1980s mentality again and new auto sales are on track for 8% to 10% growth. Next few years expect the CPI to be in high 2s, FED would like low 2s, so back to interest rates sitting around 5%.   The consumer can make a bigger dent with inflation by going back to the smart phone and shopping for a better price!  It worked from 2010 to 2019; it drove the FED and Phillip’s Curve people nuts, good employment, low inflation.  Big ticket items, not much change but builders have incentives and so do auto manufacturers.  

Tune in later for more.

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Economic Data and Dealerships

Economic Data and Dealerships

Our new guest writer Andy Fanter joins us at Learning Without Scars with his inaugural blog post: Economic Data and Dealerships. Andy Fanter started Intercast in 1994. The company is a division of Cyclcast, created in 1978 by Dick Fanter. Dick retired in 2019. Andy currently forecasts for over thirty dealers across the US. In his free time, Andy enjoys the stock market and fishing.

In the world of motivational speakers and team builders—the economic data is still important for the construction machinery dealer. I am not a fan of GDP; I rarely discuss it. Employment data lags too much—anything in the fours or lower is good. National retail sales (consumer spending) there is a favorite. Never underestimate the US consumer because we are stupid. Single family housing permits are another great indicator to follow. The current economy is something some of us can remember from long ago:  the 1980s. People want stuff now whether it is a home, car, vacation, fishing pole, golf club, shirt, restaurant meal. 

The smart phone was great for controlling inflation after the GFC of 2008/2009. Now the smart phone is used to find an item—forget price, who has the item in stock, where is an empty airline seat, 20-ton excavator, car in the color in I want. 

The infrastructure dollars are flowing and so are the EV plants and CHIP plants. Not everything is equal in this economy. In the north, Ohio and Indiana are doing well—but this boom is concentrated in the south. From Arizona over to Virginia and down to Florida—that zone is ripping! Texas and Florida account for 30% of the construction activity in the US. There is your competition—not another dealer but losing people and machines to two rapidly growing states.

Everyone is waiting around the Federal Reserve to cut rates:  you might be waiting a long time, years. Inflation will slowly drift down into the twos, but the Federal Reserve will likely stay around 5% on Fed Fund Rates. There are not enough single-family homes, 2 to 4 million shorts. Lower mortgage rates would heat up the housing market again. Unemployment is under four, so it is tough to find more labor for homes and nonresidential side of construction in double digit growths. The stock market is having a hot start to 2023. Low rates for a decade caused too many problems.

INTERCAST

Andy Fanter
15 Lois Ln
Marion, KS 66861
MOBILE 316-371-3688
EMAIL: cafanter@gmail.com

 

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The 4Ps Marketing Model Hurts Your Dealership

The 4Ps Marketing Model Hurts Your Dealership

Guest writer Roy Lapa turns our traditional wisdom of marketing on its ear by pointing out how the 4Ps of marketing model hurts your dealership.

The persistence of the 4Ps of marketing within heavy equipment dealerships hurts their future. The 4Ps of marketing represent the following elements: price, place (distribution model), promotion, and product. Without jumping into each of the 4Ps, I will focus on the current dealership situation and the respective challenges facing many dealers worldwide. Further, I will turn towards the 7Ps of service marketing which include three essential additional elements: people, process, and physical evidence (service environment). A dealership needs a strategic level transformation to reap the full benefits of the 7Ps service marketing mix.

Current dealership scenario

In analysing 15+ of the largest heavy equipment dealers in Europe, the USA, and Canada, one finds that the vast majority focus their efforts on selling:

  • OEM equipment within a dealership contract—mostly within an exclusive region, established industry, and size class 
  • Genuine OEM parts 
  • Factory-authorized service on a per-hour basis, labour blocks, maintenance and repair contracts, preventative maintenance contracts, and unscheduled breakdowns for respective OEM 
  • Equipment rentals, respective OEM, via a subsidiary or in-house, with a bias toward using this option to sell equipment.

Further, most dealers enshrine selling new equipment, making it a top priority. Despite the dealers’ promotional materials, many behave in a way that, unfortunately, assumes parts and service sales will be “captive” once the equipment arrives in their market.

