Lessons from Marvel’s AVengers for the AV Industry

Tony Stark - Iron Man

Technology can make or break you.  We learn that Tony Stark can invent anything and often invents things just because he can.  Similarly, in the AV industry we implement technology for technology’s sake.  From the comics and movies we learn that if we implement technology without fully researching it and without finding out the purpose behind the tech we end up in trouble.  If we implement technology without researching the problems that it will solve then we are doomed to fighting the technology later.  Eventually, Tony Stark (Iron Man) fights against some form of his technology (or at least in 3 of his movies and hints of it in the upcoming Avengers movie). In AV we find that when we implement new or unproven technology we end up fighting against it later.  Think back to when you implemented a “leading edge” technology and you were left hanging in the field because the product didn’t support a feature you believed it supported.  You might as well have been fighting against Ultron.  Sometimes, leaning on proven age-old technology is the best route.  “The old ways are the best ways.”

Captain Steve Rogers - Captain America

What makes Captain Rogers suitable to be Captain America?  Was it size and skill?  No.  He had heart and determination.  Our lesson for the AV industry is that the companies that stay true to their purpose and passion are the ones that stand the test of time.  I also have to say that the secondary lesson that Captain America has to teach us is the importance of “shield.”  When working in AV, the signals are much more susceptible to outside interference and shield(ing) is more important than in data.  There is a lot more checksums and error correction in data than in AV.  AV needs shield(ing) a lot more than data.  So whenever there is a doubt (like Captain America) use your “shield.”

Thor – Son of Oden – The Right Tool for the Right Job

Sure, Thor only has a hammer, but it is the right tool for the job.  In AV we can learn from Thor that we need the RIGHT tool for the job.  We often skimp on tools and test equipment to save a dime and often spend a dollar later.  Ask your technicians and project managers to document the time wasted because they don’t have “The Crusher” (the translated name for Thor’s Hammer).  You will be surprised to learn how much time and money you are wasting because you tried to save a dime in test equipment or fancy tools.  Thor’s lesson is an expensive hammer is sometimes worth its weight in gold.  As a side note, we could learn that one should expand their toolbox to include more than just a hammer.  When you only have a hammer every problem looks like a nail.  Thor addresses this problem by surrounding himself with team members that round out his tool collection (both on Asgard and when on Earth).

Bruce Banner - The Hulk – Might Means Right

When you have brute force behind you, how can you be wrong?  There are some instances when knowing you have the strength of an entire industry behind you, you just know that you can do anything.  From the Hulk, we can learn that the sheer size and strength of our industry is an attribute we often downplay.  We tend to ignore the fact that we are a huge industry of incredibly knowledgeable professionals.  If you look at the history of InfoComm® you learn that it dates back to before 1939 and that AV has been around much longer than that.  You also learn that there are over 10,000 CTS/CTS-I/CTS-D holders.  The AV industry is a Hulk of an industry and when directed properly, “Hulk, will smash!”  When we consider that we have added Unified Communications and Collaboration to our skill sets and that we have the strength of the likes of Cisco and Polycom behind us, we are clearly the big green giant in this fight.  Of course it helps that Bruce Banner is also the world’s leading scientific researcher in his field.  We should learn that when we are not our giant alter ego, we can still gain the respect of everyone around us by being the trusted advisor and knowledgeable guy in the room about our subject area of expertise.  So I guess there are two lessons to learn here; knowledge is power and power is power.

The Role of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The two overall messages we can learn from Marvel’s AVengers for the AV industry is the value of balance within the team and the need for good leadership.  As a team, the AVengers are unbeatable.  Each member has their strengths and weaknesses and the team plays builds on the strengths of each member and covers each other’s weaknesses.  The leadership that S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division) provides wraps the whole AVengers team together and allows each member to leverage their strengths while still working within the strategic plan of an overarching structure.  Even superheroes need purpose and direction that can only be provided by good leadership.  Once leadership sets the direction and establishes the environment of success, they need to get out of the way and let the true heroes do the work.

