Authority Q4 2014

DOCTORS GO MOBILE

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BECOMING A CLOUD PRACTITIONER

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MIRROR, MIRROR

JANUARY–MARCH 2015

A Better Data Center for the New Year INCREASE EFFICIENCY IN 4 EASY STEPS

Meet Chris Frey: Lenovo’s Vice President of North American Commercial Channels

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» From the Publisher Happy New Year! It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone. As we look ahead at the many opportunities waiting in the New Year, we hope you are as excited as we are about our partnership in 2015.

James Cash Penney, founder of JCPenney, once said, “Growth is never by mere chance. It is the result of forces working together.” In my experience, he’s exactly right.

Together, we can grow your business, find ways to expand for years ahead and uncover the latest opportunities in the channel. In fact, that’s why Authority exists.

In our first issue of 2015 and final issue of FY15, we highlight new opportunities, tips to grow your business and the latest trends on the market. Whether it’s the energy-saving tips offered in our cover story—“A Better Data Center for the New Year”—or diving into the latest opportunities with Lenovo in a special Q&A with Chris Frey, Lenovo’s vice president of North American commercial channels, you’ll find a plethora of exclusive trends and opportunities for 2015.

We keep a close eye on the fastest growing areas of IT— cloud, mobility and much more—so be sure to check back for updates, look for new communications and count on us to help you stay on top of what’s happening in the IT channel.

Of one thing you can be certain, your best interest is always our top priority. Be sure to let us know what you think of Authority by sending a letter to the editor at sending a letter to the editor.

Sincerely,

Eric Jessen Publisher, Authority 2

“ Together, we can grow your business, find ways to expand for your years ahead and uncover the latest opportunities in the channel. That’s why Authority exists.”

Editorial Staff Eric Jessen

Authority (ISSN #1940-9249) is published quarterly by Tech Data Corporation, 5350 Tech Data Drive, Clearwater, FL 33760, Phone: 800-237-8931

Editor-in-Chief

www.techdata.com

Publisher

Brian Kosoy

Creative Director Alex Fox

Editor Jessica Chapman

Lead Designer Leandro Castro

Production Janie Gibson

©Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.

Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Tech Data and the Tech Data logo are registered trademarks of Tech Data Corporation in the United States and other countries.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

We welcome your feedback on Authority. Please drop us a line at authority@techdata.com or visit techdata.com/authority.

Writers Laura Stewart Christine Hale Tracy Blalock

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January–March 2015

ON THE COVER

A Better Data Center for the New Year INCREASE EFFICIENCY IN 4 EASY STEPS

page 10 » 4

ACTIVITY Events Channel Link and TechSelect

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In the News Get the latest news from Tech Data

page 8 »

TRENDS 16 »

Meet Chris Frey: Lenovo’s Vice President of North American Commercial Channels

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Doctors Go Mobile The latest opportunities in healthcare IT

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Off the Clock:

page 16 »

OPPORTUNITY Becoming a Cloud Practitioner A new way to think about sales page 24 »

ABOUT YOU Mirror, Mirror What do customers see when they look at your business?

Adventure by the Tankful Surprising lessons lurk beneath the surface

page 30 » 5

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In the Hot off the presses, here are a few key More Opportunities Tech Data Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer John Tonnison was named to Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Leaders list for 2015 in November. The list spotlights leaders from both technology and business sides of companies for their exceptional technology leadership and innovative approaches to business challenges.

Since joining Tech Data in 2001, Tonnison has built an agile IT infrastructure that is fully equipped to provide scalable solutions for a high volume of business.

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Tech Data’s Phil Filippelli, vice president, e-Business, and Marc McClure, director, Field Sales for the Eastern U.S. have also been named by CRN to the 2014 100 People You Don’t Know But Should list. Chosen by the CRN editorial staff with input from vendor, distribution and solution provider executives, the list recognizes those who have demonstrable impact on vendor channel strategies, initiatives and programs.

Learn more here.

News highlights of recent Tech Data announcements: Tech Data Named Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality

Heather Murray Appointed Vice President, HP Solutions Group

Tech Data received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2015 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) in November, earning the distinction of being a “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality.”

This marks the 10th straight year that Tech Data has earned a perfect score on the CEI, a national benchmarking survey and report administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Learn more.

Heather Murray was appointed vice president, Product Marketing, HP Solutions Group, in August. In this role, she leads the sales, marketing, technical and supply chain operations in support of the company’s full HP Solutions portfolio in the United States.

Learn more.

