look on most of the veterans in the audience that had ten or fifteen years of service with the company. Bill had seen that look before. It was a look of complacency. He liked to refer to it as the “pickup truck and boat syndrome”. He actually had a salesman at his own company confirm his theory face to face once. He recalled those words as if he had heard them yesterday as he reached down and turned on his lavaliere microphone to begin his presentation to his sales force.

“I don’t need to work my butt off anymore. I paid my dues. I’ve been around a long time. I own my customers. I have my boat, I go fishing every weekend and my son finished college. What else is there? Life is good and a few extra bucks every year isn’t worth messing up my life style.”

Bill almost chuckled out loud as he recalled that conversation with a stogy old veteran of the industry that had worked for him. It took a little while, but Bill had reached that sales veteran and today he is a good friend and still the number one sales person at Bill’s old company.

Bill’s recollection of that conversation also reminded him that the “pickup truck and boat” syndrome is probably just a part of the problem. The faces before him seemed to confirm that suspicion

Bill Borders stepped up onto the podium. He had just been introduced as the new Vice President of Sales for Kiechler Building Supplies. As he looked out at the fifty seven faces staring back at him, time seemed to stop and everyone was motionless. Bills mind wandered. This wasn’t a nervous reaction; it was more of a reality check.

Bill had already met most of the fifty seven faces that were now looking at him in anticipation of what he might say. In fact, he had individual casual conversation with many of those faces in the audience.

Bill had been hired by Tom Thompson, third generation President/owner of Kiechler Building Supplies just five short months ago, but he had already managed to personally visit every single one of the sixteen branches Kiechler owned. He was hired to change the direction of the company, to recapture lost market share, to rejuvenate the sales force and put Kiechler back on the growth track to become the premier building supplies distributor in the Southwest once again.

Bill was confident that he could meet the challenge that Tom Thompson had laid out before him. His personal history and knowledge of the industry gave credibility to his confidence. Challenge was no stranger to Bill Borders. Being a decorated Marine platoon sergeant combined with the street experience he gained growing up in the building supply business, provided Bill with exactly the quality of leadership necessary to tackle the issues Kiechler had been facing for the past five years. Lost market share, deteriorating competitive advantage, a culture of compassion that lost all of it’s acquaintance with accountability and a lack of trust in the leadership of the company was pushing Kiechler toward the brink of disaster.

As Bill stood on that stage, facing his sales force all together for the very first time, he scanned the room looking from left to right and then right to left. As he looked into the faces of the people that held a major share of Kiechler's final destiny in their very own hands, he briefly revisited his decision to accept Tom Thompson’s offer and plea to come out of retirement and help rebuild a company that had seemed to have lost it’s passion, it’s energy, it’s sense of urgency and most importantly it’s will to regain the reputation it held for over fifty years as the premier building supply distributor in the Southwest.

Bill had sold his own company located in the Northwest and moved to Southern California four years ago. He was only fifty eight years old at the time. Retirement seemed like the very thing he wanted to do. After two years of playing golf five days a week and relaxing by reading over 100 different books, boredom started setting in. Then Tom Thompson approached him with an offer. Bill accepted Tom’s offer and they agreed on a three year contract that would take Bill to age sixty five. Bill knew with complete confidence that he could solve Kiechler's problems and recreate the success factor that had once existed at the company. Bill knew that Tom Thompson needed guidance, coaching and mentoring, but he believed that Tom was not the root cause of the problem even though he was a young forty two year old President trying to fill his father’s shoes. Bill was confident that in three years, he would make Kiechler Building Supplies the number one distributor in the Southwest once again. He was sure that he could rekindle the passion, the commitment, the culture and ultimately the reputation Tom’s grandfather began creating the day he opened the business in 1957. He knew it would be a challenge, but Bill seemed to have that unique leadership quality that made people want to follow him. He had that unique ability to get people to release the discretionary energy that is critical to success, energy that is only released if you believe in the company and you believe in your leader.

A few seconds had passed since Bill stepped onto that stage, but time was still at a standstill in Bill’s mind. He scanned the room one more time. Slowly this time looking squarely into the eyes of the men and women that represented the $125 million in revenue Kiechler reported the prior year. This was a year that reflected a 20% decline in previous year’s sales. As Bill looked into the eyes of his sales force, he felt he could almost feel the many different facets of the problems the company faced. The sales force before him seemed to send that message. In Bill’s eyes, most of the problems were written all over the fifty seven faces that stared back at him from the classroom style setup in this conference hall.

A few faces in the crowd were even older than Bill himself with a look that cried out, “What do you know? What can you tell me? Why should I listen to you? Why should I bust my butt? I’m happy with the ways things work here. We don’t need any ‘Rah Rah lets all work harder speech’.”