Stop Selling My Products

“Stop selling my products” – This would be my new tagline if I were to move back into sales.

This may sound like a stupid statement for a sales person to say but bear with me for a little bit.  I can think of a million resellers that can sell my products exactly the way I prescribe.  For example, If I sell videoconference systems, I believe that they would be sold and installed by many AV and IT resellers alike.  The end result with thousands of AV/IT resellers will be almost identical.  Once all of the problems with network provisioning and space planning are all worked out, the room usually ends up with a display or two at the head end of the room, a camera placed below above or even between the two screens, loudspeakers placed in the ceiling and microphones in the ceiling or on the table with a speakerphone.  Of course there are subtle variations to the deployment based on some of the accessories I can offer as a manufacturer to allow for some level of customization.  But, no one, almost no one, will offer a completely different solution.  So why would I tell you to “stop selling my product?” Let me answer that by asking you a question: what value are you adding when you integrate my products exactly the same way that I prescribe?  Are you doing anything I can’t do if I were to hire a sales force and integration team of my own? 

Once this off-the-shelf videoconference room is built, what are the common complaints that the users will have?

•           The local participants yell at the ceiling or the table when speaking to the remote participants instead of speaking naturally and looking into the camera
•           The users can’t share documents with the other end easily and naturally
•           The people on the far end cannot look around the room and look for reactions as they would if they were in the room
•           Desktop sharing and remote collaboration are not seamless with remote users
•           Local AV integration does not consider the remote users – there is no option for dual screen so that camera and content will be an option
•           Local whiteboarding is not included as part of the remote sharing features
•           True collaboration is not the overriding application
•           The room is not intuitive to use and people would rather travel

The list goes on.

My point here is that, as a sales person, I would prefer my product not be sold as off-the-shelf items that are simply put in rooms as-is.  I would rather a full needs analysis and program report/design phase be completed and my products be fully integrated in a completely unique way.  Here is an example: what if there were an integrator that designed a videoconferencing system that treated remote users as if they were “In-The-Room.”  In addition to the room videoconference system, this system could have a camera (or two – one for a full room scan/peripheral view and one for eye-to-eye contact), a microphone and an LCD screen built into a chair (or a few chairs) for remote participant(s).  In this integrated solution, the local user looks at the chair (now “occupied” by the remote user “John” and makes eye contact, speaks to him with a normal voice.  John can now even use the pan tilt and zoom to look at others and address them directly.  His chair can even swivel and tilt to show some of the same body language he is showing on his remote end.  You can even add a document camera that is mounted into the ceiling so that local room participants can slide documents across the table to John.  Heck, at this point much of the local system becomes a simple matter of AV switching, so sharing a whiteboard or other local content is just another camera.  If you add online collaboration capabilities similar to GoToMeeting or even free versions like TeamViewer or SplashTop then sharing the desktop and true collaboration are not foreign concepts.  The last and most important feature that most certainly needs to be integrated by an AV/IT integrator is the control aspect.  The control system is what will provide the ease of use and the user interface.  An integrator that does such a solutions based offering is the type of partner I would want as my customer/partner.  Of course, there are current robotic solutions on the market now that offer similar features.  But even if I don’t sell that robotic type of product, my hope is that you will integrate my products and build a better solution than the off-the-shelf one and that you will add your value to the equation. 

My hope as a sales person is that you will add value that I don’t have and that together we can meet end user needs that even the end user didn’t know that they had.  Together we should know how to connect my product features and functions to how they benefit the customer and address their pains.  If together we can identify explicit and implied needs we can complete this whole sales cycle instead of just pushing products.  If I, in turn, provide service and support that make your unique skills and knowledge shine and if I can help your deployment and service painless and profitable, then you will choose my products over my competitors.  My bottom line: “Stop selling my products and start truly integrating them.”  When this happens, we all win and the biggest winner is the end user.