Cloud Climbing the Ranks Tech Data has been busy in the cloud marketplace, one of the company’s key strategic focus areas. In August, company veteran Stacy Nethercoat was appointed Vice President, TDCloud, providing dedicated leadership for the U.S. cloud business. Recently, Tech Data was selected by Microsoft to participate in their Cloud Solution Provider program, expanded its relationship with IBM to offer Softlayer’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), introduced a new cloud education and enablement program for solution providers through TDCloud, and was named one of the Top 100 Cloud Service Providers in the world by Talkin’ Cloud.

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Events Tech Data’s Fall Channel Link event was held in Orlando, FL, in September and was a huge success. Take a look at some of the highlights.

Learn More Visit techdata.com/ChannelLink

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The TechSelect community celebrated its 15th anniversary at their Fall Partner Conference in November in Las Vegas. Here are a few fun moments from the conference.

Learn More Visit TechSelect.com

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essica Chapman, or

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A Better Data for the INCREASE EFFICIENCY IN 4 EASY STEPS It’s no surprise how rapidly the evolution of data has taken off, but what impact has the surge in data had on your server room?

This New Year, it’s time to take a look at how to maximize efficiency in your data center while preparing for the exciting year ahead.

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Center New Year

By Jessica Chapman, Editor Data centers are becoming one of the largest consumers of electricity in developed countries, according to the National Resource Defense Council’s recent study. In fact, data centers consumed approximately 91 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2013, the study reports. That’s enough electricity to power all the households in New York City—for two years.

If that doesn’t encourage you to find hidden energy-suckers in the New Year, how about this: The study also found that in five years, our data center consumption is projected to increase to 140 billion kilowatt-hours, costing American businesses $13 billion per year in electricity bills and emitting nearly

150 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually. Turns out progress really does come at a price.

Making the most of your data center, conserving power and saving money is easier than you think. Two leaders in data center power, Emerson Network Power and APC by Schneider Electric, offered some helpful tips on how you can do just that in 2015.

“There’s a huge expansion going on,” says Steve Hammond, director of global partner marketing at Emerson.

“Most data centers are still pretty aged, and with the economy the way it is, that’s causing problems. They put in new servers or other routers or things that create heat. So what do they do?”

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WHERE TO GO NEXT?

Do an Efficiency Audit

Double-Check the Hardware

“Do you have the right floor space consumption layout?” Hammond asks.

“Do they pile a bunch of servers or pack a bunch of blade servers in one area that might create a huge hot spot? They need to get a handle on what there energy consumption actually is today.”

Think about efficient hardware and smart hardware, suggests Himanshu Patel, senior strategic marketing manager at APC by Schneider Electric.

To find opportunities, you need to determine where they are and how to act on them. Take time to truly evaluate your business. Find out where your energy hotspots are, determine problem sections and then move forward with the below steps to improve efficiency.

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Managed services or services that provide easy power monitoring may be the answer for no-hassle implementing. “[APC can] install intelligent power distribution and monitor those remotely— that way the customer can actually see the power that’s being used by every device that’s plugged in and any of the equipment not critical can be turned off remotely until it’s needed,” Patel says. “That’s something [resellers] can use as a remote service, a managed service offering.”

With an increasingly taxed group of IT managers, Hammond also recommends using tools and programs that monitor energy intake for you, including tools offered through Emerson’s Innovative Partner Program.

“Bring everything together in a single pane of glass, and it gives them visibility,” Hammond says. “They don’t have to do it on-premise, they can do it off-premise through a pane of glass that’s not even in the building.

[Emerson] provides a broad portfolio of solutions that address those issues.”

That’s enough electricity to power all the households in New York City—for two years.

Determine If You’re Right-Sized New technology and the latest trends are fantastic—but make sure they’re compatible with your server room or data center before you jump in.

A large part of the reason for inefficient data centers is their age—many were built 10 or more years ago before the latest opportunities in virtualization became available. Older server rooms were not built to handle the capacity required for new technology.

A good example of updating IT infrastructure to maximize compatibility with latest technology is Microsoft end-of-support for Windows Server 2003.

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“All these enterprises are coming out saying, ‘we’re going to be out of compliance.

We need to move to the cloud,’” Patel says.

“That’s an opportunity to look at the power and cooling and an extra service you can offer your client.”

Patel says partners who talked to their customers about power and cooling found 10 times the service revenue, based on APC’s internal sales data.

Start installing new power and cooling techniques, and you’ll see a lot of energy savings.

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“All these enterprises are coming out saying, ‘we’re going to be out of compliance.

We need to move to the cloud.’ That’s an opportunity to look at the power and cooling and an extra service you can offer your client.”

– Himanshu Patel, Senior Strategic Marketing Manager at APC by Schneider Electric

Make it Visible

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Let’s say you’ve got a Microsoft application, Cisco for networking and VMware—those are all software and application layer, but Patel points out that no one is actually looking at the physical data center.

