Financial Stability...A luxury or a necessity?

What do you think? Is financial stability on today's marketplace a luxury or a necessity? I think you could ask many people this question and you would get a variety of answers.

For those of us who work with a company that is on firm footing financially the answer is pretty clear. It is an absolute must to run a professional organization in an efficient manner that one maintains their financial independence.

Paying your bills to vendors on time and paying your workers on time is not a negotiable point if you are to be successful today.

All too often we get phone calls from people where this is not the case. Have you ever sold an order only to find that your firm no longer has credit with the vendor? have you been asked to collect deposits from customers when you never had to do this before?

Have you been told that your commission structure is changing and not for the better? If you are a business owner are you paying everyone else but yourself?

I heard this personally from several owners. They give and give and give of themselves but at the end of the day there is nothing left for them to make a living.

I am hear to tell you that it does not need to be this way in 2010. Whether you are an owner or a salesperson working for someone else you owe it to yourself to be good to numero uno (that is YOU) in 2010.

There are many good companies that are out there today who will be willing to work with you to provide you with that firm financial footing. I am biased obviously when I say that The Vernon Company is one of those firms but I will also be quick to say the following....

Some Tips for those exploring new employment options in 2010

1. You need to fully investigate to see if a company is a match for you
2. Be wary of a company that says we are a fit before ever speaking with you
3. Do not be squeamish about asking to see the financial records of a prospective employer or at the very least ask for a current Dun and Bradstreet Report showing their credit rating.
4. Ask about the amount of debt that a company has, both short term and long term
5. Take a home office visit if possible to meet members of the support team
6. Make sure that you speak with some sales reps that sell a similar level of sales volume as you do and ask lots of questions, lots of questions...

If you decide that a change may be in your future I recommend that you contact three companies before making any changes. A good idea is to talk to some of your key supplier friends to ask them about companies that they feel are stable from a financial perspective. This needs to be your first focus! Again it is a necessity ,not a luxury!

Lots of companies make promises!

Lots of companies make a lot of buzz in the short term but are not around in the long term! If you are only interested in a short term career then they may be good options for you!

Lots of companies need to borrow money over and over again! Why is that and how long will it last?

Offering a wide variety of perks to reps and employees while losing money year after year is not an equation that I ever understood from my math classes growing up! It will not last long.

Too many salespeople have learned this lesson the hard way being forced to find a new home for their business every other year.

If stability is what you want in a NEW employer it begins with your search criteria. Don't be fooled by all the hype. Do your due diligence!

You owe it to yourself!

Check out opportunities to meet with Vernon's Management Team by clicking the link below

Vernon Information Open House

Out with the old and in with the new...

2009 Year In Review

WOW! What a year it has been? Click on the link below to get insights as to how The Vernon Company did. I will talk about some of our achievements and what we are looking at as we head into 2010. Good riddance to 2009!

Come see us in Orlando or Las Vegas

We hope to get a chance to visit with you.

See you soon!

What does the future hold?

See my recent comments posted in response to a PROMO 35 Group Guest Interview....

Again, this is just my opinion...


promo35: "What will 2010 be like?" with Dave Regan - Vice President of Vernon Company





1. Describe what 2010 will be like for our industry in one word.

Rebound


2. Will 2010 be up, down, about the same compared to 2009?

Up, up, and up!


3. Do you see major changes happening to our industry in 2010 and the next few years?

Not really…I know this probably sounds like I have my head in the sand but while I recognize that there will be lots of other things to be concerned with such as product safety issues and social media opportunities at the end of the day our industry relies on relationships! Salespeople, distributors and suppliers who are good at forming and strengthening relationships will be successful. Those that cannot develop and maintain solid relationships at all levels with suppliers, manufacturers, salespeople and customers will falter.


4. What is something good we have going for our industry moving forward?

Our best attribute is our people! To be more specific it is the resiliency of the people in this industry. For more than 100 years this industry has been successful. We have weathered the great depression, two world wars and several recessions. In the end it is the grass roots nature of our business that enables us to endure.


5. What is something not so good that might hurt us moving forward?

The one thing that is sure to create some heartaches in the weeks and months ahead involves restrictive and confusing government legislation. Issues like the pharmaceutical laws, the product safety and compliance guidelines and restrictions on purchases by doctors have created a flurry of different interpretations by everyone involved in the supply chain.

