Throughout my career I have had the privilege of working with many brilliant business people. Some of these were my colleagues and even my staff, but most were my clients; some of whom, I am humbled to admit, still read my blog.
Despite being their consultant and (in most cases) trusted adviser I can say that I have learned something from each and every one of my clients. I learned early on in my career that "owning the company" may require luck and fortunate timing. But it also requires that special mindset to see what others do not and then make it happen. It is this characteristic that I admire most in the people I work for. And this characteristic that I strive to always improve in myself.
Of all the lessons I have learned over the years I learned two of my most important lessons from my very first client, although I did not realize it at the time. Jim was what consultants would call the "worst type of client you can have." That was because he hated having us there before we had even begun. We had been brought in by his General Manager to help "fix" the factory. But as far as Jim was concerned he paid his managers to do that. I have no idea how they talked him into investing in what would be my first ever consulting project, but he was not happy about it and he let us know from the very first day.
You see Jim was the epitome of an entrepreneur. Jim didn't just see the potential of dry-erase markers. Jim put fancy doors on his whiteboards and then proceeded to put them in virtually every meeting room in North America. Jim didn't invent the wheels he put on desks and dividers to make them easy to move around. He envisioned transformable office spaces while everyone else was still building walls. And Jim didn't see the internet as just a great way to send email. He brought to market one of the first whiteboards that allowed people to share their work on line with virtual offices all over the world.
So what could an engineer with an MBA so fresh the ink hadn't yet dried on the diploma possibly learn from someone like this? Well back to how much Jim hated consultants.
It was late one night and I was down in our project office located right next to the factory. Most people had gone home for the night, but I was still there writing up a study I had conducted that day, deluding myself that I was somehow adding value. All of a sudden one of Jim's staff appeared in the doorway. "....Kevin, right?" he asked. I nodded, trying to figure out what I had done to upset Jim this time.
"Listen a bunch of us are upstairs giving Jim a hand with a project. Do you think you could help? We could really use you."
I nodded again and got up to follow the person upstairs. Suddenly I imagined the partners at my firm hanging on my every word as I described how I had managed to sell a follow-on project in Jim's Sales and Marketing department worth ten times what the first project was worth. As I hurried upstairs to the hallowed halls of the Jim's domain I pictured the partners smiling and wringing their hands as they anxiously watched me sign the papers making me the first junior partner in the young firm's history.
When at last I followed the fellow who had plucked me from obscurity into a room I saw a dozen people sitting around a large table with Jim seated at the far end. His eyes lit up as I entered. And he brightly explained that "...all these envelopes have to be stuffed by 10:00pm so that the invitations to the upcoming Sales conference could make it to the courier on time."
My dreams of instant partnership vaporized before my eyes. And as I pulled up to the table and started licking envelopes and stamps I realized my story of how I sold our next project would probably have to wait too.
The group chattered happily as they went about their work. Being from the factory I had little to add to the conversation until suddenly Jim addressed me directly. "So Kevin..." he began, "tell me what I'm getting for all the money I'm spending on your guys down there in the factory."
Lessons Number One: At first I thought about the study I had been writing up less than an hour ago. But as I looked around the table at everyone waiting for my answer I realized that telling this client that I had discovered that "there was 27% lost time in Assembly due to looking for missing parts" provided no Value whatsoever. Ironically it would take me almost 15 years to digest this simple lesson and allow me to reinvent my own management consulting company. Instead I babbled something equally non-Value added about streamlining processes, properly scheduling jobs, and installing a Resource Plan.
Lesson Number Two: Jim listened for a minute or so and then pointed his finger at me and said "those [guys] down in that factory had better get it through their heads that this is first and foremost a marketing company. And if they can't keep up with me then I'll find someone who can." Once again, it would take many years for this lesson to sink in.
I might have been a brand new consultant at that point, but even I knew when to shut up. I probably mumbled something in agreement and then went back to stuffing envelopes. However as I sat in that clean modern room with it's fancy lighting surrounded by office types who probably didn't even know how to find the factory I remember thinking to myself "...Doesn't this guy realize that without a factory he wouldn't have anything to sell?" I didn't know it at the time, but Jim had just given that know-it-all engineer-come-management-consultant the golden key to success in any business.
Since those days I have gone on to complete dozens of project in every industry imaginable. And I would like to tell you that I left Jim's marketing department that night inspired by his wisdom. But in truth it took me better than a decade, many successful projects, a number of spectacular failures including the bankruptcy of a 65 year old company under my watch, and the blood, sweat and tears associated with the start-up of my own business to fully grasp the wisdom of his words.
I still recall the "4 Ps of Marketing" from my MBA days. The job of Marketing is to identify the right Product, Place, Price and P-distribution. In other words find out what the customer Values and make sure they get it. Back then I remember the people in Jim's factory being so hung up on what they could do and couldn't do. And every time Jim's Marketing team would change a design because they found a feature that customers liked better it would send shock waves through the manufacturing process and generate piles of obsolete WIP.
That isn't to say that there aren't companies out there, very successful companies, that aren't first and foremost marketing companies. It's easy to think of famous technology companies for example that have been built on and thrived on innovation. But make no mistake, any that aren't focused on the market are living on borrowed time. It might take a week, a month, a year or longer. But eventually someone is going to come along and offer your customers a better product at a better time or a better price or a better place. And by the time you realize it, it's probably too late.
I should mention that in recognition of me staying late to help stuff envelopes Jim invited my fiance and I, along with several other guests, to spend the day on his boat out on the Toronto harbor watching speedboat races. And all of us found him to be a most generous and charming host that bright summer afternoon. It was with sadness that I learned of Jim's recent passing. It was fitting that the news came from none other than my very first consulting manager on that project all those years ago who is now a good friend and business colleague.
So the next time you erase the marker from that whiteboard in your office, stop for a moment and ask yourself "what do my customers really Value and am I giving it to them?"
