The Salesby5 Blog

By Verne Harnish “Growth Guy” and Erik Darmstetter “Idea Guy”

Every year, since it launched in 1984, pundits have been predicting the demise of RIM, the famous makers of the Blackberry – most recently given the success of the iPhone.

Yet for all the attention Apple and the iPhone receive, the Blackberry Curve is the best selling smart phone in the U.S. in 2009 – and RIM, the famous maker of the Blackberry line of mobile devices, has 56% market share, up 15% over last year while Apple has lost 10%. This Canadian firm is also the fastest growing public company in the U.S. according to Fortune Magazine’s recent list, with Apple a distant #39.

One-Phrase Strategy

What is behind this crushing success? A profoundly simple strategy.

I still remember Jim Balsillie, co-founder of RIM, sharing with a group of us that “if you can’t state your strategy in a sentence, you don’t have one!!” And RIM’s? In essence, “Easy in, impossible out” i.e. RIM makes it very easy for corporations to install their email system, but because the way the proprietary RIM software and servers work, it’s almost impossible to extract – or at least a huge hassle. So even though a whole host of executives may love to get iPhones, there’s too much inertia to overcome for enterprises to switch, a market in which RIM commands a whopping 74% market share.

And the software and server side of the business commands 90% plus gross margins given the fees carriers pay RIM per customer for the ability to collect, in turn, data transmission fees. It’s these huge margins that dwarf the margins pure handset manufacturers earn fueling RIM’s continued market domination.

Though I’ve preached for years the importance of a one-page strategic plan, let me suggest that a precise “one-PHRASE strategic plan” must be the starting point.

“Wheels Up”

Also defying gravity has been Southwest Airlines thirty-eight year run. Identified as the best performing stock the first thirty years of its existence, today Southwest is the largest airline in the world in terms of number of passengers.

For Southwest, their one-phrase strategic focus is also an internal tagline – “Wheels Up.” If that expensive hunk of metal is in the air more than the competition, then they are going to make more money.

Though different than their more well known “low fare” Brand Promise, this one-phrase strategy underpins Southwest’s unique ability to keep their promise vs. the rest of their low-priced competitors. And this is why the one-phrase strategy is such a critical competitive decision.

Think of the one-phrase strategic statement as the focus for the underlying activities that differentiate your company from your competition. The key word is activities. As Michael Porter, Harvard’s famous strategy guru, emphasizes in his classic 1996 Harvard Business Review article appropriately entitled “What is Strategy”, it’s going about the business in a different way than your competitors that defines your strategy.

In Southwest’s case, no advanced reservation seating and using the same aircraft type for all routes are two key differentiating activities. In turn, these activities are crucial to getting the Wheels Up on their aircraft faster than the competition, allowing them to provide lower fares and more flights. And by choosing activities that are impossible or difficult for others to adopt, you maintain your competitive advantage, as Southwest has for almost forty years.

Additional Examples

One of the few successful IPOs this decade, Rackspace (I do own some stock) has built its business on a simple one-phrase strategy “it’s not about the servers, it’s about the support.” In their case, this one-phrase strategy is also their brand promise, though branded as Fanatical Support.

Supporting this strategy is a set of underlying activities that includes a live person answering the phone within three rings if there’s a problem with the service. I remember Graham Weston and his team making the tough decision to rip out the automated attendant systems and gearing up 24/7 to provide live support, at a time when it wasn’t easy for them to afford.

For SalesBy5, the phrase is “increasing sales no matter what it takes.”  That allows everyone to realize that everything matters from the clients dress, speed of returned e-mails and their tone to, of course, their marketing messages and materials. This comprehensive strategy is not for the faint of heart or the client used to giving orders. We do not take orders but instead self direct to increase sales. The outcome for the clients that listen is 300% to 550% growth which can be chaotic but also controlled and profitable chaos.

In all four cases, the companies have relentlessly focused on their one-phrase strategy – channeling all their innovations and energies on continuing to perfect its realization. And in the process have driven significant growth and dominated their industries.

How many companies really use technology to save money or make money or build teams? Salesby5 has a very high standard for hiring, mostly based on individual strengths and capabilities. We look for people who believe in our core values and can represent our brand extremely well. After interviewing here, I (Sarah) felt honored to be chosen. I believe that every member of our team feels proud to be a part of such a special group.