Connecting and Volcanos – My Two AHA! Moments This Week

Another great week with a class of incredibly talented AV geeks getting their CTS credentials.  This was another unique class because it was for a manufacturer, so the depth of knowledge in projection and image quality was unparalleled.  I learned a lot from this team of professionals.  Along the way I learned some things I didn't expect to learn.

In a couple of late night conversations with a very high executive in the company I was training, I was asked some very pointed questions and statements.  These conversations ended up hitting me in the core of who I am and what I am doing.  In this few days’ worth of time, I ended up learning more about myself than years of therapy.  The highlight of what I learned has to do with Connecting and the Volcano.

Connecting – One of our late night conversations was more of a question and answer session.  The executive I was talking with wanted to learn more about me and the company he was working with.  So he asked me a lot of questions. The question that hit me the hardest and made me realize I was on the right track with grAVITation TECHnologies was when he asked “what is it that you are trying to do, are you trying to make these people understand and learn the CTS topics and pass the test or are you trying to help them learn more about the industry and best practices?”  I thought for a second and answered. “Neither. I am trying to connect with them.”  As those words came out of my mouth I realized why I do what I do.  Yes, I love to learn and I love to share my knowledge.  Yes, I love to teach and see people improve. But, above those things, I love to connect with people.  My satisfaction comes from people coming up to me years after a class and telling me how I changed their life or their approach to something and how something I said stuck with them.  I love the idea that when I spend time with people in any environment (classroom, office or on the road) that I get to connect and we SHARE information and grow TOGETHER.  By answering that seemingly simple question, I learned (or reminded myself) more than I had realized in a long while.

The Volcano – As our discussions went on, the executive I was talking to referred to me as a Volcano.  I took this as a compliment because I see volcanos as powerful.  I also liked this statement because the result of volcanos erupting can be beautiful; tropical islands and luscious and fruitful lands.  It wasn't until I got home and pondered what he was trying to tell me.  I now think that I learned a small bit of what he was trying to say (and I am sure there is much more to this).  I ended up contemplating on this a lot more and even doing some research.  I realized that this new friend was telling me that I have a balance of many talents and traits (like the volcano has all the elements: earth, wind, fire, water and air).  The challenge someone like me faces is that I can be forceful and dominant in letting go of these elements at times.  The result is not the island paradise I was hoping, but a wasteland and destruction.  The beautiful paradise takes a long time of rebuilding.  However, If I hold back and allow the forces to remain in balance and only release in small doses when the time is right and only when I need to show appropriate passion about key things, then people will get from me what they need and I will get what I need - connections.  If we continue to consider the actual volcano as the metaphor here, there are many beautiful cities that exist near active (although dormant) volcanos.  I believe this is because the inhabitants gain much more than they perceive the risk to be.  I learned that I may have the force of a volcano I must learn to control that force and remain dormant (and control the eruptions) so that I can provide a luscious and fruitful area around me. Otherwise, the volcano can destroy the environment. 

Who knows?  I could be completely off on what my new friend was trying to relay to me, but the good thing is, it doesn't really matter.  I took what I could from it and learned something and hopefully I will grow a little more because of the week I spent contemplating connections and volcanos.

My Incredible Week with the Industry’s Best and Brightest - USAV APEX

What did you do last week?  Did you take on a big and challenging project or find a new million dollar customer?  I still think I can top that.  I spent my week with some of the industry’s top integration firms’ and manufacturers’ best and brightest operating executives and next generation leaders.  Was there a secret InfoComm or NSCA meeting?  No.  I was at the USAV APEX Integrator’s Summit.  We spent the week in awesome seminars, group discussions, panel briefings, technology showcases and social events.  In this blog you will find some of the highlights from this great week.

