70 •
VIEWPOINT
Are you relevant? L
BY MARY JO MARTIN Editorial director
et’s face it — we all want to matter. While I suppose we could trick ourselves into thinking that it just happens naturally, the truth is, like
anything else in life, it requires some effort. The question then becomes: How do we make ourselves relevant? Last fall, I was invited by the folks at Vormittag
Associates Inc. to attend their annual VAI User Conference in Orlando. Being that I was a “rookie”
at this meeting, I was excited to learn more about this great software vendor and their customers. There was, of course, plenty of discussion about VAI’s new product development and how they are working with distributors to fur- ther streamline their businesses. But one of the highlights of the meeting for me went beyond strictly the technical component and focused instead on this idea of relevance. Ross Shafer, who some of you might recognize as a one-time game show
and late night talk show host, gave an insightful — but brutally honest and humorous — presentation on ways to ensure that you develop and maintain a high level of relevance in the office and at home. The following are some excerpts from Shafer that I thought were especially worthy of sharing: • Being creative is something everyone can master. You simply need to take
an inventory of your life’s experience and knowledge, and then juxtapose that with the direction in which the culture is going. • If you don’t like or accept change, you are bound for extinction. The
mighty fall because they ignored what experience and the current culture were trying to indicate to them. You have to pay attention and react appopriately to situations based on your knowledge, and with your best resources. If you don’t, you won’t be relevant and will likely not continue to be viable. • If your business is sputtering, don’t ignore the obvious solutions. •Organizations that thrive and succeed aren’t growing organicially like they
used to or because they’re riding the coattails of the economy. They are grow- ing by taking market share away from their competition. • Those who are innovators will lead the economic recovery — and come out stronger on the other side. • If you want to be successful, it can’t all be about the transaction. It also
has to be about the heart. We as humans crave communication and a personal touch.
Advertisers Index
AY McDonald...............................44
www.aymcdonald.com Anderson Metals.............................6
www.andersonmetals.com Arrowhead Brass & Plumbing......30
www.arrowheadbrass.com
Bavco............................................10
www.bavco.com Bradford White .............................31
www.bradfordwhite.com Bradley............................................4
www.bradleycorp.com
C & C Valve..................................51
www.candcvalve.com CBM Sales....................................45
www.cbmsales.com CD Sales .......................................19
www.centraldistributionsales.com Central Components .....................43
www.centralcomponents.com
Clear Water Enviro Tech...............50
www.scaleblaster.com Control Supply..............................59
www.controlsupplycorp.com
Core Pipe ......................................33
www.corepipe.com Dormont........................................22
www.dormont.com The Distribution Point................IBC
www.thedistributionpoint.com
Eemax ...........................................34
www.eemax.com
Forgings, Flanges & Fittings...................................46
www.onestoppvf.com Floodmaster ..................................28
www.floodmaster.com General Pipe Cleaners, a div. of General Wire Spring ..................11
www.drainbrain.com Gobal Stainless Supply.................47
www.onestoppvf.com Heatinghelp.com...........................64
www.heatinghelp.com Insinkerator.............................16, 17
www.insinkerator.com
JMF...............................................14
www.jmfcompany.com
•THE WHOLESALER® — FEBRUARY 2011
• Great people and companies all have one thing in common — managers
who tell their people they are making a contribution. You’ve got to encourage genius at every level. • Realize that emotions drive every purchasing decision. • The purchasing power of women has long been ignored and is incredible.
The average satisified woman recommends a service/shop or client to 21 other people, while men only reach 2.6. Women speak an average of 20,000 words a day; men speak 6,000. Maybe it’s time to focus more of your marketing/sales efforts on women. • The internet has taught customers that they can get what they want on de-
mand. You have to be competitive with those expectations or you will lose business to those who are. • Learn to master empathy, create rapport and build instant trust. The first
thing is to stop obsessing about you. You are not the most important person in everyone else’s life. Stop talking about yourself and start focusing on the other person. People (customers) can’t get enough of others who want to know about them. We are losing the ability to listen and learn. Instead, we tend to listen and respond quickly so we can start talking about ourselves again. Stop! That type of communciation will ruin your company. • Teach young people how to talk. Texting and blogging is exploding and it
is harming people’s ability to communicate. We are creating a nation of poor communicators; in fact, 45% of employers today are dissatisfied with the oral communication skills of college graduates. • Think about what you are leaving behind to those following in your foot-
You are not the most important person in everyone else’s life. Stop talking about yourself and start focusing on the other person. People [customers] can’t get enough of others who want to know about them.
steps. Never forget that you’re being watched and these people — your cus- tomers, your employees, your children — are trying to learn from you. • Instead of focusing so much on your standard of living, your true calibra-
tion of your legacy is your standard of loving. And that doesn’t just mean your family. It extends to all those in your circle — your business associates, cus- tomers, everyone you impact in this world.
n
A sincere thank you to VAI for their hospitality, and for bringing in such a thought-provoking keynote speaker. It was a message we all needed to hear. Mary Jo Martin is editorial director of TheWholesaler. she can be reached at 972-315-9803 or
editor@thewholesaler.com.
Jones Stephens........................54, 55
www.plumbest.com
Legend Valve ..............................IFC
www.legendvalve.com Liberty Pumps...............................57
www.libertypumps.com Matco Norca ...................................9
www.matco-norca.com Midland Metals.............................65
www.midlandmetal.com
Navien.....................................37, 61
www.navienamerica.com Panasonic ......................................15
www.panasonic.com/wholesaler
Rheem...........................................41
www.rheem.com Schier Products .............................18
www.schierproducts.com Service Metal Products.................35
www.servicemetal.net Smith Cooper..................................5
www.smithcooper.com
Ta Chen........................................BC
www.tachen.com
Taco...............................................53
www.taco-hvac.com
Tapco.................................48, 49, 62
www.tapcogenuinepartscenter.com
Titan Flow Control........................36
www.titanfci.com United Logistics............................12
www.unitedlogistics.net United Pipe ...................................13
www.united-pipe.com
Valvelinked.com ...........................56
www.valvelinked.com
Val-Fit ...........................................29
www.valfit.com
Victaulic..................................38, 39
www.victaulic.com
Walworth.......................................66
www.twcousa.com
Ward Mfg. ....................................52
www.wardmfg.com
Warren Alloy...................................7
www.warrenalloy.com
Webstone.......................................25
www.webstonevalves.com
Weldbend ................................20, 21
www.weldbend.com
WOI ..............................................27
www.woihouston.com
Your Other Warehouse..................23
www.yourotherwarehouse.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72