The myth of the Instant Success

-Deacon Wardlow

I was recently having coffee with some entrepreneurs in Boulder, CO and the topic of "gazelle companies" came up. These are companies who increase their revenue by about 20% every year (doubling in sales/scope every 4-5 years).

There's a myth of "instant success" out there. People hear about an app company being bought for a billion dollars, companies which are competing in the same industry as you "magically" grow their sales to three or four times your level and yet they have the same (or smaller) sized business. What's the "secret sauce" or magic mix involved? The answer is simple: hard work, persistence, creativity, and determination.

The companies I work with who are the most successful are also the most active. They play the numbers game. These companies fill their sales funnel to overflowing acknowledging they may only close on 10 opportunities out of 100 - they opt to quote 1,000+ opportunities. When they can't quote as much, they look at what they're quoting and remove the obstacles for the client to buy their product or service - they take a hard look at why they lose opportunities and fill the holes so the next one wins.

The successful companies are out there, in front of customers as much as they can be. If they're local - they hit the local market so hard every client in a 50 mile radius knows their name, their product/service, and who to call. If they're national you'll note they're heavily marketing online, active in social media, and hitting every tradeshow and event they can to get in front of national clients.

An "overnight" success is rarely anything but. If you feel your business is in a slump and you're confident you could be better - push back to the companies you work with. Don't let vendors just provide product - they should be actively helping you with marketing, sales resources/tools, digital assets for your websites, and partner with you on tradeshows. If your vendor doesn't step up as a partner, take a look around and find someone who will help you grow. Their success is (ultimately) tied to yours. Don't settle for a vendor when you can have a partner.

In business - the market doesn't reward laziness nor will clients come beating down your doors if they don't know where you are. The harder you push and strive, the more you'll see those efforts rewarded. Perhaps you won't win every deal - but the more you're out there - the more deals will ultimately come your way and you to can be an "overnight success" that leaves the competition scratching their heads at how they can stay in business against you.

Note all posts - thoughts - writings- etc. are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically noted. Direct emails can be sent to deacon@spectacularmedia.com for queries and/or assistance.

Digital Signage Sales 101: Keep it simple

-Deacon Wardlow

No technobabble nor geekspeak in today's blog. no discussion of technical components nor a breakdown of how to troubleshoot breakdowns (of the hardware/digital signage variety).  Just a short and pointed article on keeping it simple.

Simple is excellent. Think Macintosh computers (which were friendly by comparison to other computers of the day), Macintosh kept the "keep it simple" mentality. When they strayed, they payed in lost sales. When they stayed with "simplicity" they succeeded immensely.

Simple is difficult. If you take a peek behind the electrical components on an iPhone or even a "simple" MP3 player, you'll see it's loaded (jenga-style) with tons of circuitry and systems in an incredibly tight space. The planning and execution of simple takes a lot of smart people coming together to make simple work well.

Few people like complex systems and products. Our lives are complex enough, why make them harder (ok, there are the geeks like me out there who love to breakdown complex systems, but at the end of the day - I prefer simple and straightforward). Digital Signage needs to be simplified, not just in execution but in the way we discuss it with clients and especially in the way the end-user accesses, updates, and utilizes the system.

Think about this - if you were a manager of a few franchise restaurants you've got a lot on your plate (payroll, purchasing, payouts, personnel and a bunch of other things). If you were the manager of said franchise restaurant, what's on the LED Sign outside and the menu board inside is the last of your worries (spend a few hours at lunch or dinner with a restaurant manager and you'll see what I mean). If the Digital Signage solution isn't simple, it won't work. DS needs to be something anyone can update, create quick content, schedule, and setup "triggers" for the system to run content automatically depending on weather or other conditions.

