With great presumption the assemblage filled the Susquehanna complex assuredly convinced that the opening act just might be Rock’s Legendary ‘Kiss.’ Others insisted that the group called, ‘Running Rhino’s’ was the hottest new craze and would precede the main attraction as anticipation filled the arena.
However, something was awry as speaker Mike Green addressed the crowd with musical questions leaving the crowd to wonder if we were part of the game show ‘Name that Tune,’ as Bowie’s music played in the background.
Chuckles rippled through the audience as Green asked everyone to turn off their ‘buzzers or zappers, or whatever you call those things.’ What? Buzzers or zappers, or tigers, and lions, and bears, oh my! I can’t wait to sign up for his class, can you?
The anticipation continued to plummet as guest speaker Micha bounced onto stage as we awaited the absence of a drum roll. The anticipation was quickly diverted to the food and bar concession as we hoped for a quick glimpse of a lesser important person, such as Bruno Mars. These were desperate times!
Things finally settled down as the great and powerful Oz traversed the multitude and a deafening hush fell over the crowd. As he spoke we suddenly realized we were aloft on a gigantic balloon departing from Camden, I mean Kansas, on our way to the Land of Oz.
Suddenly the aggregate of the past 113 years flashed by as we were transported into the future to a land of magic sprinkled with pixie dust. Why are we here, Oh Great and Powerful Oz? Suddenly visions of the past flashed before our very eyes as we saw the ghosts of Elmer Engstrom, David Sarnoff, Frank Lanza, and Nipper!
As we watched intently it seemed as though Nipper was trying to vocalize words indicating that the great accomplishments of the past had become apparitions of a bygone era and that the wicked witch of the west had succeeded in destroying the company we once knew and loved.
Suddenly the Great and Powerful Oz waved his mighty hand and the multitude was silenced. His voice bellowed like a blaring trumpet admonishing those who had been part of a great era were no more; and those things which made us so successful were simply relics of the past. FOCUS, or get up, and leave now, if you are not part of the present ride that will take you to the promise land.
Our focus was suddenly diverted with sounds of snorting, hissing, and squealing, as the running-or should I say standing-RHINO’s arose from the ground. Was their intention to gore and run over the naysayers? Were these the executioners known as Reduce Hundreds IN Op’S?
Oz went on to say that our division had one of the highest earnings in the corporation and yet, future sales would flat line. What does that say for the rest of the corporation? If the idea of FOCUS SELLING is so well-accepted, has corporate mandated the idea across all divisions?
Whether or not it proves successful it’ll be a win-win situation for you Dave as you move on to higher ground leaving Camden in a state of shambles. You spoke of a shrinking budget, flat sales, big money jobs, vertical innovation, COTS, government trends, and immediate change.
You spoke of acquiring other businesses, and a future meeting with double the size of the present audience (let’s hope it doesn’t take another 26 years), increasing the front end of business, hiring ex-military, high ranking officials with contacts linked to the army, navy, air force, and marines, who will fall under commandant Hogan of ‘Hogan’s Heroes.’
Consider this; it takes 22+ years to become a Colonel in the army, and 25+ years to become a Brigadier General. Aren’t those high-ranking personnel people who were in the military when vacuum tubes and transistors were the predominant technology? Did you know Pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker?
You intend to increase the front end of business and people, align by customer; not technology. You want to increase business development by 30%; and you’re going to do this how? Is this from the 10% profit margin we make? How much did corporate kick in? Will this come at the expense of layoffs in manufacturing and are those workers of the ‘old mentality’ you spoke of? Where do the current manufacturing employees fit in? Did you know Pinocchio was a bad motivational speaker?
Those individuals of ‘old’ mentality from manufacturing are still cranking out box-products that enable your rear-end to survive, and has empowered you to claim why we are one of the highest earners in the corporation. Your illusions of grandeur won’t happen for several years-contraire to your original declaration that the size of business would double by year’s end. The obvious question relates to what does carry us until your vision becomes reality? Your plan to call customers telling them we are no longer going to invest in, or redesign new products, is like telling them to drop dead, which is exactly how they should respond to L-3.
You’ve painted a rosy picture, but neglected to mention what it means for manufacturing. You failed to mention the impact our new tenants may have on L-3’s expansion of new business in manufacturing. Are you planning to move future operations to the A that is except to L-3. Why haven’t you learned this in the past?
Talk about being brutally honest: L-3 employs many high salaried individuals on a sinking ship who couldn’t think outside the box, so you hire an outsider to help market new strategies that are really old strategies. So why are we paying exorbitant salaries to such an incompetent group of employees? How about no salary increases for your running rhino’s until after they’ve proven themselves? Now there’s a novel idea and an incentive for your 50+ well trained, overpaid under achievers. Talk about pushing the envelope. You need some new thinkers Dave. I’m for hire and my rate is much lower and my thoughts are much grander than you could even imagine.
You brought up Admirals and Generals. They are needed, but it’s the privates, corporals, sergeants, and lieutenants in the trenches that fight the war and being at ground level they know first-hand what’s happening. It won’t be the Admirals, Generals, or Colonels building product-because, like you they are far removed from what really goes on. And let’s not forget that politics and budget constraints play a major role in the process. You are venturing into new areas and are now the new player in the game. I wouldn’t be so quick to get out of the box business as you’re now in a dog fight with those ‘big companies’ you spoke of and they are consistently winning ‘those big’ jobs we can only hope to get.
Dave I want nothing less than for ALL to succeed, not simply a few. It would be behoove you to spend some cash on current products that will fill the gap until future ventures are solidified. There’s nothing new in the world. It’s simply been forgotten and repackaged years later. Henry Ford learned the principles of Focus selling years ago when he said:
If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from his angle as well as from your own….Henry Ford.
Guy Fawkes.