THE PEOPLE:  First I want to share a little about the people I spent the week with.  I would like to do this from a different angle than usual.  So, here goes: I spent my week with some amazing people.  I spent dinner with an awesome proud father of a downs syndrome son.  This father was one of the most driven project/program managers I know and to learn that his home life is so challenged taught me more about how driven and caring this man is than I ever knew.  I sat at lunch with an inventor that holds 3 patents.  This same man was so intent on listening to what others had to say and so willing to learn from others you would have never known that he himself was one of the best instructors our industry has to offer.  I sat in a session and learned about new ways of thinking from the fashion industry (really, the fashion industry?) and I learned an awful lot from this session and this instructor was awesome (and as an instructor myself, you know I don’t say that very often).  At yet another dinner, I sat with someone who built their own video walls 15 years before ANY manufacturer ever build one.  I spent time with a couple of AV/IT firms that are well down the road of converging their AV and IT departments.  These companies confirmed for me that the investment in people and showing loyalty matters.  They care for their people and care how their people progress in life.  This investment pays off in dividends with returned loyalty and unmatched service to their customers.  I also spent time with a few family owned businesses and learned more and more about the passion that goes behind starting, owning and running a business of passion instead of profit.  From this group of people, I learned more about the passion in this industry than any big trade show or big stage keynote speaker could have ever taught me.  I was blessed to be with some of the industry’s most passionate people who were willing to share their knowledge and insights.

THE PROGRAMS:  During these meetings and training sessions we discussed the major programs and support that the USAV Group offers its members and how the members support each other.  This was another huge lesson for me.  The way this group leverages the collective knowledge and experience amazes me.  USAV as a whole is of one character.  The executives from the group have clearly gone through a painstaking process in selecting their group members, in that, every member is of a very similar character.  With this, the group as a whole emotes one collective message – we care and we share.  I learned from this group that there is such a thing as healthy competition.  By the nature of the business these businesses are competitive, but these particular companies have found a common ground where they can share information, methods and best practices for the betterment of each other and the industry.  With this collective mindset, they are able to share resources across the country and throughout North America.  The big lesson I learned here is that as a group these integrators are much stronger, smarter and more effective than if they were working separately.  I am proud that they allowed me to be part of their meeting and their group.

What a week.  My only complaint about the whole week was that although I did take third place in the bowling contest, I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a prize for overall bowling high score or fastest ball.  But, in all seriousness, I love learning and I love being in great company, so this was the perfect week.  Was this week better than completing a huge project or finding a million dollar customer?  You bet it was!!!

Back-to-School

What perfect timing!

The same day that I had the awesome pleasure of being in front of a best and brightest class of 22 CTS candidates from the Atlanta market of the AV industry, my 5 year old grandson started his first day of kindergarten.  Today we both had a great day of back-to-school.  Once again, I was reminded why I love what I love doing.  Being a consultant and trainer allows me to blend passion and profit.  Passion is the most important part of that equation.  I imagine standing in front of a class of professionals that are looking to further their careers gives me the same nervous joy that a new kindergarten student feels on his first day of school.

Today our family was doubly blessed.   We are once again reminded that doing what you love is what really matters in life.  The message I really want to share here is the message I received from seeing my grandson in the photos today and the message I received from my class today.  The message from both my class and my grandson was one in the same: "always find the joy in learning.

"Back-to-School is such an exciting time because it helps us to remember that life-long learning is challenging and tough but it is also fun and exciting.  It should be looked at how the kindergartener looks at the first day of school; with wide-eyes and seeing nothing but the opportunity and fun.  If we approach just about any situation with the right expectations then at least 50% of the outcome is already determined and that outcome can be awesome.  Given the opportunity, we should sign-up for all of the training and professional development opportunities we can.  And while you are at it, why not sign up with grAVITation TECH? www.grAVITAtionTECH.com

Happy learning! - Max

With Collaboration The Shoe Maker’s Kids Will No Longer Go Barefoot

There is an encouraging shift happening in the AV Integration industry.  This shift is happening at the integrator level and at the manufacturer representative level.  If you are a not a part of it, you will absolutely need to be or you will be left behind – barefoot and in the cold.  This shift illustrates the importance of living according to principles or a code.

