A Tired Santa Talks Distribution

December is always a busy month here at River Heights Consulting.  Distributors are making their plans for the next year and that causes the phone to ring.  Compensation plans are being adjusted.  New hires evaluated.  All this and, it is the season for simply catching up with our friends and family and making trips to the mall with the Missus (sometimes referred to as – She who must be obeyed).

 

Regardless of all my activities, my version of busy pales in comparison to the hectic activities up north at Claus International.  Generally, I received some type of communication from my old pal Santa long before the Big Day; phone call, text, email, or even something by way of the red-striped envelope with the North Pole return. 

 

This year was different.  I received this text message just four days before Christmas:

 

SC at NP:

Frankie Boy, not ignoring all your messages.  Things got kind of hectic around here.  First, COVID, then Supply Chain Stuff, and now the dang elves are insisting on working from home.  Not sure I will have time to do our normal “sit down” this year.  I thought about pawning you off to Alabaster Snowball, who has been promoted from managing the Naughty & Nice list to Head of Operations this year.

 

Santa, thanks for the note.  I would rather not deal with Elf Snowball if you don't mind.  We may have a bit of a personality conflict.  Remember that episode where I got blasted for Naughty behavior back in 1966?  He was the one pushing for me to be a permanent recipient of coal…

Frank

 

SC at NP:

Yeah, I was kind of thinking, Alabaster might go rough on you.  I could do something right after Christmas.  Give me a day to get caught up on some sleep, the soot out of my beard, and a day to lounge around with the missus and I will catch up with you.

 

Santa, Sorry to hear you are struggling but I could make it happen sometime during the week between Christmas and the New Year.  You name the time, and I will meet you down at the Coffee House or maybe even at The Drawing Room Cigar Lounge.

Frank

 

SC at NP:

Cool beans and Merry Christmas.  I want to share a few New Year’s things with you and all your distributor pals.  So, bring your notebook and a pen that works for a change.

 

Ever had a situation like this with a customer or supply partner?  I have experienced many, just never with Santa.  But I guess that’s the way our world works these days.  At least he took the time to text me personally.  I would have hated to go into all the stuff with that Snowball guy…

 

Living up to his promise, Santa reached out on the Wednesday between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  My phone’s caller ID labeled the call as Potential Spam, but by that point, I had already pushed the button to accept the call.

I knew in a moment, mostly by the “Ho, Ho, Ho” and familiar voice, this call wasn’t coming from one of those offshore pharmacy companies trying to fix me up with a lifetime supply of Viagra.  Without any real chit-chat, Santa instructed me to meet him at the coffee shop down from my office in 10 minutes.  He would be there and not dressed in his usual attire.

 

Rushing in the door, I scanned the room for Santa.  Quite honestly, at first, I didn’t recognize him.  Dressed in what could best be described as lumberjack chic sat the Jolly One.  He motioned for me to join him.  As I sat down, I noticed he was sipping a large hot chocolate – some things never change – and there was a cup of black coffee for me.

 

Apologizing for not meeting me ahead of Christmas as usual, Santa said, “You have no idea how crazy it was this year.  We had lots of last-minute supply chain things spring up.  And finding a leather top hat to fit your massive 7 5/8 head was not an easy feat.  Why couldn’t have you just asked for another BB gun?” 

 

We chatted for a few minutes about my questionable behavior and then Santa turned serious.  Reaching into the pocket of his flannel shirt, my old pal pulled out some notes.  He pushed them my way and said, “here – send this out to your distributor pals.”

 

The following comes directly from those notes.  I have only changed a few things because it appears that Santa may not be the North Pole’s greatest speller.

 

Santa’s New Year’s Message

To all my distributor friends,

Santa always looks forward to sharing a few pointers with you folks and I don’t mind sharing through Frankie Boy.  Most of the time he gets things right and posts the information on his blog and in a few magazines.  His efforts might even help keep him on the good side of the Naughty/Nice list.  This time, I am handing him over something entirely written by yours truly.  We can all hope he doesn’t screw things up. 

 

This is my advice for the coming year; follow it and you will be glad you did.  I have posted a few questions for you to ponder. 

 

What has changed with your customers?

You should consider this for both individual customers, as well as customers in general.  We have seen a lot of changes in the last couple of years.  The talk of employee shortages is not just lip service.  Finding people willing to simply report to work is getting harder.  People with the right skills are scarce as Reindeer sweat.  If you add in the issues with getting the customers what they want when they want it, we are still in difficult times.

 

What are you doing to make your business match the needs of your customers?

If you haven’t thought about how you can make your products and services align with the stuff your customers need next year, you may find yourself on the customer’s naughty list.  That’s bad news.  Start thinking about the small changes you can make to address new issues.

 

What are you doing to make your business harder for your customers to do without you?

Keeping with my original two questions, how difficult would it be for your customers to quit you?  If you are embedded and doing things they can’t live without, you will be positioned well.  Think about how you can better embed yourself into your customer’s processes.  Your work there will both endear you to them and create barriers for folks looking to simply cut acquisition costs.

 

How will life be more difficult for your competitors?

I know this doesn’t sound very Christmassy, but you do have competitors.  These folks would like to see you fail.  They are constantly probing your customers for opportunities to steal them from you.  You need to be thinking the same way.  Are there specific things you can do to make life harder for them?  Do you know what services you can provide better than the competition?  If the answer is no, it’s time to reevaluate.

 

Can you make more money?

Santa likes it when you make money.  When your company makes money, you get to do good things, stuff like donating to the Boys’ Club or some other charitable organization.  Plus, charity starts at home.  A profitable company can pay everyone better and provide job security.  Every single person at the distributor needs to focus on the money-making thing. 

 

Since our friend Frank can kind of be dense this time of year, let me spell it out for you (or at least him).  You make more money when:

·        You constantly look for better ways to do things.

·        Computers and other technologies are used to their best capabilities, and you automate mundane processes.

·        Prices are set to match market conditions and discounting is properly controlled. 

·        Services are not given away like those cheap candy canes down at my stand in the mall.

 

Your Pal, Santa

 

Hi everyone, I hope you realize Santa was only kidding in all those derogatory remarks about me.  It almost seems like the Big Guy was a little gruff this year.  Maybe he’s tired or perhaps he’s still mad that I only left three cookies out a couple of days ago.   

 

Santa, since I know you read my blog, you misspelled four words.  I fixed them for you.  Now can I get that electric pogo stick under the tree next year?

 

 

While often confused with Santa, Frank Hurtte is the Founding Partner of River
Heights Consulting.  Frank Hurtte, Founding Partner of River Heights Consulting, shares his personal experiences with 28 years of "in the trenches" training and 17 years as a consultant.  He serves as a personal coach to industry leaders across many lines of distribution.  He has authored 5.5 books (one is almost done) and has written hundreds of articles for national trade magazines, including Industrial Supply Magazine.

Frank is also a sought-after copywriter of marketing materials for technology companies.  His charismatic, yet laid-back, easy-to-follow manner makes him a favorite among public speakers.

 

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