Macro-environment challenges and opportunities for dealers

As most of the world’s major economies transform towards service-based economies, the service sectors will account for anywhere between 40% and 93% of their respective GDP and between 50% and 90% of all new jobs. (Paul) Will we view this as a challenge or opportunity?

  1. The increased demand for customized end-to-end services within all major economies attracts a significant amount of disruptive and innovative competition and solutions. Solutions that provide traditional dealer services and, more importantly, customer services not currently offered by dealership go-to-market models.
  2. The data currently shows most dealers winning only 35-40% of the post-equipment product support services.
  3. The prevailing referenced 4P’s used to establish Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies in many manufacturing industries (“John Deere Marketing Mix”) result in a significant negative influence on the dealership’s GTM approach. Why the negative influence? The outdated model ignores several major factors, especially in a service-based market environment.

Industry opportunities and challenges for dealers

A quick recap of five major trends happening in 2023 (“Five Equipment Dealership Trends That Will Shape 2023”) highlights a deep need for dealers to rapidly transition towards a customer-centric, service-based model.

  1. Online sales and rentals will increase significantly. In 2020, Volvo CE began allowing customers to pre-order new electric equipment online, and they recently launched an online configuration tool for those machines, which allows customers to “build and price” their ideal model.
  2. Electrification will disrupt the dealer’s revenue model. Grand View Research reports an expectation of global off-highway electric vehicle market of reaching $42.70 billion by 2030. Growth will result from lower operating costs as well as improved battery technology and lower battery costs. The cost of parts drops by about 90 percent, so if your operating costs for a skid-steer were $20 an hour, which drops to $3 per hour.
  3. Connected machines and jobsites will continue to reduce ownership and operating costs. Sixty percent of Volvo’s connected machines use the company’s advanced telematics system called ActiveCare Direct. These machines are monitored 24/7/365 for alarms indicating an issue. Actionable information (an ACD case) alerts a customer’s equipment manager and the local dealer within minutes. Included information will also help the customer address the issue without the help of a dealer.
  4. Technology will bring greater efficiency to parts and service. OEM dealer market share for parts has dropped to 35–40%, about half previous years. Luke Powers, CEO of Gearflow, believes dealers will soon compete directly with Amazon. “MRO supplies became the first entry point for Amazon coming into the industrial markets.”
  5. Rental continues to grow, while an Equipment-as-a-Service model draws significant interest. Construction equipment rental revenue grew by ~12.5% in 2022, surpassing $41.6 billion, with growth forecasts of 7% in 2023, 2% in 2024, 3% in 2025, and 3% in 2026.

Introducing the 7Ps service marketing model

 

To keep it simple, I built an illustration of the 7Ps service marketing model and included some current disruptive examples in the heavy equipment dealership world. The model, introduced in 1981, (Pervaiz) has successfully created sustainable advantages for many organizations (Rebaz et al.).

7Ps service marketing model helps you compete.

Reorient your dealership model to 7Ps service marketing quickly. Customers want strategic and invested end-to-end partners to help them achieve their business goals. 

The examples given in the 7Ps service marketing illustration give you some strong examples of how to expand your services beyond the conventional dealership model and consider further vertical and horizontal integration within your primary industry. Though I have not covered the details of transforming your dealership, you have enough examples to get you moving.

Works Cited, Referenced & Non-affiliation.

Paul Patterson. Services Marketing. Pearson Australia, 2015.

Pervaiz, K. Ahmed. “Using the 7Ps as a generic marketing mix: an exploratory survey of UK and European marketing academics. Marketing Intelligence Planning 13 No. 9, 1995.

Rebaz, Khaleel, et al. The Role of Services Marketing Mix 7Ps on Achieving Competitive Advantages the Case of Paitaxt Technical Institute in Kurdistan Region of Iraq. TEST Engineering and Management 83, 2020.

“John Deere Marketing Mix.” Blog.Notesmatic, 30 June 2022, blog.notesmatic.com/john-deere-marketing-mix.

“Five Equipment Dealership Trends That Will Shape 2023.” AEM Tradeshows, www.conexpoconagg.com/news/the-five-equipment-dealership-trends-that-will-sha. Accessed 26 Apr. 2023.

Note, I am not affiliated with or in any way compensated for the companies mentioned within the article.

