As our industry moves to selling less of more, complexity follows as communication channels intertwine, quality flaws are exposed and customer service is tested. Ironically, our customers are experiencing a similar dilemma. The race is to become “the source” for solutions within the construction industry. Those that can create a web-based portal to provide these solutions will win the prize.
“The Reprographics industry is currently experiencing what the music industry faced ten years ago with Napster. Products flow free in a confusing marketplace waiting for someone to establish an iTunes-like portal. Whoever can offer an easy-to-use, customizable, hip and psychological liberating solution will dominate the marketplace.”
I've prepared an illustration to demonstrate the how important establishing “the portal” is, and how The Long Tail theory can help us understand the marketplace we compete. I believe the music industry is a foreshadowing indicator for what we can expect in the Reprographic industry.
The phrase The Long Tail was first coined by Chris Anderson in a 2004 article in Wired magazine to describe certain business and economic models such as Amazon.com or Netflix. “The Long Tail” defines the current shift from selling large volume of smaller quantities to selling a much wider variety of products sold in low quantities. The low-quantity items stretch out on the x-axis of the graph, creating a very long tail that generates more revenue overall. John Cronin’s blog tipped me off to this book.
Now is the time to seize the opportunity to establish an "iTunes" like portal that is I will specifically detail how I think Thomas Reprograhpics can position itself as an industry leader in work flow processes, efficiency, marketing, sales methodology, innovation, quality, and most important — unparalleled customer service.
Email me at curtist@thomasrepro.com for the color illustration of this post.
the Long Tail, iTunes and the Reprographics Industry
Leadership in a Technical World
The most difficult aspect of leadership today is leading technical employees in a world which you know little of their expertise. This puts a premium on finding people you can trust to provide the accurate and relevant information needed to make organizational decisions.
New Remedies, New Evils
“He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator.
~Francis Bacon, “On Innovation,” Essays, 1597
The Motivational Matrix
The motivation matrix is based on three factors : relationships, knowledge, and compensation. When any one of these factors are lacking, then the motivation dynamic slips and sales fall.
I believe when we address these three areas we create a fertile environment for sales growth. I also believe that no one person can solve all three factors, it must be approached as a team effort.
Knowledge Management, part 2
Today, the new hire faces more difficult barriers to learning. First, the knowledge needed to succeed has exploded. Computer skills. Document Management. Delivery options. Digital Color. Complex communication channels. Stronger competition.
Second, "mentors" are co-workers operating outside of their companies core competencies. Knowledge is collected by those that survived the "sink or swim" training program. In many of our acquisitions, we are often amazed by how employees get by with fractured and misguided knowledge. 
As Peter Drucker has taught for the last fifty years, we must understand the difference between a manual worker and a knowledge worker. A manual worker uses with his hands and produces “stuff” — like printed material. A knowledge worker uses his head and produces recommendations, solutions, and information. Knowledge Management programs are systematic organizational objectives tied to company mission and levels of achievement — such as innovation, performance, and competitive advantage.
We must have urgency and infuse knowledge management into our company strategy if we are going to adapt to a changing industry.
Knowledge Management, part 1
As we develop product strategies that are easier to use for our customers, we must follow the same ease of use strategies for our employees. This will require us to develop an organized and relevant knowledge management program. [1]
One thing I’ve noticed talking to people around the country is a lack of training for employees. The traditional method of hiring is 1) Abstractly discuss job with the candidate; 2) Hire without a proper interview, references check, or personality profile; 3) Offer quasi/no training 4) Pass the new hire over to a "mentor" whom we trust to train? 5) Wonder why our staff is untrained and uneducated.
We've gotten by in the past because the knowledge necessary for a new hires was limited. What "mentorship" they received was by experienced co-workers who were entrenched within the core competencies of their companies. Even with a poor "mentorship" a new hire could assimilate by being surrounded by experienced knowledge.
[1] Knowledge Management (KM) referring to practices used by organizations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge for reuse and learning across the organization. The initial foundation for the Knowledge Economy was first introduced in a book by Peter Drucker. In 1966 The Effective Executive, by Peter Drucker, described the difference between the Manual worker and the knowledge worker.
Mentorship?
Often, our training strategy is to pass a new hire over to a "mentor." I guess the hope is that this "mentor" will properly train and guide our new employee into becoming a successful part of our organizational team.
Two problems.
First, many of these “mentors” have no teaching ability. In my years running a large production facility I can recall maybe ten of my employees I thought actually did an efficient job at training new hires. (10 out of 100+ over the years) This is not a criticism of the other 90+ people. Most skilled production people are not skilled teachers.
Second, some of the very people we expect to train our new employees are territorial and withhold information to protect their job security. Doesn't mean they are terrible people, just following human nature.