A lot of people ask me what the best companies out there are. I'm somewhat biased as the director of a software company for Digital Signage and working with partners in the business, so I give them a simple solution. Ask the company you're looking to work with a few questions - the answers (or sometimes lack of answers) will tell you a lot about that company:

1. Who is their competition and what does the competition do well and what do they (the company) do better than the others?
2. Who are the people in the company and how do they stay ahead of things in the market? (A lot of companies just maintain status quo - if you're sitting still in a technical field like DS, you're not leading... you're falling behind...)
3. What is their USP (unique selling point)? A lot of companies surprisingly do not have a USP. If you can't immediately think of your own companies USP (special services, product, attention to detail and the client, etc.) you seriously need to figure how you stand out in the market. You definitely want to make sure your partners and vendors have USPs as their USP will add to your own when you promote their products and/or services.

Above all, work to keep things as simple as possible. Simple doesn't mean "dumbed down" but rather a direct approach to things with all the BS removed. This is what we have, this is how it works, and this is how it will help your organization. Keep it simple. In today's complex and fast-moving world where we check email while on a phone call and update our social status (multi-tasking is almost mandatory these days) it's easy to forget the simplest things are the most powerful.

Please comment here or send questions or requests for information to deacon@vantageled.com. Vantage LED has white paper resources and more educational material on the website (http://www.vantageled.com), please check it out when you have a moment. Note all posts/thoughts/writings are strictly the viewpoint of me and me alone and do not reflect nor speak for Vantage LED’s beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically noted.attitudes, thoughts, etc. unless specifically noted.

Digital Signage Need to Know: Creating Lifetime Fans

- Mike Prongue

Money, money, money, net operating profit, return on investment- how to get it, how to make more of it. That’s what business is all about- right? And, the LED sign industry is a prime opportunity to do just that- make money. There is a need for a cost effective way to advertise on premises, there are great product and software solutions available and you, the LED sign dealer, can marry supply with demand and make a boatload of money.

There are two schools of thought on how a business should become successful-

• A quantitative approach to tightly managing costs and expenses, tracking every nickel, working those MS- Excel spreadsheets and the budgets, or,

• Taking care of the customer and bonding them to your business as a lifetime fan.

The truth is you need to blend these two approaches- watch the numbers closely and take care of customers. Flexibility is the key when making decisions translating the numbers into policies and business decisions that impact the customer. Lose the word “never” and take care of the customer. For example- “we never refund purchases beyond the stated one year timeframe.” 

Each potential exception to a policy needs to be evaluated based on the financial consequences, long term. So you don’t refund a service call charge of $500 because it’s 30 days past the stated warranty period? Why should you fork over $500, you told them the rule and your one year warranty is more than fair? Why, because the customer has choices and refusing to lose a nickel today, can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next 30 years.

Creating lifetime fans will help your business by having a devoted group of followers, great word of mouth advertising, and a lot of friends rather than just strangers who are marginally appreciative of your hard work and business efforts.

If you think you have what it takes to deliver truly extraordinary customer service, these four steps will help you get there:

1. See the world with “customer eyes”

Many customers, if not most customers, are skeptical and really do not expect anything extraordinary from your company. They just don’t want to be ripped off- they do expect some service but they really are not hoping much beyond what's on the sales contract.

When Circuit City opened their Louisiana stores, in the 1990s, many customers in the New Orleans market simply could not comprehend being able to return an electronics purchase if they didn’t like it. It took many months for the customer base to really believe that such a “liberal” policy (for its time) could even be possible! The customers in that market had been subject to such anti-customer policies for so long they saw retailers as their enemy. Creating a “Wow” moment for people with such low expectations was fun and easy.

Remember that most customers are hopeful, but they also have had so many marginal purchasing experiences over the years that they may be skeptical. Whether the issue is a great 5-yr on-site service warranty for their LED sign, they hear you but they may not really think it’s real.

Credibility must be established and maintained. And customers are looking for the “catch” or for you to reverse what you stood for when the going gets rough and an exception must be made. Consistency is important.

