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The ltlerchant lllagazine flSSN 7399723) (USPS 796560) is published monthly at 4500 Campus Dr., Ste. 480, Newport Beach, Ca. 92660-1872 by Cutler Publishing, Inc. Periodicals Postage paid at Newport Beach, Ca., and additional post offices. lt is an independently-owned publication for the retail, wholesale and distribution levels of the lumber and building products markets in 13westem states. Copyright@20'l2 by Cutler Publishing, Inc. Cover and entire contents are fully pre tected and must not be reproduced in any manner withoutwriften permission. All Rights Reserved. lt reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising matter. and assumes no liabilitv for materials fumished to it.

By Alan Oakes

Be careful how you present yourself!

y rHE rrME you read this column, the election will be over. Like most of you, I will be glad io get it behind us. Tonight, though, I watched the second Presidential debate and it was very different from the first. Tonight, depending on what side of the aisle you sit, you would probably think your candidate won, but the first debate was a real lesson for all of us-particularly in business.

First, this is not political. I make no comment on the substance of the debates, but like many of you, I suspect, I watched the first Presidential debate with great interest and surpiise. i experienced precisely the opposite of what I expected, as apparently did most every pundii. I did not have high hopes for Governor Romney in the debate and expected wiitr att that had happened in previous weeks that President Obama would probably win it. As we all saw, exactly the opposite happened.

From the start, the President looked l0 years older than he did only a few months back. He was listless. He looked drained, like he wished he were anywhere but at the debate. Romney, on the other hand, was pumped up from the moment the bell sounded and came across like he meant business and was in command. As the debate ended, I heard all the pundits swallowing their pre-debate words, acknowledging what a poor performance it had been by the President.

As the polls soon showed, it was an overwhelming win by Romney, and the election, by aliaccounts, was thrown back into play. Again, I make no comments as to the substance of the policy debate, but I use this example as a warning to all of us in business, especially those of us in sales. If we are not prepared, if we are not pumped up, if we are not ready to perform-we lose. If we take our customers for granted, we stand a good chance of losing a sale-and perhaps a customer-to the competition'

Every day is a new day and we have to have that same energy from the moment we make our fiist call to the last, even after a day of no's. Often we do not get a second chance, unlike the President, who still had two more debates.

Who knows what the President was doing the day of the first debate. I have heard theories that he was too busy running the country, that he lacked time to prepare, that he was hit by the high altitude. The reality is that it does not matter. Remember the old adage, "The show must go on." Maybe he took things for granted, maybe not, but it was generally believed he just did not prep enough. Complacency in any company is a curse.

I have to say on a personal note that I have fallen into that same trap more than once and have paid for it even with all the experience of 40+ years in the field. I should know that when I am calling on a customer I need to be prepared by reviewing the past and present history of each account and having a competitive analysis from both their point of view and ours. I should know what is new with them, what is happening in iheir business, their challenges, who the real decision-makers are- I should kno*1ot what I want to sell them, but instead what they need and how it will fit in with their product mix, what their sales and margin philosophies are, what support they will n;ed, and a good idea of what it will take to replace someone else's product-and many other things, to boot. I should know how to marshal my knowledge and thoughts to position a sale or move the sales process forward.

Again, we do not always have the opportunity to turn around a bad performance. More often than not' once damage is done and regardless of what you do' you can never recover.

Lastly, I would like to give thanks for the year so far. Certainly a better year, though not one for the annals, but one that I hope is a harbinger for the year to come. I may be wrong, but I am sensing the turn we have been looking for.

I am thankful for all the friends that we enjoy with our publications and wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving.

Alan Oakes, Publisher ajoakes@aol.com