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Machine Condition Monitoring Roles

Machine Condition Monitoring Roles 

Guest writer Ron Wilson writes this week’s blog on the topic of Machine Condition Monitoring Roles as part of a dealer’s product support offerings.

Over the past few years, we have been experiencing a new era emerge around machine condition monitoring.

  • OnStar was introduced in 1996 with a focus on a commitment to the “safety, security and peace of mind to its members”. (The evolution of Onstar- https://www.onstar.com/why-onstar/evolution-of-onstar-innovations)
  • Fluid analysis began sometime around the mid 1940’s with a focus on temperature, pressure and the occasional check for oil color and viscosity. (A History of Oil Analysis, Noria Media January 2023).
  • Payload monitoring has always been important but often was limited to the number of loads estimating the volume based on the bucket size. I remember my dad operating a wheel loader using two counters (one counting the number of trucks and one counting the number of loads).

For the most part dealers didn’t have a major need, or the ability, to apply condition monitoring within their dealership. Today condition monitoring is becoming a core piece of assisting the customers manage their fleet in areas such as:

  • Safety that can identify objects in the way of machine operation, operators being distracted, theft of a machine, locking out the use of machine.
  • Health of the machine and its internal components such as overheats, degree of wear/contaminates, condition of the various fluids, and fault codes indicating various potential issues ranging from life of a component to operator practices.
  • Production management in areas of payload, weight distribution, cycle times, fuel burn.

The equipment industry is moving from a Reactive & Preventive maintenance approach to Predictive and Proactive maintenance program at an extremely fast pace.

Many dealers have implemented roles and responsibilities around the areas of recording, analyzing, reporting, and recommendations based on the results from the various condition monitoring indicators. These roles provide valuable information to the customers and allow them to make decisions based on the data/information received with professional input and experience from the dealership and OEM.

Dealerships have begun integrating three primary roles within condition monitoring to support their customer base. The customers’ expectations will vary based on their own internal strengths and expertise, while utilizing the variety of information available from each machine and applied across their fleet.

The three roles that have emerged relating to the management, interpreting, and communication of the data/information relating to condition monitoring, in support the Product Support Sales Representatives are:

 

  • Condition Monitoring Specialist/Analyst- This role includes the collection and analysis of information relating to:
    • Equipment inspections
    • Work order/repair history
    • Fluid/vibration/thermography analysis and trends
    • Fault code information collected remotely, during machine inspections, and onsite data downloads.
    • Diagnostic test results
    • Predictive analysis-based baseline information and historical data
    • Preparing reports and summary information to be reviewed/reported to the customers
  • Equipment Management Consultant- This role may include tasks such as:
    • Equipment acquisition, disposal, and lifecycle management recommendations. Collaborating with the customer and dealer personnel to develop and maintain a comprehensive equipment lifecycle management strategy relating to rebuilds and replacement.
    • Maintenance planning includes preventive maintenance schedules, maintenance programs and procedures that optimize the utilization and reduce downtime.
    • Compliance and safety requirements are maintained, and all product updates are being addressed.
  • Equipment/Asset Manager takes the information relating to the two roles above while working with the Product Support Sales and Equipment Sales Representatives for the specific customer to develop an overall fleet plan through the lifecycle of the fleet.
  • Understanding the customers fleet planning strategy. Customers vary in their fleet replacement strategy relating to rebuilds/replacement schedules.
  • Overseeing the fleet maintenance and repair plans. Keep the maintenance schedule within the parameters developed in cooperation with the customer.
  • Monitor equipment performance compared to the established KPIs and provide early alerts the goals may not be accomplished and provide recommendations.
  • Monitor the customers rebuilds in the shop based on the agreed upon scope of work. Any variances should be identified and resolved with the various shops, the customer, and the Product Support Sales Representative.

The role of condition monitoring has come a long way from the early days described at the beginning of this article, and the roles are early in their development.

It will be important for the dealerships to keep abreast of the technology introduction of the future, how to apply the data/information in making decisions that not only support the dealership but also supports the customers fleet management expectations and developing the internal skills of the dealership relating to the ever-evolving condition monitoring and fleet management.

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The Importance of Mindset

The Importance of Mindset

Guest writer Alex Kraft addresses the challenges of starting a company in “The Importance of Mindset.”