About two months ago, some things in my life changed, and I decided to move away from San Antonio. Rather than fearing for my job, I went straight to Erik and told him about my situation. We chose to put our state of the art technology to the test! With the use of our BlackBerry devices, Dell laptops equipped with shared calendars and contacts by Microsoft Outlook, google talk, a Sprint Air Card during the move, and Foonz conference call service, I have managed to stay an important part of the team. What we do and how well we do it have not changed. Among other responsibilities, Erik and Nan rely on me for all of their scheduling from nearly 1,000 miles away. Great technology is one thing that our team could not afford to sacrifice. This is the future of the work environment. Are you investing in great technology? And if so, are you using it to better your team?

Donna Tuttle from the San Antonio Business Journal wrote an article today about the use of Twitter.  Have a look!

As a chief inspiration officer for San Antonio’s Sales by 5, Nan Palmero is a technology power user. So when he flipped open his Dell laptop last week and saw vertical lines, he shifted into uber-geek mode. He tracked down a YouTube video that displayed the exact problem and called a Dell support technician. “I wanted to email him the video so he could troubleshoot quickly,” Palmero says.

The specialist couldn’t accept an e-mail and, instead, started to submit Palmero’s request into that black hole, otherwise known as the repair request process. Annoyed, Palmero sent out a Tweet on social networking channel Twitter.com

“Dear Dell, I could show your support team EXACTLY what’s wrong with my XPS M1330 if they had youtube access. Apparently, it is a common prob,” Palmero tweeted.

Immediately, Palmero got a response: “@nanpalmero What’s going on with your Dell XPS? Is there something I can assist with?”

Ten minutes later, a technician fixed Palmero’s issue and one of Dell’s Twitter team followed up to ensure his satisfaction.

Palmero’s experience hardly is an anomaly. Corporations all over the world are responding to customer service issues with staff that monitors channels like Twitter and Facebook. It is another avenue to preserve their company’s image and promote their brands.

Receiving excellent and immediate customer service is only one reason to Twitter. Getting familiar with a medium that is taking the world by storm is another.

Trust me, I understand how uncomfortable this makes you. I already struggle to answer my workday e-mails and exigent text messages from one of my four kids: “R u making dinner??” Now, I’m supposed to track hundreds of alternately witty and mundane Tweets? “I just don’t get it. And, for that matter, who cares?” is the collective response from many first-time Twitter users.

Tim Walker, an Austin-based editor and blogger for Hoover’s, says we should care. In a presentation that hit the audience over the head with a Web 2.0 two-by-four, Walker posed the question: “How new are the social media?” His answer: Not new at all. In fact, Walker argues that one of history’s first Tweeters was the late theologian Martin Luther, who died in 1546, a full four and a half centuries before Twitter became a phenomenon. When Luther nailed a copy of the “95 Theses” to the door of a church and the message was printed, copied and distributed like wildfire, he was using a form of social media, Walker says.

Twitter, today, is no different from the earliest letters, telegraph messages, and e-mails. Historically, people always have pressed for new ways to connect and communicate faster, and especially on channels that fly under the radar of the mainstream. Twitter is to computer users what CB radio has been to truckers and lighthouses have been to ship captains.

“Twitter is an easy way to interact with your community,” says Jennifer Navarrete, one of the founders of Social Media Club San Antonio and a social media consultant. “If you are a business, people are talking about you — good or bad and if you’re not participating in that conversation, you’re not promoting or problem solving. Likewise, if they’re not talking about you at all, then they should be.”

If you’re ready to take the leap, here are some steps you to get you started:

• Look up www.commoncraft.com (at the recommendation of Palmero) to watch How-To Twitter videos, which are simple step-by-step explanations using stick figures.

• Go to www.twitter.com and sign up for an account. It’s free. For your settings, make sure you click “See all @ replies” so you can view responses.

• Download a Twitter application to your iPhone or BlackBerry.

• Jennifer Navarrete (@epodcaster) offers up this starter pack of people to follow in San Antonio: @alanweinkrantz, @kr8ter, @calamityjen, @Pandaran, @doing media.

