A load off my mind as a load cell manufacturer

Mr. Loadlink’s Library…

There’s a good reason why successful people read a lot, says Mr. Loadlink.

“I once heard someone say that if Thomas Edison had gone to business school we would all be reading by larger candles,” writes Mark McCormack in the preface to his book titled, ‘What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School’.

As the founder of the world’s first sports management company continues, “My main purpose in writing this book is to fill in many of the gaps—the gaps between a business school education and the street knowledge that comes from the day-to-day experience of running a business and managing people.”

Many light bulb moments come to nothing

And, having initially been encouraged to do so by Action Coach’s Gary Mullins, that’s really why I devour as many business-themed books as my schedule allows. In fact, I clear space in my diary to read them.

There are many gaps or spaces in everyone’s knowledge and reading is a great way to fill the voids. Getting an author’s perspectives on the challenges one is facing or might have to confront in future offers an insight into the mind of someone who has in most cases found a way to navigate a pathway to success.

It’s education of a different kind. The best business books are about thinking outside the box, which is at odds with the education much of us endured at school. Take McCormack’s point about business school: if Edison, the inventor of electric power generation, had followed the protocols and norms outlined in courseware, his light might have been dimmed. I’d never sneer at education per se—without it we wouldn’t be able to read—but a really wise person complements it with a full bookshelf.

Here are another five titles to add to your reading list—and Why:

1. The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber

The ‘E’, by the way, stands for ‘entrepreneur’. The tagline of the book, ‘Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it’, addresses the grim reality that many light bulb moments, dreams, and ideas come to nothing. Perhaps there should be warning stickers on business degrees and courses that states as much. Even most successful entrepreneurs have a catalogue of failures behind them and many readily point to the 50 bad ideas that preceded the one good one for which they are known.

As Gerber writes in Chapter One: “Picture the typical entrepreneur and Herculean pictures come to mind: a man or woman standing alone, wind-blown against the elements, bravely defying insurmountable odds, climbing sheer faces of treacherous rock—all to realize the dream of creating a business of one’s own.” But, he continues, “…while there are such people, my experience tells me they are rare.” As Gerber says, most entrepreneurs are such only for a short period of time. Then they cling to the rock face, not scale it.

The chapter goes on to explore the concept of entrepreneurial seizures and the fatal assumptions. The latter, for example, is to believe that if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand a business that does that technical work. “And the reason it’s fatal,” writes Gerber, “is that it just isn’t true. In fact, it’s the root cause of most small business failures!”

Gerber also looks at the beauty of an org chart, whereby the roles required one day to run a fully-fledged business are mapped out on its first day. If 47 positions are required, it’s a case of beginning with the start-up team then ticking them off as personnel are added until every spot is filled.

Success is about scaling the rock face, not hanging on for dear life

2. Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, by Verne Harnish

This book is also underscored by an overarching theme: ‘What you must do to increase the value of your growing firm’.

Having studied the life of oil industry business magnate John Rockefeller, the author identified three habits and decisions. The first habit is priorities, or key rules that the company and its employees adhere to. The second habit is data, or information about the relevant marketplace. The third habit is rhythm—the regular meetings and checkpoints that make sure everybody is aligned with the goals of the business.

The book has been something of a bible for my company, Straightpoint (SP), over the years. Every business should find its optimal cadence—the perfect rhythm at which it should trade. Look at a runner’s stride pattern even in a long race; it isn’t slow or laboured, but economical and full of bounce. Businesses should travel the same way. Momentum and pace have been keys to our success and Harnish talks about the importance of travelling at a healthy clip.

He also refers to the questions that shape decisions:

Do we have the right people?
Are we doing the right things?
Are we doing those things right?
Regularly put them to your business.

Find the optimal cadence

3. Fanatical Prospecting, by Jeb Blout

Another must-read, this book is the ultimate guide to opening sales conversations and filling the pipeline by leveraging social selling, telephone, email, text, and cold calling.

Here at SP we’re obsessed with filling our pipe. By that I mean we recognise that no business can survive without leads and orders, which are generated by prospecting. Blout writes about how, “Savvy sales professionals are super disciplined in qualifying prospects. They understand that time is money and it is a waste of time to work with prospects that are not going to buy. They know that qualified buyers are scarce, and a moment spent with a prospect who will never buy takes them away from their most important task—finding prospects that will buy.”

My interpretation of much of the guidance in Fanatical Prospecting is in the importance of a sales squad leveraging a marketing team but not relying upon it. Successful people generate their own leads; they delve deep into markets to find the prospects that perhaps didn’t surface as a result of a marketing campaign. These smart salespeople have a profile in mind of the ideal customer and know where to look for them. It’s not that the marketing team aren’t working to the same objective—they are—but sometimes it’s only at the coalface can some purchasers be found.