As we hit year 3 of Heave, I wanted to share my biggest challenge starting a company because it’s not what I thought it would be back in July 2020. In the early days, I thought the biggest challenge starting a company was building a product. Finding talent to build technology, supervising the build, and getting the product to market was all brand new to me. This certainly wasn’t easy (and the continual product improvements we’ve made since), but I’ve learned that managing my mindset is the hardest part.

Starting a company is an exciting time. You’re full of passion, belief, and energy. You go into it understanding the odds are against you and that you’re fighting every day to gain relevance. But you believe that at some point (soon) others are going to see what you see:  your product is ten times better. than what’s out there or that others are going to recognize the great idea and want to partner with you.  What I wasn’t prepared for and has proved the biggest impediment is the avalanche of “No’s.”  No’s come from everywhere. Potential customers tell you ‘No,’ investors dismiss the idea within 5 minutes, even those who you were sure would help you, say NO. Plenty of people laugh and ignore you. This is where the reality check happens. This is why entrepreneurship is so hard. How do you stay motivated and keep pushing forward when the world says NO? Small wins help but most of us are wired to focus on the negatives. For the past 30 months, I’ve been engaged in a battle with my mind. 

I found two things helpful over the past 3 years. First, I tried to read as much content as possible on other companies’ origin stories. We tend to view successful companies today through the lens that they’re an overnight success story. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every company faces crucial life or death challenges along their journey, many times in the early days. It’s these decisions that make or break the company. Things that seem common sense today aren’t so obvious early on. It’s also reassuring that talented people behind iconic companies didn’t have all the answers from the jump. They learned over time and listened to the market. This research helped our team determine ‘pivots’ along the way and necessary tweaks to keep us breathing. Time is a precious asset for a start-up. 

The opposite can also provide context:  researching companies that failed. Finding out where they made critical missteps can help someone anticipate issues within your own business. I’ve learned one of the most critical CEO functions is to determine what’s around the corner and to have a plan. Unforeseen circumstances can create panic, which is the worst thing to happen to a company. Employees look to leadership in challenging times for the confidence that the team is prepared and will have the answers for whatever comes their way.

Perspective is important, but the battle comes when human nature kicks in. We all want to be liked. We seek consensus and to be part of a group. I was listening recently to a podcast with famed investor Mike Maples Jr. and Daniel Ek (Spotify founder) when it clicked for me. They were discussing how breakthroughs happen. Mike Maples Jr. mentioned that breakthroughs only come from a contrarian perspective. The people who aren’t afraid to say, “nope, the current way isn’t the right way. Here’s a new way….”  The lightbulb went on for me. 

To accomplish something great or to achieve a breakthrough, one must be comfortable as the outsider. These individuals don’t expect others to agree with their viewpoint or embrace their idea. This is what I didn’t understand or appreciate. The breakthrough builders focus on making an impact—rejection comes with the territory. They put the customer at the center of everything and work towards solving a problem. The customer’s opinion is the only one that matters. If you deliver an A+ in customer experience and deliver results, everything else takes care of itself.

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Unidentified but Personalized Content for Account-Based B2B Purchasing Groups. Interlacing the customer buyer stages utilizing Patrick Lencioni’s Six Types of Working Genius styles.

Unidentified but Personalized Content for Account-Based B2B Purchasing Groups. Interlacing the customer buyer stages utilizing Patrick Lencioni’s Six Types of Working Genius styles.

Guest writer Roy Lapa uses Lencioni as his benchmark in “Unidentified but Personalized Content for Account-Based B2B Purchasing Groups. Interlacing the customer buyer stages utilizing Patrick Lencioni’s Six Types of Working Genius styles.”

A content journey map may help you create and share relevant messaging with your target audience at each stage of the buyer’s journey. Further, by aligning your content journey map with Patrick Lencioni’s working genius styles, you provide interesting and effective media to guide and convert unidentifiable decision influencers. Although different types of working genius styles exist among various roles throughout your customer’s company, one needs to remember that the working genius style remains focused on an individual rather than their positional title. Hence, the material created with the working genius style in mind will appeal directly to the individual. In the likely event that account-based marketers do not know all the key decision-makers within a B2B buying committee, this method provides a workaround for reaching the right individuals.