That look didn’t appear just on the faces of the few in the audience that were older than Bill. He could see that look on most of the veterans in the audience that had ten or fifteen years of service with the company. Bill had seen that look before. It was a look of complacency. He liked to refer to it as the “pickup truck and boat syndrome”. He actually had a salesman at his own company confirm his theory face to face once. He recalled those words as if he had heard them yesterday as he reached down and turned on his lavaliere microphone to begin his presentation to his sales force.

“I don’t need to work my butt off anymore. I paid my dues. I’ve been around a long time. I own my customers. I have my boat, I go fishing every weekend and my son finished college. What else is there? Life is good and a few extra bucks every year isn’t worth messing up my life style.”

Bill almost chuckled out loud as he recalled that conversation with a stogy old veteran of the industry that had worked for him. It took a little while, but Bill had reached that sales veteran and today he is a good friend and still the number one sales person at Bill’s old company.

Bill’s recollection of that conversation also reminded him that the “pickup truck and boat” syndrome is probably just a part of the problem. The faces before him seemed to confirm that suspicion.

a decorated Marine platoon sergeant combined with the street experience he gained growing up in the building supply business, provided Bill with exactly the quality of leadership necessary to tackle the issues Kiechler had been facing for the past five years. Lost market share, deteriorating competitive advantage, a culture of compassion that lost all of it’s acquaintance with accountability and a lack of trust in the leadership of the company was pushing Kiechler toward the brink of disaster.

As Bill stood on that stage, facing his sales force all together for the very first time, he scanned the room looking from left to right and then right to left. As he looked into the faces of the people that held a major share of Kiechler's final destiny in their very own hands, he briefly revisited his decision to accept Tom Thompson’s offer and plea to come out of retirement and help rebuild a company that had seemed to have lost it’s passion, it’s energy, it’s sense of urgency and most importantly it’s will to regain the reputation it held for over fifty years as the premier building supply distributor in the Southwest.

Bill had sold his own company located in the Northwest and moved to Southern California four years ago. He was only fifty eight years old at the time. Retirement seemed like the very thing he wanted to do. After two years of playing golf five days a week and relaxing by reading over 100 different books, boredom started setting in. Then Tom Thompson approached him with an offer. Bill accepted Tom’s offer and they agreed on a three year contract that would take Bill to age sixty five. Bill knew with complete confidence that he could solve Kiechler's problems and recreate the success factor that had once existed at the company. Bill knew that Tom Thompson needed guidance, coaching and mentoring, but he believed that Tom was not the root cause of the problem even though he was a young forty two year old President trying to fill his father’s shoes. Bill was confident that in three years, he would make Kiechler Building Supplies the number one distributor in the Southwest once again. He was sure that he could rekindle the passion, the commitment, the culture and ultimately the reputation Tom’s grandfather began creating the day he opened the business in 1957. He knew it would be a challenge, but Bill seemed to have that unique leadership quality that made people want to follow him. He had that unique ability to get people to release the discretionary energy that is critical to success, energy that is only released if you believe in the company and you believe in your leader.

A few seconds had passed since Bill stepped onto that stage, but time was still at a standstill in Bill’s mind. He scanned the room one more time. Slowly this time looking squarely into the eyes of the men and women that represented the $125 million in revenue Kiechler reported the prior year. This was a year that reflected a 20% decline in previous year’s sales. As Bill looked into the eyes of his sales force, he felt he could almost feel the many different facets of the problems the company faced. The sales force before him seemed to send that message. In Bill’s eyes, most of the problems were written all over the fifty seven faces that stared back at him from the classroom style setup in this conference hall.

A few faces in the crowd were even older than Bill himself with a look that cried out, “What do you know? What can you tell me? Why should I listen to you? Why should I bust my butt? I’m happy with the ways things work here. We don’t need any ‘Rah Rah lets all work harder speech’.”

That look didn’t appear just on the faces of the few in the audience that were older than Bill. He could see that look on most of the veterans in the audience that had ten or fifteen years of service with the company. Bill had seen that look before. It was a look of complacency. He liked to refer to it as the “pickup truck and boat syndrome”. He actually had a salesman at his own company confirm his theory face to face once. He recalled those words as if he had heard them yesterday as he reached down and turned on his lavaliere microphone to begin his presentation to his sales force.

“I don’t need to work my butt off anymore. I paid my dues. I’ve been around a long time. I own my customers. I have my boat, I go fishing every weekend and my son finished college. What else is there? Life is good and a few extra bucks every year isn’t worth messing up my life style.”

Bill almost chuckled out loud as he recalled that conversation with a stogy old veteran of the industry that had worked for him. It took a little while, but Bill had reached that sales veteran and today he is a good friend and still the number one sales person at Bill’s old company.