• On the national scene try: @chrisbrogan, @Twalk, @nanpalmero, @BryanPerson and a few I find interesting: @taxgirl, @incspring, @johnlithgow and @iamneurotic.

• Check out tools like Twitter Search, geotweet, and Twittergrader to find out who is Tweeting locally and what they’re chirping about. Use Tweetdeck to organize your followers into groups like: work, family and current issues.

Hoover’s Walker likens Twitter to a cocktail party, and, indeed, the awkwardness of walking into the virtual lounge is palpable. It’s noisy in there. In one corner, advertising and marketing gurus are jockeying for position by throwing up posts about new Twitter tools. In another corner firms are announcing new products. In between, artists, parents, and animal lovers are getting chummy over life issues and popular movies. There are online snobs who liken novices to “Twitter Tots” and grimace at Twitter blunders through emoticons. Users need to find their own groove.

Like any human interaction, the beauty lies in the serendipitous connections. A business contact hooks you up with a cheaper, more efficient product. A like-minded parent eases your worries. A company representative is so warm and funny that you reconsider your opinion of that giant firm. Or, you simply make a new friend. Twitter is a human knowledge database standing, ready and waiting on your front lawn 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It’s an interactive encyclopedia and global support system on steroids.

Marc Warnke, an Idaho-based author and speaker on social media (@marcwarnke), says this: “It’s critical to understand that Twitter can be a business tool, but if you come to the table with only your business in mind, you will never be set a place to eat,” he writes in his blog. “If someone jumped up on a table and yelled his or her pitch (at a cocktail party), it would be very inappropriate… walk lightly around self promotion. Be helpful, funny and that person who people want to hang around with.”

For your professional life, Navarrete says consider Twitter a virtual Chamber of Commerce mixer or industry networking seminar. “You only go to those once a month, and if you miss it, you miss out on a great chance to meet new people and make new connections,” she says. “This is a 24/7 networking opportunity, it’s free, and it allows you to get to know people before you meet in person. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met via Twitter and by the time I meet them in person, we’re hugging like long lost friends.”

Last month, Navarrete and colleagues kicked off the first ever San Antonio Social Media Breakfast (http://sanantonio.socialmediaclub.org). San Antonio is the 15th city in the country to form this type of breakfast group where marketers, educators, business owners get together to learn something new about social media and share information. I’ll be there. Look me up @writeontime, and we’ll plod along on this journey together. Not interested. Don’t worry. That crazy new thing called Internet e-mail? It was just a passing fad.

The Working Ideas column by staff writer Donna J. Tuttle focuses on workplace issues, strategies and trends and will appear occasionally in the Small Business Weekly section.

You have heard many days from Nan, our Chief Inspiration Officer at Salesby5.  He has shared lots of insight into how to sell more with less effort by 5pm, including through the use of technology.  Nan is a devout BlackBerry user, and has even won a recurring guest spot on BlackBerryCool.com.  Nan the Power User’s groom’s cake was featured in Friday’s Blackberry Cool blog post.  Nan’s passion for technology has carried his name into international territory!  BlackBerryCool.com celebrates his remarkable affection for the devices and the cake that proves it!  Search your passions today, and imagine where they could take you.  If you aren’t able to celebrate them, should you consider rearranging something?

These are tough times.  If you are like us, you spend significant amounts of time working, thinking about work or talking about work.  Take time today to put the BlackBerry down for one hour and spend time with your loved ones, they need you as badly as your career.  Here’s a list of 10 things you can do with your friends/kids/spouse in one hour:

1. Cook everyone breakfast for dinner
2. Go for a bike ride with the family
3. Have a scavenger hunt
4. Read your kids a story
5. Play a board game
6. Shoot pictures of one another
7. Attend your kids sporting event
8. Draw or paint together
9. Play hide and seek
10. Ask your family what they want to do

How do you spend quality time when you take a break?

photo by SuziJane

Trey completed his week-long internship at SalesBy5 this past Friday.  Here is the story in his words.

