Having Fun In Window Tinting
Once upon a time I believe that I toiled in serious businesses.
Of course the cloud of distant memories may have affected my recollection somewhat. I can't imagine that I was ever totally serious about anything I was trying to sell.
I could go on for days about recurring false alarms (our Quadra-tag system went off if someone sneezed loud enough!)
We didn't catch many crooks but our alarm went off on a Cop and a Nun. You could imagine the looks as they passed through those panels!!
Ok- -The Cops badge and the Nun's cross set the alarms a blazing but you can only imagine the fallout from the store owners!
Then there was the time that the EM device in the system turned off someones pain control implant. The unsuspecting store patron will hardly forget that day. . nor will I forget the resulting phone calls with a guy screaming in the background.
When I found myself squarely in the 3M Window Film business it opened up an entirely new world of humor possibilities.
It begins with window film dealers.
Since I've become a window film dealer I've had to adopt the successful traits that make us a hearty and resourceful, unique bunch!
- Whining is a prerequisite. We complain about films, competition, pricing, the economy, customers, rebates, unfair deals, collusion, "The Good Old Boy" network and more. It's easier to try to determine what we don't complain about!
- Many dealers were good installers who thought they could run a business. They can't.
- Every dealer rationalizes the outcome of each transaction.
In our universe we are always right but through some obscure twist of fate. . .we somehow found ourselves on the losing end of the stick.
- Manufacturers in general have no clue about the businesses they are supposed to be running.
This is akin to an airplane pilot who doesn't know how to operate the plane.
Now this doesn't preclude them from offering advice, pretending they have a strategic plan or any demonstrating a semblance of aptitude for this business.
I recall a meeting as the smoke was coming out of the World Trade Center in 2001 and our honcho turning off the TV while asking us if we could meet our Q3 targets?
- Most dealers, of course couldn't care less about the competence (or lack of same) alluded above in point 4.
- This really is a cut throat business where various manufacturers and distributors compete directly against their own dealers while having a huge price advantage. You'd think that these games would have been eliminated in the anti-trust laws way back in the early 1900's but you'd be wrong. Imagine being a dealer and trying to win the same business against a company with a huge price advantage? See?? You have to laugh at this.
- Being a big shot at a manufacturer has a very limited shelf life.
There is one manufacturer that has had more Presidents in the last three years than many third world countries. For all I know they will announce a new leader by the time I finish this posting.
- All of this Social Networking mumbo jumbo has demonstrated the utter failure of larger companies to react effectively.
The end result?
They have low brow tinters who are hardly literate represent them as their face on the Internet. Their posts are as interesting as a bowl of Corn Flakes. Most don't understand how their films work or where their films are really made. Does that stop them from yapping?
- Everyone understands that the economy sucks and has sucked since 2007.
Still I imagine the corporate types laying out their quota's for 2011 acting as though they will grow their sales by 25% and their market share by an incredible amount. Fancy words like "entitlement" and naive competitive analysis. I wonder what happens when they fall drastically short of their promises? Maybe this is why their heads roll so much?
- That's the fun of this business and why we get such a kick out of going to SEMA. Most of these "movers and shakers" hang around their booth or the hotel bar. Witty. .they aren't.
Mike Feldman
Posted by Mike Feldman at 10/22/2010 9:19 AM 
Categories: Humor Unusual Weird
Tags: Having Fun In Window Tinting
Categories: Humor Unusual Weird
Tags: Having Fun In Window Tinting
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