Bill’s recollection of that conversation also reminded him that the “pickup truck and boat” syndrome is probably just a part of the problem. The faces before him seemed to confirm that suspicion

fifty eight years old at the time. Retirement seemed like the very thing he wanted to do. After two years of playing golf five days a week and relaxing by reading over 100 different books, boredom started setting in. Then Tom Thompson approached him with an offer. Bill accepted Tom’s offer and they agreed on a three year contract that would take Bill to age sixty five. Bill knew with complete confidence that he could solve Kiechler's problems and recreate the success factor that had once existed at the company. Bill knew that Tom Thompson needed guidance, coaching and mentoring, but he believed that Tom was not the root cause of the problem even though he was a young forty two year old President trying to fill his father’s shoes. Bill was confident that in three years, he would make Kiechler Building Supplies the number one distributor in the Southwest once again. He was sure that he could rekindle the passion, the commitment, the culture and ultimately the reputation Tom’s grandfather began creating the day he opened the business in 1957. He knew it would be a challenge, but Bill seemed to have that unique leadership quality that made people want to follow him. He had that unique ability to get people to release the discretionary energy that is critical to success, energy that is only released if you believe in the company and you believe in your leader.

A few seconds had passed since Bill stepped onto that stage, but time was still at a standstill in Bill’s mind. He scanned the room one more time. Slowly this time looking squarely into the eyes of the men and women that represented the $125 million in revenue Kiechler reported the prior year. This was a year that reflected a 20% decline in previous year’s sales. As Bill looked into the eyes of his sales force, he felt he could almost feel the many different facets of the problems the company faced. The sales force before him seemed to send that message. In Bill’s eyes, most of the problems were written all over the fifty seven faces that stared back at him from the classroom style setup in this conference hall.

A few faces in the crowd were even older than Bill himself with a look that cried out, “What do you know? What can you tell me? Why should I listen to you? Why should I bust my butt? I’m happy with the ways things work here. We don’t need any ‘Rah Rah lets all work harder speech’.”

That look didn’t appear just on the faces of the few in the audience that were older than Bill. He could see that look on most of the veterans in the audience that had ten or fifteen years of service with the company. Bill had seen that look before. It was a look of complacency. He liked to refer to it as the “pickup truck and boat syndrome”. He actually had a salesman at his own company confirm his theory face to face once. He recalled those words as if he had heard them yesterday as he reached down and turned on his lavaliere microphone to begin his presentation to his sales force.

“I don’t need to work my butt off anymore. I paid my dues. I’ve been around a long time. I own my customers. I have my boat, I go fishing every weekend and my son finished college. What else is there? Life is good and a few extra bucks every year isn’t worth messing up my life style.”

Bill almost chuckled out loud as he recalled that conversation with a stogy old veteran of the industry that had worked for him. It took a little while, but Bill had reached that sales veteran and today he is a good friend and still the number one sales person at Bill’s old company.

Bill’s recollection of that conversation also reminded him that the “pickup truck and boat” syndrome is probably just a part of the problem. The faces before him seemed to confirm that suspicion

that is critical to success, energy that is only released if you believe in the company and you believe in your leader.

A few seconds had passed since Bill stepped onto that stage, but time was still at a standstill in Bill’s mind. He scanned the room one more time. Slowly this time looking squarely into the eyes of the men and women that represented the $125 million in revenue Kiechler reported the prior year. This was a year that reflected a 20% decline in previous year’s sales. As Bill looked into the eyes of his sales force, he felt he could almost feel the many different facets of the problems the company faced. The sales force before him seemed to send that message. In Bill’s eyes, most of the problems were written all over the fifty seven faces that stared back at him from the classroom style setup in this conference hall.

A few faces in the crowd were even older than Bill himself with a look that cried out, “What do you know? What can you tell me? Why should I listen to you? Why should I bust my butt? I’m happy with the ways things work here. We don’t need any ‘Rah Rah lets all work harder speech’.”

That look didn’t appear just on the faces of the few in the audience that were older than Bill. He could see that look on most of the veterans in the audience that had ten or fifteen years of service with the company. Bill had seen that look before. It was a look of complacency. He liked to refer to it as the “pickup truck and boat syndrome”. He actually had a salesman at his own company confirm his theory face to face once. He recalled those words as if he had heard them yesterday as he reached down and turned on his lavaliere microphone to begin his presentation to his sales force.

“I don’t need to work my butt off anymore. I paid my dues. I’ve been around a long time. I own my customers. I have my boat, I go fishing every weekend and my son finished college. What else is there? Life is good and a few extra bucks every year isn’t worth messing up my life style.”

Bill almost chuckled out loud as he recalled that conversation with a stogy old veteran of the industry that had worked for him. It took a little while, but Bill had reached that sales veteran and today he is a good friend and still the number one sales person at Bill’s old company.

