Leading Reseller Best Practices: Empowering Leadership for Growth

2. Reseller Live: Best Practices for Resellers Jeanne Leckie, Managing Director The Leckie Group, Inc.

3. Best Practices for Resellers • Today’s Focus • Learn about Reseller Best Practices • Leadership: Roles of Leaders and Building Culture • Management: Brand, Communication and Culture • Discipline: Accounting for Greater Returns • Communication: Changing Behavior

4. Leadership • In 1930, Chester Barnard, lectured at Harvard where he defined the role of the organizational leader as “the steward of purpose and values.” • Leadership is multi-faceted: 1) Part of the role requires choices on structural choices, such as, how the company is organized, design jobs, and allocation of responsibility. 2) Engagement on symbolic actions like: story-telling, company rituals they create, the morality they espouse and other visible actions. • The Leader is both the architect and visionary, and in the role, they MUST impact the meaning individuals gain from their employment.

5. Best Practice Leadership Best Practices from Leading Reseller Management • Manage by empowering decisions, not penalizing failure. • Responsibility without authority is demoralizing • Promote accountability and knock over fence-sitters. • The team should be managing accountability and risks together • Compensate for shared results, not just individual contribution. • Build team morale and reinforce team actions • Leaders are there to serve the “servants.” • Effect Resellers understand Diversity isn’t just about being PC – • They have learned the general management mistake that hiring too much of the same type of talent will never lead to different results.

6. Best Practice Leadership • Peak performance is evident when: • Your employees know they are a part of a bigger story • They have a sense of belonging that is either tied to a rich history or a winning future • They know that the purpose and values of the business are bigger than themselves • As a result, Customers are not only tied to the intellectual properties of your company, but to the emotional connection….or to being a part of the brand • Mindshare and heart-share

7. Your Company Promise • Tapping into Emotional Value vs. Intellectual Property requires unique balance of: • Brand • Culture • Communication • Employees who are connected to your business drive your customer’s emotional commitment to your company • Communicate Brand Values • Operating in an environment where the attitude is “Bigger that Just Oneself” • Communication is primary

8. Leadership and Brand • Recent studies show that companies who build a culture of excellence are able to perform 29.5% better than their peer group • Resellers who understand assign someone to be responsible for their company Brand • End result – it is about “being better at implementing similar strategies driven by better people”

9. Brand: Beyond Marketing • Leadership’s role to passionately develop the purpose and values, the attitude expectation, and the employee behaviors • The Leader’s actions must be BOLD, PROVIDE CONFIDENCE AND BUILD A PERSONAL CONNECTION that affirms the company’s direction to each individual • Human Resources can be an important partner to galvanize your brand and culture: • Education • Train • Hire • Promote • Reward • Incentivize

10. Leadership: Middle Managers • Middle managers are key to communicating your brand values and creating the underpinnings that build trust and diversity with your team members • Middle managers have to reinforce your message, and they have to drive three success factors: • Accountability = self-reliance = clarity of purpose • Relentless follow-up = generates goal achievement • Deliver your company’s promise = drives emotional capital from customers and sustains your future • If middle managers fail to make the connection with employees, then…. there is no confidence, commitment, focus or productivity

11. Linking Communication Within to Success • Each employee is a brand ambassador • They are the communicator of your story, your values and your promise to the customer • Typical metrics from employee studies show: • 50% of Companies’ employees don’t know the goals or the values • 25% of employees believe they have an impact at their company • 40% of employees can identify their brand values • 10% of employees don’t believe their individual contribution is valued • Other employees studies focused on “change” attitudes and the result showed: • 15% of employees in companies are “resistant” to change • 15% of employees “embrace” change • 70% are reluctant to change (meaning uncertain not resistant)

12. Importance of a Formalized Communication Process • A defined communication process is central to executing successes • DEFINE MISSION: • GOAL SET & PLAN • -Company • -Management • -Individuals D. MANAGE VARIANCE: DEBRIEF AND REVIEW -Uncover gaps -ID root cause -Define corrective action -Evaluate results B. BRIEF AND EXECUTE: ACT TO PLAN - Activities/Expectations - Timelines C. MEASURE: -Define metrics -Individual proficiency -Team proficiency

13. Discipline:Model for Change Within • “Crucial” is defined as important as solving a crisis • Effective Business Leadership Workshop • In few short phases or sentences have stakeholders determine the few crucial goals and measurements that will make a breakthrough difference in meeting the market demands for their business • Then the Stakeholders should list the business process shifts needed to achieve those goals • Prioritize the list by profitability and difficulty • Add a timeline to accomplishing the goal