The following table contains a brief overview of the 6 working genius types. 

Everyone has two strong geniuses based on what comes naturally to them and what brings them joy. When developing content, I suggest focusing on one working genius style, or perhaps two when located adjacent to each other. For example, to write a white paper for your customers about acquiring the most out of a semi-automatic intelligent machine, tailor it to appeal to the enablement and tenacity types.

Why produce B2B content according to a person’s working genius type?

  1. Recent changes in the workplace: from a highly structured approach to a matrix, cross-functional, team approach.
  2. Agile work environments allow more voices to be heard.
  3. B2B customers use decision-making groups that span across multiple departments.
  4. Innovative and direct, it appeals to everyone’s working genius style, regardless of title.
  5. In high-value purchases, roles and titles matter less.

 

The following illustration shows the first two stages of the buyer journey and the aligned persona types corresponding with Patrick Lencioni’s working genius styles. Keep in mind the importance of positioning the content to appeal to the individual’s natural working styles, not their title. 

This approach will provide you, the service provider, insight regarding the type of story to produce and consequently the type of media channels to focus on. Irrespective of the buyer stage, various types of media production (video, written, digital, social, whitepapers, case studies) may be appropriate.

 

ABM marketers can create content that synchronizes their messaging with the working genius type (or persona) and the corresponding buyer stage.

Conclusion

  1. Six individual working genius styles (personas) determine your content, not their job title. The persona map aligned to the buyer stage will appeal to all relevant people in medium-to large-sized account for each business situation.  (B2B buying groups)
  2. Consider different working genius types that may be involved with the company’s decision-making process. (Smaller organizations)
  3. In medium- to large-sized organizations evaluating substantial investments, there are typically more than eight individuals involved in the purchasing decision. All genius working styles (personas) will likely be involved.
  4. Media selection (mix, types, frequency) must match the working genius type (persona) and buyer stage.

Works Cited

Lencioni, Patrick M. “The 6 Types of Working Genius.” A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team, Matt Holt, 2022.

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It Has Been One Hundred Days Since We Last Talked

It Has Been One Hundred Days Since We Last Talked

Guest writer John Andersen brings readers up to date on the challenge he levied against the industry when it comes to innovation. Read his follow-up to see the outcome in “It Has Been One Hundred Days Since We Last Talked.”

The expression one hundred days is often used as measure of the time it takes for impactful change. One hundred days ago, in a blog post with Ron Slee we lamented the complete lack of innovation in the heavy equipment industry. In a subsequent podcast we called out the suppliers of business systems and dealership management software for not delivering or at very least promising anything new. We openly challenged these same suppliers to deliver, to prove us wrong, to at very least explain what was coming. Of course, this could be done under an NDA and there was no need to spill company secrets. The response was, well…Crickets! There was one bright exception, one supplier approached me in confidence. They shared strategic developments and some specific product direction. While not groundbreaking it was certainly refreshing to see a company investing in their products and services beyond APIs, interfaces, and otherwise just moving the same old furniture around the same old house. Despite being part of a much larger portfolio, they understood the value of growing the business not just growing the base.

At the critical halfway point e-Emphasys announced the acquisition of competitor CDK Global Heavy Equipment. After 45 days the only noticeable development has been a couple of web page banners and a new list of executives. Arguably the combined company may have more customer locations and a larger development team than any other supplier and should be the industry leader in innovation and innovative ideas.

In the last one hundred days ChatGPT has released three more versions, an iPhone app and integrated AI services into no less than one thousand service providers.  Bing has now fully integrated the AI module and become the front runner in the new search, answer, response, and chat market. Google continues to develop and deploy bard as their AI solution and is quietly trying to catch up. Travel companies are leaning on AI for trip planning, Advertisers are using it build mega million-dollar brands, and even education is now embracing the virtual classroom and ai based professors.

In the last one hundred days one major OEM has announced a new electronic warranty system. Another OEM has announced a virtual service assistant already in prototype. A new company in Europe is working with telematics information to offer predictive analytics and prescribed consumables to operators of lift trucks guaranteeing minimal downtime and reducing the need for redundant equipment. Even I have left my home automation “Alexa” for my new AI based assistant who handles everything from ordering meds, suggesting dinner based on what’s in my fridge, to reminding me to write a blog post.