2. Defer today's profits until tomorrow

A true customer-centric business will see increased revenue and profits long-term. That doesn’t mean you have to squeeze every dime today until 12 pennies are created. There is tomorrow and sometimes extending world-class customer service will cost more in the short run than you may like. But, if you continue to execute the plan, keeping the customer in mind, you’ll see a larger financial return down the road.

If the bean counters, the accountants, in your organization crack open their MS-Excel spreadsheets and start doing a cost versus benefits analysis of your customer service programs they will short-circuit your efforts. It is hard to account for long-term customer loyalty with today’s numbers.

Creating lifetime fans of your business is not always about today, but rather tomorrow. Like any good gardener, you have to plant the seed, tend to it, and WAIT to watch it grow.

3. Be original and surprising

How much easier is it to follow than to lead? What keeps people from leading boldly? Fear is one reason. Sometimes its fear of being original and allowing their true selves to create uniqueness and surprises in the customer service offering. 

Returning to the retail example of Circuit City Stores, one bold move that dramatically increased revenue and improved customer service happened when a program was implemented that offered “Same day car stereo installation or it’s free.” The program was hated in the stores at first because it put pressure on the local installation team to increase their productivity or work for free. A bold plan in retrospect, but once implemented it improved customer service. Right away the 2-3 day backlogs for electronics installation went away and almost every store was on “same day” installation with almost no free installs, anywhere. Customers no longer had to wait up to a week in some places, for their car stereo installation to be installed and the customers thought it was fantastic!

There’s nothing wrong with “stepping out there” with a leading offer or testing a surprising new idea. 

Many companies fail to do this because they stay in a “safety and comfort” zone. It’s nice and warm in the zone and you probably won’t take much criticism. But if you can differentiate your business from the other Sign Companies in your area then you become a leader. If you are not a leader in your region, then what are you? There are leaders, and there are…?

Do something unique and surprising and see what kind of response you get.

4. Create a culture of customer service

Whenever articles are written about customer service Nordstrom’s is always used as an example where a culture of customer service was created. You could return anything to them and they’d take it back while their customer interactions on the floor also embraced the spirit of always “saying yes.”

There are many ways to create a culture of customer service. A culture is not a month-long program giving away glass alligator ashtrays to everyone walking in the door! It is a long-term commitment and a way of life.

A culture starts with the leaders and is something that is turned into a way of simply doing business, a habit. Decisions are made that support the customer. Respect is given to the customer.

Much negativity is infused into organizations by internal negative dialogue about the customer in meetings and one-offs. Trying to stop this frustrated “joking” and putting the external customer (the ones who buy stuff) at the same level of respect as the internal customer (staff) is a must.

You need to spend time living in your customer’s world- feel their emotions, their worries, their concerns, their joy, their frustration. Talk to them, survey them… get information in whatever way you choose. Then do something to improve the experience!

Once the customer condition is identified, everyone has to get into the boat and proverbially “row in the same direction” to improve customer service. From the way phone calls are answered, to empowering the associate to fix customer issues, there are hundreds of ways to stand out in the customer service arena of your business.

It is the responsibility of sign shops to surprise, astound, delight and “wow” every customer they encounter, every day they are in business. When this happens, all of the bean counting could stop, all of the MS Excel spreadsheets could be burned and you’d still be successful.

I am realistic and I know that those spreadsheets are not going away, but you have to decide if you want customer service to be the dog that wags the tail of profits. Or, do you want a profit margin goal to be that dog that makes that profit tail work?

Smart money goes to customer service. Try it… you’ll find it to be much easier and more fun!

These comments are my personal perspective and do not reflect the opinion of Vantage LED, Inc. or SignVine, Inc. or any other person or organization. If you have constructive feedback please email me at michael@signvine.org.  - Mike Prongue

Digital Signage Sales 101: The Tech Train is Leaving the Station

When everyone was “day trading” stocks during the hot stock market, back in the late 1990s- I was there. I eventually became a stockbroker but cut my teeth on day trading tech stocks. I was enthralled with emerging technology probably more so than actually the financial technicals of the underlying equity- DSL, communication systems, cellular system evolution and manufacturing the machines that make the machines.