The principles or codes I am referring to are:

1. Anything worth doing is worth doing right.  If you are going to show and tell a customer about something, show them in the right setting and show it in its best light.
2. If I believe something is going to be good for your business, it must be good for mine first. This means I won’t try to sell you anything I am not willing to use myself.  If I want to encourage you to use my product, it had better be something my organization uses to better our business.
3. Those who don’t know, teach - is a dead wrong principle. The only way to truly share information and knowledge is through experience.  If you have not lived the joys of having collaborative technologies solved your pains, you will never truly be able to relay the message of how it can do so.

In the case of collaboration, this means the ability to demonstrate the way it works for your company to improve business and it needs to integrate seamlessly.  Over the last decade or so, I have served as a national trainer and in a national business development role.  I have to tell you that you would be amazed at how many AV/IT systems integration firms, including ones I've worked for, do not use collaborative tools in their daily operations and do not have a decent demonstration facility.  These shoe maker’s kids are going barefoot.  The good news is that this is now changing though.  Now, as I travel around consulting and training with my new company, I am finding more and more companies upgrading their demonstration facilities and their internal processes and operations to include collaborative and unified communications solutions.

Dos and Don’ts of Making the Shift from Barefoot Shoemaker to Wearing Italian Leather Versace:

DO:

• Fund and resource your Demo Facility as if it were a customer project
• Stick to the schedule, require change orders, no cannibalizing, etc.
• Assign an owner of the project/room (briefing center program manager)
• Go through the full needs analysis rather than just slapping together all the free gear
• Consider the functionality of the room first then determine the equipment
• Yep, seems redundant from the one above, it’s important!
• Use the room; this is not a museum.  Demonstrations must be well practiced and natural.

DO NOT:

• Treat your demo facility as a lab (nothing gets swapped without proper change orders)
• Do not test equipment or code in this room. Let manufacturers determine what goes in the room (users decide through a needs analysis)
• If demos of new equipment are to be done in the room, it should be done through guest interfaces.  Do not “take apart the room for equipment demos from new manufacturers.”
• Try to show everything in one space (it is important that the room have function first)
•  Having a single room do too much makes it confusing to demonstrate and makes it confusing to the customer.  Even using “vignettes” is risky.
• Simulate – if you are demonstrating global videoconferencing or collaboration, do not simulate a videoconferencing with someone by doing it from room to room.  Customers catch on quickly and will keep that concern locked in the back of their mind.  Demonstrate the capability from out of the gate.

The bottom line is that when we are willing to change a behavior and show our customers that we believe in what we are telling them, they are more likely to follow our lead.  Along with that, there is a huge value in showing the value in your solutions and not just telling or presenting them.  If collaboration and unified communications are what you are selling then what better way to show the merits and value for their use than implementing them in your business?

I use the analogy of the cell phone kiosk in the mall.  I love the fact that at such a kiosk, if you were to buy a cell phone, they activate it for you by picking up a land-line and placing a call to an office and providing their head office the information needed to activate the phone.  Wait! They call their head office using a land-line to activate your cell phone???  How much confidence does that instill?  Are you doing the same thing when you invite your customer to your office to show them collaboration and unified communications and your systems are not integrated and are aged and slapped together?  Time to “get your shoes on.”

The ‘living up to your principles and code’ is part of the MENTOR key from the 7 Keys to Selling Like Leonardo from the book Da Vinci Sales by Max Kopsho.  Pre-order your copy today at www.davincisales.com or book your Da Vinci Sales Seminar at www.grAVITationTECH.com.

"So What?" Selling - Asking All the Right Questions

Ask yourself these questions so your customers never have to.

Among many attributes, it takes humility, an inquisitive nature and great listening skills to be a good salesperson. Those attributes seem almost obvious, right? Okay, I'll give you that. I think what takes a little more thought and may not be as obvious is the inquisitive nature requires more than just a curiosity about how things work, how people interact and how to creatively solve problems. You also need to constantly wonder what other people are wondering, especially what your customers are wondering. This is why I titled this blog "So What?" Selling. You need to be constantly asking yourself, "So What?" You should be doing this as if your customer is the one who actually is the one is asking it. So every time you mention a product feature or new channel program you should hear your customer's voice saying "So What?" Every time you tell your customer about a new technology or a new solution you need to assume they are thinking "So What?"