Two weeks ago, my parents would ask me about my plans for the future, concerning college and possible professions, and I would not be able to generate any sort of legitimate response. I was not aware of or concerned with anything besides my present situation. College seemed to me to be a cliché and a pain, which I was considering avoiding… until I had the opportunity to have an inspiring conversation with my uncle, Erik. I’ve always had a relationship with him, due to our family interactions, but never really sat down to talk with him. Within minutes of discussing my life with Erik, he recognized the struggle I was having with taking my life seriously. He then presented me with the opportunity of a lifetime; to come and intern at SalesBy5 for a week. At first, I was concerned I would be wasting a week of my summer to go work for free but after a little debate, I decided I needed the practice.

Immediately after walking into the SalesBy5 office, I was greeted from all directions by Erik and his amazing co-workers, Nan and Kya. Their personalities alone delivered a comfort level cool enough to relax someone going through hell. I was put to work instantly, doing productive things for the company that was surprisingly not mindless busy work (for instance, I was revising and editing client proposals). For the first time in my life, I felt genuinely accepted into an adult environment and I loved every minute of it. Not to mention that Nan hooked me up with an awesome BlackBerry, which I did not want to return when the time came. The SalesBy5 team welcomed me with open arms when I was in a frightening new environment. They introduced me to the concept of following your strengths and how to apply that to my life. Nan, who basically is the coolest computer whiz I have ever met, and his advice—not only on sales and marketing, but also life itself—were an essential part of my learning experience. And Kya was a huge part of the reason I was able to wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work; something the majority of adults would kill to feel. I never saw Kya without a bright smile on her face and something intelligent to say. Sarah rocks too and was very helpful. I didn’t get a ton of time with Sarah, or Q, as they refer to her, but she was equally as appealing as the rest of the crew and a great person to talk to. The SalesBy5 team has the ultimate mix of abilities and personalities that all truly successful businesses should be modeling after.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of his adventures and his wrap up of the week.

Trey and his cousin, Dylan

Yesterday, our new intern Bobby started at Salesby5.  We know that the first day at any job is important and sets the stage for engagement in the culture, fun and quickly feeling like a part of the team.  Kya, our Director of Remarkable Service, set the stage for Bobby with signs and balloons.  We prepared his BlackBerry for use, had his business cards ready, sent him welcome e-mails and had his work area ready. Our friend, Jack Daly, teaches the world to stop celebrating an employees last day and celebrate (sell) the first. How many people get taken to lunch on the last day or given presents and cake? 

All these things seem small, until you realize that most people wonder if they made the right job choice during the first 30 days.  Another gem from Jack: if you want to make a great impact (sale) with the spouse, why not send a bottle of wine/champagne to the house with a note to the spouse with well wishes? We sell or un-sell people on coming to work with a smile and great attitude and ready for day 2!

Take the time to tell a great story about you, your company and your culture instead of making the first day about paperwork and employee manuals. Make work remarkable!

What a great time to be in business!  Here’s a way to get sales by 5 with a “new to you” tool at a great price.

Pick up a mobile broadband card from your favorite carrier – Sprint, Verizon or AT&T.  With one of these cards, you can get on the internet anywhere you can get cell phone service.  Recently, our router went down at the office.  Erik was able to continue working thanks to his Sprint Mobile Broadband card. Just like your BlackBerry or your laptop, you don’t know you need a mobile broadband card until you own one.

If you would like a Sprint Mobile Broadband card at a $10/mo discount, drop us a line and we’ll give you the login for www.sprint.com/sero

We go to numerous tradeshows and conferences annually. We sometimes forget what it’s all about before we get there, because we get excited about the speakers and the new things to see.  Then we remember, it’s about the relationships.  Let me be more clear -  IT’S ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS.  It’s not about the schwag, new gadgets, ideas, products, services – that’s salt and pepper.  The people you connect with and whom you provide value to is the most important thing.  Take the time to invest in the most important thing when you go, the people.  Everything else will take care of itself.

My new friends from Viigo and I.  Viigo is an excellent (free!) mobile application that lets you read our blog and other sites on your BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device.  Download it now!

Check out more pictures from WES.

WES is the Wireless Enterprise Symposium, the largest BlackBerry conference of the year.  Why am I here?  We average 150 hours a year of continuing education at SalesBy5 per person.  We are looking for the next best thing to give our clients a competitive advantage so they can focus on their business.  That includes great communication – with and without technology.  The one who learns fastest wins.

I had a little fun too, though. (John Mayer)