Bill’s recollection of that conversation also reminded him that the “pickup truck and boat” syndrome is probably just a part of the problem. The faces before him seemed to confirm that suspicion

look on most of the veterans in the audience that had ten or fifteen years of service with the company. Bill had seen that look before. It was a look of complacency. He liked to refer to it as the “pickup truck and boat syndrome”. He actually had a salesman at his own company confirm his theory face to face once. He recalled those words as if he had heard them yesterday as he reached down and turned on his lavaliere microphone to begin his presentation to his sales force.

“I don’t need to work my butt off anymore. I paid my dues. I’ve been around a long time. I own my customers. I have my boat, I go fishing every weekend and my son finished college. What else is there? Life is good and a few extra bucks every year isn’t worth messing up my life style.”

Bill almost chuckled out loud as he recalled that conversation with a stogy old veteran of the industry that had worked for him. It took a little while, but Bill had reached that sales veteran and today he is a good friend and still the number one sales person at Bill’s old company.

Bill’s recollection of that conversation also reminded him that the “pickup truck and boat” syndrome is probably just a part of the problem. The faces before him seemed to confirm that suspicion. There were the eager faces of the newer sales people willing to learn but perhaps they haven’t had the opportunity. Bill knew the company “Talked the Talk” professing in their mission statement that employees are their most important asset but they failed to invest profits in training and development. Bill also saw a different look on the faces of the majority of his sales people. That look seemed to point out that they were being held captive in a culture embracing a reactive, passive order taking environment, a culture that didn’t even understand demand creation, a culture so distant from accountability that reactive route mentality sales became the platform for Kiechler’s market share degeneration.

Bill’s microphone went live and a loud screech from the sound system brought his consciousness back to the moment. The very last thought that raced across his mind before he began to speak took him back to the biggest challenge he had ever faced in his life. For a brief moment he was back in the jungle on the outskirts of DaNang, Vietnam. He made a speech that day too, a much more important speech. He peered into the eyes of those men he had to lead also. Young men, young warriors, young marines that looked up to him as their platoon sergeant. He looked at them and told them he believed in them. He made them a promise that day. He promised he would take them back, take them back home. Twenty five of his men were in the fight of their lives that day, the day DaNang was over run. Twenty four of them came home. Bill regretted that one loss, but all his men knew that he was one of but only a few leaders that could have got them through that day. They believed in him and it paid off. Bill took them back home.

Bill started his little talk by saying;

“Nowadays, salespeople must be problem solvers able to generate solutions for customers in their time of need. Therefore, we must possess a great deal of knowledge about our customers' business. We must actually define what those needs are because the customer may not know, nor take the time to explain if they do know. Customers want us to have the knowledge and intelligence to comprehend and analyze their problems before showing up at the door. Customers will listen and buy from the salesperson that finds the "pain" and takes it away.”

Bill hesitated a little for effect before he continued.

“That means we need to go back to the basics. We are going to revisit sales best practices. Some of you will know exactly what we are talking about. Some of you may have forgotten it and some of you may have never known the principles upon which we are going to rebuild our sales force. In the building industry today our sales environment leans toward a more multifaceted atmosphere, salespeople must become strategists with a plan. This plan requires more knowledge about the business, better relationships and better solutions. Some old school salesmen may believe they know what it takes. They have the experience. They've been around a long time. They also may be wrong. The world has changed ladies and gentlemen. To recreate the competitive advantage that Kiechler enjoyed in the past we must do things differently. We can't afford to be complacent. Complacency destroys competitive advantage. As sales professionals, we can't become full of ourselves, no matter how long we've been in the field, no matter how much experience we have.”

Bill’s gaze sought out the veterans in the audience as he spoke those words. He continued:

“Going back to basics and revisiting best practice means we are going to be talking about targeting, goal setting, action planning and customer profiling. Targeting is the process of selecting high potential customer accounts to receive intense sales focus. Goal setting translates that high potential into achievable numeric objectives, i.e. revenue and margin growth. Action planning means we have to define the activities that are required to achieve our expected results. It’s about strategizing, figuring out exactly what it is going to take to succeed at every individual account we target. That is why it is important that we understand the customer's customer and the customer's industry. Be more knowledgeable and conscious of our customer's problem. We are no longer selling a product, we are selling a solution to make their life easier, happier, better, less complicated, or more fun. By understanding the customer's business and his customers, we help them make a profit through cost reductions, improved efficiencies, increased value and increased sales. Solutions come in many forms and may have nothing to do with our products. That's okay. Look for the pain regardless of what it is and focus on the solution. Customers don't want products; they want profits - or ways to make profits. They want satisfaction, feelings of comfort, pride, praise and self-esteem. They are people just like us. Well, maybe they don't have the same crazy genetics that we have as sa