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Oct 2011 - Vol 6, Issue 10
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Welcome Back,

It seems to be another busy Fall. My travel calendar has me all over the place and requests from clients seem to have even more substance than usual. After sluggish Summer of indecision, this is refreshing. I hope your pipeline is doing well too.

Last month I had the honor to participate in the InfoComm 100 in Portland. In this issue I will share some of my takeaways from this event.

But first mark your calendars because I have a rare two day public engagement in Dallas, TX. Nov 15 and 16 are the dates for the R&S Software Summit and the R&S Roadshow. Read more below or register here.

As always, thanks for reading and sharing with others!

Tom Stimson
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DALLAS EVENTS!

Software SummitSoftware Summit    

When: November 15th, 2011

Where: Dallas Market Hall   

Learn More: Summit Registration NOW OPEN!      

This event is designed for owners and executives researching software solutions for their organizations. Admission fees apply, but invitation-only, complimentary  passes are available from sponsoring exhibitors.  

  

Who's exhibiting so far? Flex Rental Solutions, IntelliEvent, Navigator Systems, Unique Business Systems, Database Works, Point of Rental Systems, Production Exchange, Rental Point Software and more! Shouldn't you be exhibiting? Contact Adam Goldstein at 212-378-0465.   

  

 

Roadshow Logo 2010

Rental & Staging Roadshow

When: November 16th, 2011

Where: Dallas Market Hall  

 

Attendees will hear my keynote on 21st Century Sales: How to Untangle Your Old School Model in which I explain that your 1990 sales techniques stifle growth, reject great sales candidates, undermine project management, and dramatically cut into profits!    - Tom Stimson

Rental Technician Training
Training for AV Technicians

Tech Training

We have had remarkable interest and an impressive number of sign-ups for our new online training portal for the audiovisual rental industry. There is finally an easy way to help your technical team members improve their knowledge while becoming experts in their chosen fields. To learn more or download the course catalog, visit my training webpage. 

 

InfoComm 100
IC100
The InfoComm 100 has become an annual institution and a must-have invitation. This year's think tank took place in Portland, Oregon and the discussion topic was the convergence of AV and IT. The general consensus was that convergence had come and gone, but there were a variety of perspectives as to what it left behind. My own point of view is that our business landscape has been changed dramatically by both convergence and a new economic reality. I pecked away at my iPad throughout the event so I have a running order stream of consciousness record of the ideas and comments that interested me. Here's a few of those thoughts:
 
Noted futurist, author, and speaker Daniel Burrus was the opening keynote and he immediately chided our room full of executives for being too busy to be truly strategic. I have to agree. A majority of the industry folks I talk to feel that strategic thinking is a frivolous activity compared to "real life" problems of shrinking margins and stagnant growth. My takeaway? Too many business leaders are waiting out the economy for a return to business as usual. Mr. Burrus continued by explaining the difference between hard and soft trends. In short, hard trends are linear and soft trends are cyclical. He suggested that it would be a big mistake for anyone to view current economic trends as part of a cycle. The world has changed and so too, will successful business models.

IC100
Mark Valenti of The Sextant Group (left) and Andrew Milne of Tidebreak Inc (center) woek up the crowd with cutting edge technology trends.
If our businesses will change, then what about those of our clients? When was the last time you asked your best client how this new economy will affect his or her business? Relationships with suppliers? Needs for infrastructure? My notes say, "If we don't understand our client's business we won't earn the trust needed for a collaborative relationship. And we certainly can't innovate solutions that will meet their needs and expectations." One topic touched on in discussion groups was the idea of leasing integrated environments to clients in lieu of selling the equipment to them. This is nothing new; many integrators dabbled with this in the 90's. However, today's business climate is ripe for a model that would limit the customer's risk in adopting cutting-edge technology that could be obsolete before the project is completely finished (not to mention reducing their capital exposure). Who is listening closely enough to the buyer to sniff out the solution to this opportunity?

Which brings me to another interesting note: "Do we need to redefine finished? Is IT's job ever done? No! Is an AV install ever done? Yes! This is why AV appears transactional." AV integrators are project-oriented and focused on sign-off, completeness, and walking away from the finished project. Even our service contracts are designed to engage once the install is complete. Is the project-centric sale and installation of eccentric equipment that is then turned over to the customer - what the customer actually wants? Or do we follow this model because it meets our own expectations as equipment dealers that employ installation crews? No wonder we can't get a seat at the table in the early stages of a project. AV won't be there after the job is done either.
IC100
Duffy Wilbert with InfoComm (far left) moderated a panel of business consultants: Kit Lisle, Acclaro Growth Partners; Bill Sharer, Exxel Management and Marketing; and Tom Stimson, The Stimson Group.

David Nour was the second keynote speaker. He is well-known for trademarking Relationship Economics, the quantifiable value of business relationships. While he was funny and engaging, I had only one major takeaway: Mr Nour quipped that Americans are the only culture that forms business relationships after business is conducted. The rest of the world forms relationships that lead to doing business. This may explain why so many of the companies I speak with struggle with defining and executing business development strategies. Too many folks think biz dev is a sales function: chasing orders from customers you haven't met yet. Maybe trust should come first?

The closing session of the InfoComm 100 put three business consultants in the hot seat. For two days, guest speakers and industry experts said the same thing over and over again. The key to survival is innovation. Our little team of consultants were supposed to send folks home knowing how to do just that. One thing that I believe we agreed upon was that (save for a few companies represented in the room) most AV integrators lack the Sales acumen to embrace and sell truly innovative strategies. In my opinion, our sales force is decidedly 20th century with little hope of moving beyond the transactional sales methodologies handed down over two generations. Mr Burrus made a brilliant observation on day one: this is the first era in human history in which four distinct generations are in the workforce together. That is a linear trend we cannot ignore it. He asked, "Are you combining those talents?" If our Gen X and Gen Y employees don't force us to change, maybe our Next-Gen customers will.

If you have thoughts or comments from your InfoComm 100 experience, please share them and I will post next month.

Closing Thoughts

Here's a few scribbles from the margins:
  • When you focus on solutions instead of projects, the goal (and measure of success) for business development becomes the quality of your contacts.
  • If you can't measure it, then you can't manage it. If you don't share metrics, no one can help you reach your goals.
  • Ask questions that only your contact's superior can answer. Move up the chain of command.  

 
About Thomas R. Stimson, MBA, CTS
Stimson Portrait
 


Tom Stimson has thrived for over twenty-five years in the information communications technology industry. As a Consultant, Tom helps companies define their goals and then design a plan that will take them there. For more information visit the website.