As with any market there was a underground of scallywags who manipulated the penny stock market with false stories and message board posts. A common title might read “The train is ready to leave the station, all aboard!” So foolish investors would rush in to buy, and drive up the price of the penny stock. Then the scallywag sells out, makes a pocketful of loot, the stock price plummets and the late investors get burned. It happened all the time.

But regarding technology, when do you jump on that train? Note that the “technology train” never really leaves the station with you standing on the passenger platform waving goodbye. It’s track is a circle so it leaves the station to the North, just as it’s caboose enters the station to the South. You can’t really miss technology, it just depends when you want to jump on board.

Why would an LED sign end-user not buy today? Why do so many pizza joints and doctor’s offices still stand on the passenger platform in that technology train station and watch the train go by, over and over again.

I think the primary reason is that end-users (and perhaps their sign company) really still fail to see the LED sign as paying for itself with superior, cost-effective advertising, and increased sales revenues. Do you believe it?

Many of you are expecting me to toss that old Small Business Administration (SBA) study that everyone uses down onto the table and quote it verbatim. I could, because it’s correct, but I’ll do my own worse-worse case scenario on revenue generation.

Quoting only one line from that study:

“ Businesses who added an outdoor LED sign enjoyed typical sales increases of 15%-150%.”

Let’s say they only see a 10% increase in their business. Further, another SBA report says that the average sales revenue of a small business (100 employees or less) is $3,000,000. We all know that is very high because so many very small businesses are viable customers. So, let’s divide that number by 10, and say the average sales revenue is only $300,000, per annum.

Math time:

Sales increase of $300,000 x 10% is $30,000.

Assume a margin of 33%, ie- every dollar brought in, 66% is used to cover the cost of goods.

So, about $10,000 of increased income  is coming from those hot ads running on the LED sign.

If a $25,000 LED sign is financed for 4 years at 8% interest, the payment is, about $600 per month or $7,200 per year.

So if you can increase profit by $10,000 for a $7,200 expense, is that a good deal, or what? And, what if this “worst-case” scenario is too conservative?

Think about it. What happens after the 4 year financing period? The display will probably last a lot longer than that assuming the pizza joint doesn’t want to re-visit that technology train early and get a better one. Say it lasts 8 years. Years 5-8 don’t have any payment or interest charges associated with them. “Free Money” so to speak.

My guess is that the sign company either doesn’t show these facts to the pizza joint owner, or the sign company doesn’t believe it. Another possibility is that the sign company estimator is not that used to this simple scenario and could benefit from some role play on improving  his presentation. A simple “fill in the blank” worksheet could help and it’s simple to create.

Somehow you have to convince your customer that now is the time relinquish all fears and  jump on that “Technology Train”. Some manufacturer’s make it easier on the customer by providing professional content and easy-to-use, yet powerful, software.

Remember too that you can overcome customer objections but not excuses. Fear of complex technology is an objection- make it simple for them by doing your homework and finding the manufacturer that is shifting industry paradigms. Professional content and great software is not a promise of the future its out there right now.

Do your due diligence and figure it out!

These comments belong to me, Mike Prongue, and do not reflect the views, opinions, hopes or dreams of anyone else, anywhere else and this includes Vantage LED. I appreciate your constructive opinion which may be sent to me at michael@vantageled.com. 

Digital Signage Sales 101: What Is True Customer Service?

One July day, many years ago, I crawled up a ladder to change the plastic letters on a reader board at my family’s car stereo store in Rockledge, FL. It was late in July and the aluminum ladder had been baking in the direct sun for hours. I stepped onto it and grabbed the hot metal rail and so began an hour of pain. 