In the last 100 days what have you done to advance, innovate or otherwise energize your business?   Share them with your team or your suppliers. Share them with me or Ron. Before you renew with your existing suppliers ask the critical question, “What have you done with last 100 days”. If they can’t tell you how they are impacting your business in the short term, then don’t trust them to deliver in the long term.

The days of waiting it out or planning for next year are over. Everything operates at the speed of technology. Whether it’s quarterly or everyone hundred days, someone or something is coming to challenge the way you operate. Do nothing, wait, fatten up and you will be someone’s lunch. Plan your one hundred days. A swing and a miss will help you prepare for the next one hundred days. You can’t plan in a vacuum, start getting updates from your employees about their one hundred days. Ask your customers about their one hundred days. Demand the 100-day plan from your technology partners. Lead or follow but don’t wait for someone else.

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Embracing the Elements: My Icelandic Adventure

Embracing the Elements: My Icelandic Adventure

Guest writer Sara Hanks brings us the lessons she learned through vacation in “Embracing the Elements: My Icelandic Adventure.”

As I was unpacking after returning from my journey to Iceland, a quote on the hiking shoe box caught my eye, “It can be easy to forget how much beauty surrounds us, but <Insert Shoe Company> gets you to a place where you can enjoy the world around you.” The words struck a chord, as a beautiful summary of my experience and reflection of the lessons I had learned throughout the vacation.

Be Prepared

The first key takeaway was to Be Prepared. The 10-day forecast on the weather app on my phone, would not have prepared me for the elements we encountered. Several days were met with heavy winds and rains. At one point, the road closed due to high winds. When the road opened and we could drive through, there were several vans and trucks destroyed from being blown off the road. I’m grateful that my sister is always cold and warned me to pack with the worst weather in mind. The treacherous winds and heavy rains were no match for my waterproof hiking shoes, rain pants and layers of jackets. I enjoyed each moment because I was prepared.

Be Silly and Have Fun.

Be Silly and Have Fun, was a lesson I encountered in surprising ways. From running to see what treasures hid around the bend in the trail to being up close and personal to farm animals, I found pure joy. Trying to keep my balance in the wind, watching sheep being born, and petting the friendly Icelandic cows brought out a childlike sense of wonder and giggles. One cow decided to put my foot into its mouth. The small, whimsical moments made me realize the satisfaction of embracing the unexpected and amusing things in life.

Be Present in the Moment

Nothing taught me to Be Present in the Moment better than my hike up the stairs to the top of Skogafoss. With each step up the steep staircase, I was fully engrossed in the task at hand… get to the top, safely. When I reached the top, the view was amazing, as were the winds. Traveling back down the stairs was one of the most terrifying experiences of the vacation. Railings only existed on one side of the staircase, and they switched sides randomly. I found myself competing with the people climbing the stairs, especially when the wind gusts were greater than 30 MPH. All thoughts of work, LinkedIn notifications, and the incomplete chores were non-existent.

Get Outside

The lesson to Get Outside was driven home by a multitude of experiences. From riding an Icelandic horse to the stone beach, to boating around bright blue icebergs, each moment spent outdoors was a refreshing escape from the digital confines of everyday life. Oddly enough, I felt no knee pain during this vacation; I could run pain-free for the first time in years. I believe the constant movement in the fresh air was a big contributor. Now that I have all-weather gear, there is no excuse to avoid being outside.

Prioritize What You Love to Do.

Lastly, this trip reminded me to Prioritize What You Love to Do. I’m flexible and adaptable, so going along with others to do whatever, is not a problem. In Iceland, I rediscovered my love for adventure in the outdoors. Seeing geysers, making snow angels at the base of snow-covered mountains, hiking through a farm to a secluded waterfall, and being chased by a herd of Reindeer brought complete joy. It was a strong reminder that investing time in my passions brings both pleasure and a sense of fulfilment. 

The quote on my shoebox perfectly described my Icelandic journey. Amidst the wild landscapes and memorable experiences, I had not just traveled across a country, but traveled on a journey of self-discovery. The joy, serenity, and renewal I found in Iceland shall be continued through these lessons.

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