This book is particularly applicable to businesses that are prepared to work hard to generate results. It’s not about short cuts. And I like that.

There’s an art to prospecting

4. They Ask, You Answer, by Marcus Sheridan

This is a very current text about taking a revolutionary approach to inbound sales, content marketing, and today’s digital consumer.

It acknowledges that customers now turn to the Internet for everything. “If I had a question, I went to Google and asked,” Sheridan writes. The power, therefore, must be in having the answers, he thought. So, all he had to do as a swimming pool salesman, was to become an expert on fibreglass pools.

He continues, “When an organisation embraces They Ask, You Answer, they believe it’s their duty to be the teacher, the go-to source within their particular industry. One that’s not afraid to answer any and every question the prospect or customer may have. For them, it’s a moral obligation to do this, regardless of whether the question is perceived as good, bad, or even ugly.”

The book points out a reality that most businesses only talk about themselves and don’t focus on what prospects and customers are thinking about. How ignorant.

At SP, we talk about the TAYA (They Ask, You Answer) questions after every trade show:

What was the marketplace asking for?
Are we seen to have the answers?

Smart businesses have the answers to their audience’s questions

5. Start With Why, by Simon Sinek

This is an old favourite and one of the most popular business texts around.

As Sinek wrote at the time of going to print, “There are leaders and there are those who lead. With only six per cent market share in the U.S. and about three per cent worldwide, Apple is not a leading manufacturer of home computers. Yet the company leads the computer industry and is now a leader in other industries as well. Martin Luther King’s experiences were not unique, yet he inspired a nation to change. The Wright brothers were not the strongest contenders in the race to take the first manned, powered flight, but they led us into a new era of aviation and, in doing so, completely changed the world we live in.”

The Start With Why concept is based on the power of an audience believing in a purpose. Making money, Sinek says, is a consequence of being a business, not the Why it exists. It’s the Why that people buy into.

What’s your Why?

To bookend my latest blog with quotes from Mark McCormack, I’ll close with another one, from a section of his text about three hard-to-say phrases:

1. I don’t know

2. I need help

3. I was wrong

“An ability to say ’I was wrong’ is essential to success because it’s cathartic,” he writes.

In other words, it’s purifying and makes us feel better. It’s remarkable therefore that it’s so rarely said.

Happy reading.
Mr. Loadlink

September 2018 books, mr loadlink, straightpoint

Singing in Harmony…

It takes more than compatible products or shared interests to create successful business collaboration, says Mr. Loadlink.

Have you seen dating site eHarmony’s advertisement campaign about flaws in competitors’ matchmaking processes? In essence, the message suggests that just because singletons are the same age and like some of the same things it doesn’t mean they’re destined for a lifetime of happiness together. The ads explain how eHarmony’s multiple measures of compatibility make it a more sophisticated dating platform to alternatives.

It’s clever advertising and, moreover, they use great humour to make the point. Take Geoff, for example: he’s not using eHarmony and is seen sitting on his sofa with a camel because both like long walks on the beach. Then there’s Steve who has been partnered with a fellow vegetarian—a tortoise. The measures of compatibility selling point struck a chord with me, given its relevance to partnerships in the business world, where only a complete DNA match leads to fruitful exploration of avenues of mutual opportunity.

Many businesses are slow to grasp the concept of collaboration

As I’ve blogged about before, I’m a big believer in collaboration and the theory of abundance, but that doesn’t mean anyone with a broadly similar product or customer base can snuggle up together. I’d rather work with a camel than some business leaders out there who represent companies that, at first glance, have synergies with my own. I’ll stop short of using the obvious camel-related reference of how they’d make me feel but suffice it to say I’m not enthused by the prospect of all partnerships. And not everyone should want to team up with me.

I’ve read thought leadership pieces that in theory I agree with, about how collaborate comes before compete in the dictionary etc. etc. and how small enterprises especially should embrace a “stronger together” or “rising tide lifts all boats” mentality. However, they generally focus too much on the principle and less on the practice. Two non-competing companies that supply to the same customers could have widely different outlooks on a sales process. One might take a consultative, long-term approach to relationship building while the other is trying to make a quick buck by offering a cheaper alternative to a reputed supplier, for instance.

