by Chad Koser (aka Zebra Chad)

Yesterday the business world was once again rocked by dramatic news from the automotive industry that Chrysler will be closing 789 dealerships (click to learn more about this story).  As you will read, GM is the next to make such a move, with as many as 2,000 dealerships in jeopardy.

Listening to talk radio on this issue yesterday, I was not terribly surprised to hear a resoundingly negative response from callers.  One caller, however, took the opposite side of the discussion, and I have long agreed with what that caller said. That particular caller’s message can be summed up in basic terms: 1) The right product, 2) at the right price, 3) at the right time.

A fairly simple message of sales and business management 101, this is a path I believe Chrysler and GM have been long overdue in taking. Zebra Jeff and I have dicussed this very topic on dozens of radio interviews across the nation at the time when the big news regarding the automotive bailout first hit the wire.

My view on the situation:
1) Chrysler and GM have long been operating with too high a cost structure as a result of having too many dealerships. Compare to foreign rival Toyota for example,  whom is covering the same nationwide area with less than 30% as many dealerships, making it difficult, if not impossible for the American auto manufacturers to compete.
2) These dealerships have long been cannibalizing each others profit margins and market share as a result of being located too close to each other in geographic proximity.
3) Bailout dollars aren’t going to last forever, and without a focused strategic plan to cut costs while increasing revenue and profit margins, critical failure would be eminent.

In conclusion, the recent closure of dealerships is not yet another indicator of trouble ahead, but rather a justified, numbers-driven, mission-critical step towards heading in a positive direction…  Sometimes we need to look at things differently to find the zebra colored stripes amidst the clouds.  For the sake of one of the biggest industries driving the health of our economy, I suggest we make a concious choice to see it.

-ZC

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by Chad Koser (aka Zebra Chad)

Our little friend in the foreground named “Zonkey,” is the result of what happens when sales people make the decision to pursue prospects that are not Zebras…  You may by chance win the deal, but the outcome of that deal will more than likely prove undesirable for both you and your customer.  Your solution was not matched to your customer’s need(s),  making it impossible for you to Force Success, and therefore:

1. You will not be able to provide the customer with what is needed to fulfill the promised project goals.  In the end, the only thing that matters is real results achieved by your customers.

2. Lack of ability to achieve effective and timely results will waste both yours and the customers valuable, limited resources (time, money, people)

3. Your reputation for consistently meeting customer expectations will be negatively impacted.  Remember: satisfied customers may tell one or two others or may volunteer to serve as reference accounts for you, but dissatisfied customers tend to be far more vocal on a very voluntary basis.

The moral of this light-hearted blog is that in the end, the only thing that matters is real results achieved by your customers, and the only guarantee of real results is the pursuit of Zebras.  Don’t be a Zonkey…  Get the picture?

-ZC

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by Chad Koser (aka Zebra Chad)

Being a father/son team that not only run a business together, but one that has also authored and published a book together, Jeff and I frequently get asked what it’s like to work together.  There are a lot of positives to working together, and there have been many aspects that both of us have enjoyed. Truthfully, there are also a lot of challenges that need to be addressed and solved in order to maintain positive progress.

In that light, I recently found an interesting list of 20 challenges faced by family owned businesses that I thought was quite complete and well-thought.  Together, Jeff and I have faced some of these challenges, and some of them have not been relevant to us.  Either way, I felt this was a unique change of pace for this week’s blog topic — one that will be of interest anyone else involved with, working within, or simply curious about the dynamic of a family business.

Without further ado, here’s the link to a very well-written article on the topic:
20 Challenges Faced by a Family Owned Business

I think this list of challenges would be well-served by adapting it for use as a checklist/scorecard for determining the present status quo within a family business, and then as a guiding roadmap (or GPS to use more modern terms)  for continuously evaluating progress at various intervals, much in the same way that we use our own Zebra to help guide our sales clients through evaluating their prospects at various stages of the Zebra Buying Cycle (also see Zebra U for further reference on these concepts and tools).

Finally, here are two more interesting links for additional reading on the topic of family owned business as it relates to the current economic downturn:

1. “Family businesses have traits to survive,” by Jane Hilburt-Davis and Judy Green, as featured by Providence Business News.

2. “U.S. Family Business in Strong Position to Survive Downturn,” by Barclays Wealth, as featured by Marketwire.

Until next week,
Zebra Chad

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