It is absolutely critical that everyone in the supply chain is committed to educating themselves and their staff to stay up to speed in all these areas. This includes manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, distributor salespeople and the end buyers. If our education efforts are not successful with any of these groups it is fair to say that the value proposition of promotional products will not be communicated properly.

My fear in looking down the road is that due to the extremely fragmented nature of industry, namely the fact that small distributors and suppliers number in the thousands, that we will not have a unified approach to these issues in general and the industry as a whole will be negatively impacted by the transgressions of a few who choose not to pay attention to the serious nature of some of these areas of concern. A good example of this is where someone chooses to promote and sell a product that is cheaper, but NOT safe. I think we all know what the damaging impact of that type of a decision can mean for the industry!

Remember...I've got feelings!

Actually the title is not about me, but it could be! We all know that the last year has been a very trying one for all people, not just those of us in the promotional products, but those all around the country. As an executive of one of the larger distributors in the US I have been caught up in what most people have been doing, aligning costs with the sales revenue.

Yes this includes the fun stuff (I say this 100 % sarcastically) of making budget cuts, laying off people, reducing benefits, etc. I have been involved in countless projections of sales and profits and more analysis than I care to think of. It has not been fun but it has been a necessary evil that has had to be done.

One of my responses to the economic challenges of this year involved me drastically cutting back on some travel during the second half of the calendar year. This seems to make sense…right? Again if there was a good reason to fly to the east coast or the west coast I would be on a plane tomorrow. We all still need to go about our business, unless we are closing up shop and this is certainly not a factor with our company. But again in an effort to be fiscally responsible we cut back on some discretionary travel trips.

As I write this I am returning from a sales meeting in Ohio attended by about 25 of our sales reps. I will let you know that we have almost 400 sales reps around the United States, most employees but some 1099 status folks who are compensated 100 % on straight commission. At this meeting we had a mix of long time seasoned veterans (some with over 30 years with our company) and some exciting new hires who had aligned with us recently for a variety of reasons. I would like to say that they “saw the light” and realized we were the place to be but for one reason or another we seem to fit their needs!

After a day and a half of teaching, listening and learning I was overcome with the realization that these people are real and that these people have feelings. For the past several months of analysis and projections I have been seeing their names and their sales numbers, volumes, commissions, profits, etc. on reports. Mind you I have known some of these people a long time so that this week was not my first introduction to them.

The overwhelming reality that I faced was that while I have been reviewing budgets and projecting future sales and expenses these folks have been trying to live and get by day to day in many cases. As a salaried manager with bonus opportunities and a vested interest in the company it is not as if I am just skating by with absolutely no impact on my income. I have been affected but not to the extent that the sales people on the street have experienced. I saw and heard cases of 20, 30 and 40 % losses in income. Again I knew this because I see the reports however this week it touched me more than a name on a piece of paper!

Have I been stuck in the ivory tower? Yes I think I have!

I think at the end of the day, as a person responsible for managing the business, many decisions that have been made would be the same. What I do think could be different is the way you arrive at the decisions and the manner in which you communicate them could be more compassionate.

Whether you own and run a small distributorship or a supplier or a large national firm does not really matter. Perhaps in a larger company it might be easier to “forget” about the personal side of the business if you are not interacting with the reps on a daily basis. The bottom line is that salespeople have feelings! They want to be heard! They want to be appreciated!

I have a special line that I use in our company at certain times. In those situations where someone is complaining about the actions of a particular rep I attempt to get to the core of the issue and see what happened. Sometimes it becomes apparent that a person would rather complain about the salesperson than remedy the situation. It is at that time that I will say in a very sobering tone straight faced as I can be…

”well maybe we should consider eliminating all of the sales reps. I think if we did that things would go much smoother around here. Don’t you think?”

We all know how ludicrous that this sounds. We all need salespeople! They are at the heart of our who we are and what we do. Nothing happens until something is sold!

The wake up call that I got this week was to never forget the salesperson on the street and what they go through. Stay in tune with who they are and what they do! Spend some real face time with them. Listen to them! Find out firsthand what their challenges they are encountering and discuss ways to overcome them together.

If we can remember to do these things, especially at times like this, our companies will all be better off. We need each other, management and sales, more than either side will admit but it is true!