This is not to say that your employees should not be involved in the training process, just that you need to have a knowledge management strategy to assist in an efficient training process. We developed a "Thomas University" textbook many years ago to provide new hires a list of definitions, questions, and projects. New hires went through a brief orientation and then assigned to various mentors throughout the store who I felt were qualified to help the new hire answer the questions in the textbook.
After following a detailed plan through each section the new hire took a written and oral test. I used these tests to not only insure they understood the necessary knowledge, but also that my "mentors" where sharing the correct information. Whenever the new hire told me the wrong answer, I'd ask them where they got the information and then retrained the "mentor." Even mentor's need followup training.
There are many studies on how much money it costs to assimilate a new hire into a productive employee. Thousands! Develop a knowledge management program so you can protect your valuable investment.
Tangible Idea
I believe one of the obstacles we have in selling document management systems is the fact that the product is intangible.
Such a void has created a sort of psychological scotoma in our attempts to sell a product we can't touch and feel. I think our customers have a similar emptiness after they sign up for a subscription or service and have nothing to hold in their hands, nothing to put on their desk, and nothing to show their co-workers. I think by creating a well-marketed and tangible package, we can overcome many of the problems we have had in the past promoting our document management solutions.
1:5:30:+ Methodology
Every product tells a story.
Our job is to convince customers that our story can help them with their story. When our story is confusing, the tendency is not to tell our story, or worse, to tell an inaccurate story.
The 1:5:30:+ methodology allows us to harness product knowledge and formulate a story
into clearly defined chapters. The goal is to synergize our sales and service reps by helping them become more confident, informative, and entertaining storytellers.
We must train all our managers, customer service, and sales staff to be certified as "1:5" consultants in all of our technical services. We’ll become advisors that can provide 1-minute talking points, as well as a 5-minute demo for any of our technical services.
The goal for the first 5 minutes is to entice the customer to want to hear more. For more advanced support, we have a group of 30-minute consultants ready to assist with more detailed and expert knowledge of our products and services. This is followed up with our +, or technical staff of administrators, operators, and digital specialists, who actually implement our advanced solutions as well as facilitate production of products and services.
The 1:5:30:+ model enables us as a company to know our roles, foster a culture of learning, and promote our services as a cohesive team.
Email me at curtist@thomasrepro.com for the color illustration of this post.
2006 Reading List
Much of what I’ve read this year has been focused on community commentary and organizational learning. Peter Senge’s “learning organization” principles have also spurned many hours of additional research into how businesses adapt and change with new technology.
[wish list]
new american pioneers : juan hernandez with dick morris
enough : juan williams
hegemony or survival : noam chomsky
state of emergency - pat buchanan
[January/February 07]
becoming a category of one : joe calloway
leading change : john p. kotter
minding your x's and y's : lisa johnson
document management research
[December 06]
dancing with change : peter senge et. al.
learning organization : online research
core competency : online research
[November]
living god’s politics : jim wallis
mind your x’s & y’s : lisa johnson
[MUST READ] the tipping point : malcolm gladwell (reread)
[September/October]
applebee’s america : fournier, sosnik, & dowd
culture warrior : bill o’reilly
[MUST READ] the long tail : chris anderson
the self : paul vitz et al.
construction industry online software (research)
the open door lyrics : evanescence
state of denial : bob woodward
[July/August]
godless : susan colter
[MUST READ] the fifth discipline : peter senge (reread)
learning organization : online research
purple cow - seth godin
at canaan’s edge - taylor branch
[April/May/June]
the fifth discipline : peter senge (reread)
presence : Peter Senge et al.
[March]
the fifth discipline - peter senge (continued)
[MUST READ] god's politics - jim wallis (audio version)
chaotic resolve - plumb (liner notes)
the barbarian way - erwin raphael mcmanus
[February]
a testament of hope: essential writings of martin luther king
city impact - daniel bernard
[MUST READ] the working poor - david k. shipler
night - elie wiesel (too depressing, did not finish)
the slumber of christianity - ted dekker
[January 2006]
the world is flat - thomas friedman (audio)
all that glitters is not god - athena dean
the externally focused church - rick rusaw & eric swanson
[MUST READ] a call to conscience: the landmark speeches of martin luther king, jr. (audio)
schindler's list: script - spielberg, zaillian & keneally
devil get behind me (lyrics) - the white stripes
ReproTrends is born
December 1st, 2006 ReproTrends is born. The goal to share with the industry reflections, observations, quotes and opinions about the world of reprographics. With a passionate zeal listening will be my brush to paint on an open canvas for the world to see a portrait that many artists create. Many thanks in advance to those that let me ask pesky questions, listen to my pesky answers, and share in the conversation.