Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

Jack Welch, in his autobiography, Jack, Straight From The Gut, says: “If you have a business without a long-range competitive solution, it’s just a matter of time before it’s over.”

In your own business, it is likely you have consistently made decisions which would put your company in a stronger position competitively. Perhaps you’ve done so by upgrading equipment, adding new service offerings, or aggressively going after a segment of the market you had previously ignored. The urgency to make adjustments in your business is rooted in the fact that the marketplace is changing. Not only is it changing, it is changing at a faster rate than many would have anticipated. Generally, companies respond to these changes in the marketplace in one of three ways:

1. It is changing, but we are going to remain focused on the way we’ve been doing it…it has worked for us so far.

2. It is changing, and we are going to try and make necessary adjustments once it becomes obvious we are loosing market share.

3. It is changing, and we are going to make ourselves students of the change, enabling our company to move with, or ahead of, the “change curve” in order to take market share away from our competitors.

In Jack’s autobiography, he suggests answering 5 questions if you are serious about developing a long-range competitive solution:

1. What is the detailed position of your business and that of your competitors: market shares, strength by product line, etc?

2. What actions have your competitors taken in the past two years that have changed the competitive landscape?

3. What have you done in the last two yours to alter that landscape?

4. What are you most afraid your competitors might do in the next two years to change the landscape?

5. What are you going to do in the next two years to leapfrog any of their moves?

Today, you would likely be able to describe your litigation support company as one of the following:

• A company specializing in “paper overflow”, along with related services.

• A “paper overflow” company which also does imaging, along with related services.

• An “imaging company” which also provides paper overflow, along with related services.

Regardless of which of these best describes your company, the sales training we provide in our “Strategic Selling In The Litigation Support Industry” will take your account managers to a new level of effectiveness and allow your company to be more competitive in an ever-changing marketplace. If you want proof, we have it…lots of it. And, from all across the country.

We are gearing up for a busy third quarter. Some of you have already called wanting to schedule an account manager for an upcoming class. Our dates for the third quarter will be: August 19-23, September 23-27, and October 21-25. You can access the training outline and daily subject itinerary on-line via our website at www.thebeckhamgroup.com.

Let us hear from you soon if you are planning to confirm a reservation for an upcoming class.