“Speed Trap Ahead- Cobra Radar Detectors $99,” eventually appeared on both sides of the 4’x8’ reader board. Other businesses admired our changeable, on-premise, outdoor media. But they were not the poor schmuck who had to sort through the box of letters, crawl up the ladder, line them up and then put it all away in the 95º heat.

Thank God some smart person invented LED display technology and adapted it to outdoor messaging and digital display.

Beware still because even with all the resources available, all LED sign manufacturers are not the same. There are many ways to differentiate between them- price, reliability, USA or foreign, technologically advanced, but most importantly is customer service.

What is customer service? It’s everything that’s not a customer disservice. Fundamental to true customer service is what’s found deep in the heart and soul of the company. Many companies preach “the customer is King” but their “castle of promises” is made of sand instead of limestone. The first little wave and they crumble hopelessly. It’s not always good to be “King”.

Is a company doing all they can every day in every way for their customers?  How do they make the customer experience memorable, or is each customer just a fattened steer in a cattle chute? Do you think some companies ever consider the world through their customer’s eyes or do they just sell a commodity LED sign? Then, each night as they lock up they have a group prayer so in the morning not too many angry customers will call. I've seen this before, it’s not pretty.

Everything a Company Does Builds their Legacy

"Every Breath You Take"

Every single day
Every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I'll be watching you!

This song by the English musician Sting summarizes it. Companies are held accountable for everything they say and do. In today’s digital age there truly is no carpet to sweep mistakes under. Accountability comes in the form of a diminished reputation which translates into missed sales. Prices are well known, mistakes are instantly on some group chat, and when a company says “no” instead of “heck yes” a digital black mark is recorded somewhere. 

This means a company has to be proactive with their treatment of customers and try to offer solutions, excellent product, leading-edge technology and do it before the customer asks for it. They have to be committed to making the customer’s life better and easier.

And, oh yes, the best companies enjoy doing this and appear to have fun delivering service to the customer. Make it fun; easy to say, but hard to do for some organizations.

Don’t Sell an LED Sign, Sell an Advertising Solution

The company that made the old reader board with the changeable plastic letters sold a sign.  They probably thought that by selling the steel commodity they were selling an advertising solution and, for that era, they may have been correct.

But now, 2014, so many LED sign choices are available, global choices, many with similar hardware and decent reliability they all begin to morph into a “digital wheat” of sorts – a commodity.

Smart LED sign manufacturers, proactive, customer-service focused LED manufacturers realize that a glowing metal box is not an advertising solution. They live for a day in their customer shoes and inject added value components into their offering that go beyond the hardware alone:

• Professionally produced content. The customer does not have to waste time and resources making their own messages, slides and animation.
• On-site service plans that ensure the LED sign is not a recurring drain on resources. Even the offer of this type of service plan speaks to the underlying reliability of what they sell.
• Remote access of LED sign networks from various electronic platforms.
• True “bend over backwards” support from initial on-site demos to customized software.
• Easy to use software that allows the end-user maximum control with minimal learning.

By creating an advertising solution the smart LED sign manufacturer creates a unique niche in the market place and virtually guarantees the end-user that their LED sign will work hard for them and provide a return on investment. Also by offering these advantages the LED sign manufacturer creates a loyal following in the marketplace and carves out a lofty position in the industry.

This is real customer service- provide a solution. Of course you have to do all the other stuff too. Why? Because customers are watching you and they are informed and smart!

Do your homework before establishing a relationship with a LED sign manufacturer. Check them out, call their home office and see how long it takes before speaking to someone “in the know”. Every company tells you who they are, in one way or another. All you have to do is listen.

These comments belong to me, Mike Prongue, and do not reflect the views, opinions, hopes or dreams of anyone else, anywhere else and this includes Vantage LED. I appreciate your constructive opinion which may be sent to me at michael@vantageled.com.