Your meetings with your customers will be at least 10X more productive if you spend time before the meeting rehearsing what your approach is going to be based on the research you have done on the customers pains and buying process. You can then focus your rehearsal around knowing the answers to their "So Whats?" The customer will thank you for not wasting their time. Notice that I assume you research the pains and buying process for the buyers prior to your meeting. I also assume you are meeting with buyers (decision makers) and that you rehearse your meeting. I have done countless sales presentations and training and I still rehearse almost every time to some degree.

Using the "So What?" method allows you to get to the three core questions sooner in the sales meeting / conversation. For this, you should have answers to these three core questions prepared before the meeting ever starts:

1. Why do something? Have you given the customer a compelling reason for action? Have you made the customer realize a pain or competitive disadvantage he/she wasn't aware of? This is sometimes a tough one to remember because when you are passionate about your products or solutions. They seem like a no brained solution and you may forget that you need to make a compelling presentation or "argument" for it to your customers. Not everyone sees the obviousness of the value of the solutions you provide as you do. You need to pretend that the customer knows nothing of our business and that they are always saying "So What?" This just happened to me when I was telling people about grAVITation TECH. To me, it was so obvious that our industry needed training that I didn't need a clear value statement, but my customer needed to hear it from me. I can't tell you how many lessons I've learned from my customers.

2. Why do something now? Have you convinced your customer of the urgency of the situation? Have you even tried to? Or did you just go with the customer's budget and timing? One of the keys to " So What?" Sales (part of the Da Vinci Sales model) is to assign urgency for the customer. You need to guide the customer in setting the expectations and understanding of the timeline. They need to have an understanding of the detrimental impact of waiting to implement your solution. By showing the customer the cost of not doing anything or delaying action, you assign urgency to the implementation of your solutions. Whether it is a continued lack or lessened productivity or loss of customers because of perceived lack of innovation (example being not invested in collaborative solutions), these examples need to be shown in strategic, political (competitive landscape), financial or cultural terms. These are the areas that people of power (decision makers) are focused. There are many ROI, TCO, ROO and other top end calculators (free from vendors in our industry) out there to use for this purpose.  These are typical in selling to C-Level people, but they are helpful in making the business case and showing your strategic literacy when working with all types of key decision makers.

3. Why do it with you? Have you made the compelling case for the customer to select you as a business partner? Sure people do business with people they like but that is after all the other things are said and done. And by the way, no sales person has a relationship quota. It is great if you make a lot of friends out there but you need business partners more. So have you given the customer the compelling reasons to do business with them? These reasons have more to do with the people, programs and processes within your organization. Have you given the customer reason to believe that your people will take care of them after the sale and that your programs and processes match their needs and wants? Make sure that you talk with their purchasing, operations and support teams to see what types of programs and processes you need to offer to support the after the sale "So Whats?" and make sure that is included in your offer up front. The whole idea is to answer the “So Whats?” before they are ever asked.

Just imagine that there is a little version of your customer sitting on your shoulder. That little version of your customer is there while you are rehearsing in the mirror the night before or while you are driving on your way to the big meeting. He/she is there saying: "SO WHAT, SO WHAT, SO WHAT?!?!?!" If you remember that, you are half way to the big sale. Remember, half the outcome is determined by the preparation. Keep listening to that "SO WHAT, SO WHAT, SO WHAT?!?!?!" Have your answers ready and you'll knock them dead!

"So What" Selling, is part of the Da Vinci Sales model. You can read more about Da Vinci Sales in the upcoming book by Max Kopsho. Pre-Order today at www.davincisales.com or book a Da Vinci Sales Seminar at www.grAVITationTECH.com.