Virtual Reality as a Tool in Recruitment In this week’s guest blog, Don Shilling talks about using virtual reality as a tool in recruitment. “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach”, remember that TV program from a number of years back? Basically, via video the viewer was introduced to a world they could […]

February 23, 2021

Management, Marketing, Parts, Personnel, Product Support Selling, Service, Training

Are Bricks and Mortar Going to Survive the Internet Era?

Are Bricks and Mortar going to Survive the Internet Era? During the past fifty years, most of my work life in this Industry, one of the most significant ‘barriers to entry” in the equipment industry, and in fact, capital goods industries has been the ownership and control of proprietary information. For instance, where to […]

February 23, 2021

Ryszard Chciuk

The Future Is Now – Part 2

The future is now – part 2 In his previous blog post “The Future Is Now” Ryszard Chciuk presented the way his after-sales management team created the very important part of its strategy – vision. This week, in “The Future Is Now – Part 2” he will tell you what it was for. The […]

February 16, 2021

Customer Service, Ed Wallace, Words of Wisdom

Using Time Purposefully

Using Time Purposefully In “Using Time Purposefully,” guest blogger Ed Wallace continues his relationship with Max, in talking on the rides to and from the airport, about how his time gets taken up very quickly if he doesn’t take great care. Max asks him to think about the number 168. Ed then takes us on […]

February 16, 2021

Management, Sonya Law

What is the Future of Work?

The Future of Work In this article by Sonya Law, we examine what is Human Resources’ Role in the future of work? The catalyst for this article being the Pandemic which continues to disrupt businesses forcing them to: Stop, reset, recalibrate. Human Resources role in the future of work is multifaceted and requires a pivot […]

February 16, 2021

Customer Service, Personnel, Ryszard Chciuk

The Future Is Now

The future is now In his guest blog this week, Ryszard Chciuk reflects upon his years with his service management team and considers that the future is now. Once upon a time, I and my new service management team decided to create the best after sales organization in our country. I am not going to […]

February 9, 2021

TESTIMONIALS

Are Your Employees Assets OR simply Tools from a Toolbox?

In this, the second installment in our series on learning and education, our founder and managing member Ron Slee asks a fundamental question: Are Your Employees Assets OR simply Tools from a Toolbox? Your answer determines how you approach the education of your team members.

One of the common issues that I have had to deal with since I first arrived in this industry is the cost of payroll. Payroll has traditionally been measured as a percentage of sales. We have a payroll of $1,000,000 and Sales of $10,000,000 so we have an expense sales ratio of 10%. I have always believed that is the improper way to be looking at your employees. I believe that your employees are in almost all cases revenue generators The employees are also the ones who develop the relationship with your customers that improves customer retention and satisfaction.

One thing that I have found quite interesting over the years, when talking with very smart, experienced people, executives in charge of parts and service is how they have viewed employees. Several of them have expressed surprise when we discuss head counts. One Executive Vice president of a large major brand equipment manufacturer told me that every time he hired a new employee for his parts business the sales revenue for parts increased. He expressed how surprised he was. My answer? Keep on hiring at the rate at which your business can absorb new employees until the sales do not go up.

Many of you are aware that I use a sales per employee metric that is based on three variables; the gross profit of parts, the compensation package for the parts department, and the average unit price for the parts sold. From this you can arrive at a specific standards dollar value for a parts department employee. Let’s use $750,000/parts person, excluding the management. We use that measure over a rolling twelve-month time period. I use a bracket around that standard, 80% as a floor and 120% as a ceiling. When we have three consecutive months below the 80% of standard level, we have to reduce the number of employees. When we have three consecutive months above 120% of the standard level, we have to increase the number of employees.

Is there anything wrong with that approach?

The same thing is true with technicians as well as the teams that sell equipment, parts and service or rentals. There are dollar standards for all of these job functions. That is also true about the administrative job functions.

I still find it interesting how many of the leaders of businesses in most capital goods industries look at a high sales per employee as a positive thing, and I understand that very well. However, we can easily be misled with that approach. Nothing is ever that simple, is it?

Yes, a high sales per employee number provides higher levels of profitability for the business. That is clearly one of the metrics that owners are concerned with for their business. However, there are other factors that cannot be overlooked.

Over the past 50 years market share has decreased. For parts and service, it has gone down by over 50%. Is there a correlation that we should be concerned about here? I think so.

Looking back at the past forty years we have had a relatively stable situation with interest rates and inflation. We all became accustomed to the way we needed to operate the business. Of course, there some variations but they, for the most part they have been of a short duration. Then the pandemic hit and we were forced to adapt how the business operated.

From January 2020 as a starting point until the end of June 2022 both employees and employers were forced to rethink a lot of things. Office spacing, masks, vaccines, working from home and many other adjustments were made. Education had a very serious change forced upon it. Virtual learning became commonplace. The teachers and schools, the School Boards and Teachers Unions all were forced into serious changes. Caroline taught from home for over a year. The results determined from surveys of scores and grades are not very good. The learners in K-12 have lost in some states as much as a year in their learning results. As a society we will be paying a price for that loss of learning for decades.

Today as the employees and employers reevaluate their work and operating methods, we are noticing big, significant changes. In many cases positive ones. These changes would have taken place naturally anyway at some point. However, the changes this time were compressed over a very short period of time.

Now we are confronted with the question in the headline at the top of this blog. Do you view your employees as tools from a toolbox that you can deploy to satisfy a job function need OR are they assets that drive your business?

I think you know where I stand on that question. What about you?

The Time is Now.

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July 25, 2022

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?

Recent changes in the workplace: from a highly structured approach to a matrix, cross-functional, team approach.

Agile work environments allow more voices to be heard.

B2B customers use decision-making groups that span across multiple departments.

Innovative and direct, it appeals to everyone's working genius style, regardless of title.

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

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)

Consider different working genius types that may be involved with the company's decision-making process. (Smaller organizations)

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.

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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June 22, 2023

Socrates Says

Socrates Says