He Is Telling You The Truth! By Lowell Anderson, Founder & CEO simplysoundconsulting.com
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read Eric Anderson’s ‘Confessions of a Customer” in the January issue and I have to admit I thought it was really spot-on. (Don’t tell him…he’ll get the big head) Working as a consultant in the motorcycle industry for the past three years after spending 20+ years on the corporate side, I can honestly say that what he is telling you is absolute truth! Our industry has gone from a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who applied business practices to their skillsets, to large groups of self-proclaimed corporate “gurus” who haven’t got a clue what they are selling or whom they are selling it to. Riders have been replaced by groups of “educated” cronies with MBAs making huge paychecks. However, they cannot make a simple decision without reviewing tons of data and having 15 meetings. Everything is a long, drawn-out process and if they finally make a decision, it is usually the wrong decision. These “teams” cause huge delays and financial losses for the companies they serve. The market does not wait for anyone. Good, successful companies have strong leaders who are engaged in the industry they serve. Not the current crop of second-guessers suffering paralysis through analysis. The best business success I have ever experienced in this industry was when I had a leader who supported his leaders and let his leaders make the decisions for the areas they were delegated. For those reasons we experienced huge financial success in a few short years. That company was KTM, and that leader was the late Rod Bush.
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Losing All Historical Knowledge Our industry was once filled with people who had firsthand knowledge and personal experience. Motorcycle enthusiasts dominated the leadership roles in our industry. Everyone rode motorcycles and they loved the industry as a whole. These people understood the customers and often could make good decisions based on their personal knowledge alone. Between listening to their customers and their own seat of the pants expertise, they were able to make decisions quickly and correctly. Over the years there has been an influx of corporate leaders insisting on bringing in people with MBAs to do remedial jobs simply because that is the language the new leadership speaks. I have interviewed hundreds of people over the years for jobs in the motorcycle industry. I have had HR teams tell me that asking if a candidate was a motorcycle enthusiast was not a relevant question. Why would we not ask that question? If you’re hiring a welder would you ask them if they know how to weld? Why would you hire a leader that cannot recognize the difference between a Honda and a Harley? I literally had a Director of Merchandising ask me what the difference was between a dirt and street tire. I also had a Director of Marketing put a Triumph® motorcycle on an ad for Harley® parts. They both had spent some time in the industry, but never had any interest in really learning about it. Pride Many of the business people being hired for these roles have no appreciation for our industry. Their goal is simply to make as much money as they can, and then move on to the next job. Few of these people are humble enough to learn about our passion and the industry we serve. Even fewer are willing to truly experience it. They have to apply themselves to understand the customer and what really drives them. Often, they refuse to ask these questions for fear of looking and sounding foolish, but they have no problem pointing out that the parts guy made a mistake on his spreadsheet. This all translates to a hostile work environment where the industry people simply give up. Working as a consultant I can tell you I have experienced the same prideful practices I experienced when I worked as an employee. Large teams all trying not to offend anyone struggling to make decisions based strictly on numbers. Zero accountability because there is no delegated authority. All these “employees” are not operating to make the company successful. Instead, the majority of these teams are operating out of fear and insecurity. Afraid to do anything that may cause them to lose their positions. I find myself in this same situation as a consultant from time-to-time. I evaluate a situation and give clear direction on how to resolve it and I am offered alternatives from upper-level management.