Trusted global brands

As regular readers of this column and followers of our marketing endeavours will know, Straightpoint (SP) has been collaborating with fellow below-the-hook manufacturer Modulift recently under the “trusted global brands” banner, principally at trade shows and events where we often co-exhibit. We make force measurement equipment and our fellow southern UK-based supplier is a provider of lifting and spreader beams. The partnership has been tremendously successful, as most recently seen at the offshore event, ONS, in Stavanger, Norway last month. But the products and coincidental similarities in branding colouration (we’re both all about yellow and blue) are only the tip of the iceberg, and I’d urge anyone thinking of collaborating to tread carefully before making a big commitment.

Don’t get sidetracked by the natural appeal of sharing exhibition space and therefore cost. Yes, there are inherent savings to be made but consider how cheap it would be to date a tortoise. We don’t look at the partnership as a cost-cutting exercise but readily accept that it helps us budget to attend a greater number of shows throughout the year. Getting into bed with the wrong company just to save some cash could result in much more costly damage to both parties.

This article isn’t about collaborative trade show etiquette but salespeople can’t be elbowing their counterparts out the way to get first dibs at a visitor. There has to be an equal appreciation of both companies’ equipment. What would a rigger do with two load cells and no spreader beam or vice versa?

As well as respecting the importance of each business’s kit, it’s also crucial to understand it. When a representative of one firm is engaged in dialogue with someone who has stopped by the exhibit, someone from the other must be able to at least provide an overview to both products, systems, or technologies. A trade show exhibit can’t function like a doctor’s surgery where patients wait for their name to be called. When a visitor walks onto a stand they should be greeted immediately wherever possible. Avoid scenarios like this:

“Hi, what does this product do? How might it work in this application?”

“I’ve got no idea, I’m with the other company here.”

It makes selecting a stand team very important. At ONS I was joined by SP’s Kizzie Cordwell, inside sales, while John Baker, sales director at Modulift, completed the lineup. When John looked at me on the flight home and said, “That worked,” I knew exactly what he meant.

John, Kizzie and I at ONS 2018 in Stavanger, Norway

Quiz question

Consider how the marketplace will respond too. There’s a good chance parties will be quizzed about ownership of the companies. We have no problem responding to questions about being part of the same organisation (we’re not, by the way). Further, it gives us a chance to respond and explain what each product does and why it makes sense to present the solutions alongside each other. Visitors, particularly at end user events, welcome the concept as they can piece together a below-the-hook scenario and envisage it at the coalface (or oil rig) of their industry. Ok, so here’s how we spread the load and that’s how we measure it, one might say.

Trusted global brands, yes, but we can only be as good as a trade show allows and ONS, which takes place every second year, provided a great platform. For background, when oil and gas was discovered in the North Sea, the need for a meeting place for the companies in this new industry emerged. ONS was held for the first time in 1974, and has more than 40 years of proud history.

It is a non-profit foundation, and was established by Stavanger City Council, Statoil, Stavanger Forum, and the Norwegian Petroleum Society.

I’d recommend the 2020 event, whether one is in collaboration or not.

ONS 2018 visitor numbers were up 15% on two years ago, I heard

It was a multifaceted show and one of my favourite features was the festival area, open nightly, featuring a social network arena, after-party, and cultural events. Located in Stavanger’s harbour in the city centre, it provided a great opportunity to unwind after the show, network, and debrief. The importance of such activity is often overlooked. Sometimes John, Kizzie, and I chinked glasses together and toasted another productive day, and on other occasions we were all engaged in our own business and personal conversations with connections old and new. It was all the fun of the fair—and kind of like speed dating.

Of course, any collaboration is on a learning curve and we’re already discussing ways to make the partnership even more fruitful in 2019. We’re looking at how we can consolidate shipments of product, for example, and we’ve agreed that not every show we’ve done has been a great fit for either of us. We’re also striving to make our stand build-up and teardown operations even smoother and more efficient. Naturally, we’ll also learn more and more about each other’s products and we’re excited about each of us unveiling future innovations.

In the Summertime

I’m not going to harp on about work-life balance again but the importance of it was demonstrated last week when we held our annual staff trip to Goodwood Racecourse. It was great to see the team out of the office, workshop, and trade show environment, placing some bets (for those who wanted to gamble) and enjoying each other’s company. We rounded off a great day in a local bar dancing away at a 70s disco. I Will Survive had a whole new meaning by the end of the night! I hear Modulift’s summer party was held on the same day, which was somewhat fitting. I hope John and the team there had an equally enjoyable occasion.

Let’s Stay Together

Finally, I want to conclude by offering my congratulations to David Mullard, our business development manager, and his wife, Kat, who were married at the weekend. It was a magical occasion, fitting for a great couple. I wish the new Mr. and Mrs. Mullard a long and happy marriage.

Mr Loadlink

Carl Stahl’s Rune Lid Hillesøy was among visitors to our ONS exhibit.

August 2018