14. Context: Underlying Shifts • Survival: • We are not addressing competitive threats in the areas of customer satisfaction, sales responsiveness, customer loyalty, retention or shareholder expectation. • Competitiveness: • The business goal is to significantly differentiate our business’ ability over our competitors. Extending delivery, market reach and technology through improved business processes. • Leap Ahead: • Strategically planning a leap ahead may be of higher risk, but can provide a significant shift in the nature of the business because actions create a whole new business thrust or industry. Often driven by emerging trends – green, globalization, social network or actions like mergers and new business model innovation. Within this industry: web-based services, pay for service models and micro-payments offers offer leap ahead opportunities.

15. KPI Category Key Business Driver Key Performance Indicator Customer Purchase Experience 1. Customer Courtesy Sell with courtesy and professionalism -Sales, Order verification, customer service, other 2. Resolve Customer Problems Resolve Customer Problems in a timely manner and effectively Customer service, customer correspondence, return processing 3. Navigation of Purchase Experience Provide best customer navigation experience from start to finish – web, phone, mail, other 4. On Time Delivery Deliver no later than the date committed 5. Customer Time Minimize the time a customer spends trying to process a transaction Establish Discipline & Priorities viaKey Performance Indicators Example: Support KPI: Customer Experience

16. Define the Benchmarks • Discipline requires work and the WILL to get results • Get started by benchmarking your operations • Where are you on employee engagement • Who’s impacting and knows it • Who does not, and why • Determine criteria for change • Formulize the Vision, Goals, Values and Purpose • Prepare by scheduling group “Face-time” • Plan to make the bold, confidence-building story-telling session that will share the vision, goals and direction with everyone in the company • Engage managers and team members to become part of “what” is crucial and assign specific responsibilities to ensure that everyone is “Briefed, Knows the Mission, Tasks, and has a group plan and individual plan to Monitor the progress”

17. Disciplined Reseller Approach: Customer Experience • Cash Flow • build solutions that drive customer stickiness, streamline/manage customer relations, automate the processing of information, and provide business intelligence that differentiates the customer from competitors • Margin (Higher Profit) • own your customer’s competitive advantage • Growth • with positive revenue and higher margins, customers can reinvest a percentage of their savings (ROI) on the next strategic advantage • driving your customer’s differentiation and business intelligence through communication can significantly alter their success and growth • People • people are core to business advantage….with the right tools they can exceed customer expectations • Velocity • speed drives competitive gaps

18. Compliment Your Plan with Divisional Objectives: Marketing Marketing process • Brand • Each experience with your business has 1 of 2 outcomes • Ethnical influence vs. influence • Leadsource • Manufacturers lead programs • Viral marketing solutions • Customer referral programs • Pilot test your efforts • Partnerships • Leverage partnerships – to leverage speed, cost, efficiencies • Driving Credible Presence • Vertical market events and seminars • Maximize co-op program funds • Leverage associations and associates • Communicate Successes • Customer Case Studies

19. Compliment Your Plan with Divisional Objectives: Team Measurements Benchmark Your Customer Experience • Wins require a Team Effort • Win-loss analysis • What differentiates you from your competition • Strengths vs. Weakness • Survey • Understand customer satisfaction • Don’t just measure it, get hands-on in your evaluation • Measurements vs. feedback • Incentivize for Customer Loyalty • Clarify the objectives for each department • Reward positive behavior • Know why you are losing Cashflow/potential --- understand the breakdowns in your business and take corrective action. (Note: Your best customers have the answers).

20. Compliment Your Plan with Interlocking Objectives: New Expectations Operations • The Technician’s Selling Program • For example: Implement a structure for operations/technicians to sell add-ons • Peripheral products, upgrades, designated solutions • Sales process for higher end solutions • Incentive program • Program for pass through sales • Referral program for larger sales • Professional Development program • Do you invest in the presentation skills of every member of the business • Customer Service and referral business should be a key focus

21. Best Practices for Resellers Don’t overlook the importance of the basics in your leadership, communications, branding, discipline and Accountability. Execution is your most critical asset in any economy, but consistently businesses fail to achieve because of the simple communications needed to survive and thrive are not part of their core practices. Communication is the focus of your offer to customers. Is communication a primary focus in your company?

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