“What happens if you buy a new hyper-converged appliance and drop it in there?” Patel asks. “Now that’s a lot more power in one section. It’s going to change your airflow and that’s going to create inefficiency.”

That’s also why it’s the resellers’ job, with help from partners, to provide as much visibility into power and cooling in the server room as possible.

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“We have to be able to position our resellers in that regard as a trusted advisor, filter through all those changes and help break it down,” Hammond says.

There are more ways to save money and become more efficient in 2015 than you think, but you have to know where to look first. So next time you’re updating your IT infrastructure, keep the small things in mind—and don’t forget to turn the light off.

PROMOTIONAL ADVERTISEMENT

Big Opportunities From Windows 2003 End of Service When support ends for Windows 2003 on July 14, 2015, will your customers be ready?

According to Microsoft, 94 percent of companies currently using Windows Server 2003 intend to migrate their applications to a newer version of Windows Server or Microsoft Azure.

More than 8 million servers—representing an opportunity worth more than $10 billion—need upgrades to provide the proper infrastructure for Windows 2012. It’s estimated that more than 60% of businesses don’t yet have a plan.

Forming a Migration Plan The earlier you start consulting with your customers, the better. Tech Data’s Systems & PeripheralsIT division will work with you to develop end-to-end solutions to help you capitalize on this tremendous growth prospect.

“Solutions providers can count on our knowledgeable teams to guide them as they pursue growth opportunities in data center management,” says Wendy Maurer-Linsky, vice president, Product Marketing, Systems & PeripheralsIT. “We have a wide range of vendors making great strides in enterprise storage solutions and power and energy management to build more productive and efficient data centers.”

You are your customers’ biggest asset in developing a migration plan for their data center.

Work with them to assess their current needs and future demands, finding the proper hardware

that offers scalability, density, reliability and efficiency for legacy applications, and identifying which workloads can be moved to the cloud.

Cost Savings IDC's customer-based research found that failure rates began to climb as servers aged into their fourth year and beyond. Upgrading resulted in a return on investment (ROI) of more than 150 percent over three years. The initial investment (payback period) was less than a year (11.7 months). Enhanced power and cooling technologies and thermal designs help reduce total cost of ownership.

Security Intel Xeon processors running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 leverage features to speed encryption and improve security. Microsoft will no longer provide patches for security issues that develop on Windows Server 2003. Companies that must comply with regulations, such as HIPAA and PCI, must upgrade to ensure they aren’t penalized for non-compliance.

Call our industry-certified staff at 800-237-8931 or visit our Solutions Hub to find out about the innovative enterprise storage and power and energy management solutions that will increase your customers’ capabilities while adding margin to your bottom line.

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MEET CHRIS FREY LENOVO’S VICE PRESIDENT OF NORTH AMERICAN COMMERCIAL CHANNELS

By Christine Hale, Contributing Writer

Tech Data sat down with Chris Frey, Lenovo’s vice president of North American Commercial Channels, to discuss what drives Lenovo’s success and what solution providers can expect from the company following last year’s acquisition of IBM’s x86 server business and Motorola.

How are channel sales affecting Lenovo’s SMB business? » Chris: The channel is so important for us— 85 percent of commercial business that we do in North America goes through the channel. That’s large accounts, public sector, state and local, federal, SMB—all the commercial business. hI credit that to the strategy of the company.

There isn’t one geography in the world where we go to

a meeting and don’t discuss what we’re doing in the channel. There’s nobody in the company that has different profit motives or elements to make them have different behaviors.

It’s all in. I’m excited that, as we’ve scaled this revenue from $1.5 billion to $4 billion in the last four years in the channel, that the 85 percent has never changed.

There’s a very consistent protect-and-attack strategy where we protect our China

business, we protect our large account business, and we attack our retail business and SMB business. That’s the global strategy. Everything is under attack in North America—we’re attacking data center, we’re attacking SMB, we’re attacking retail, we’re attacking different form factors. If you look at the U.S. in particular, we’ve outgrown the market for three years. So our business on the large account side and SMB continues to grow very fast.

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What can solution providers expect from Lenovo’s acquisition of the IBM x86 server business? » Chris: There are a lot of us at Lenovo that were part of IBM, and we saw this change of the culture (when Lenovo took over IBM’s Think business). I learned so much business acumen, ethics and sales techniques while I was there, so I’ve always taken a lot of pride in all the great things I learned at IBM. Then I came to Lenovo and the handcuffs are off a little bit. We’re allowed to make decisions and move faster.

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We’re going to integrate fast—we want the channel to see us as one company, not individual brands with a logo. I’m really excited to take the opportunity to take their products and our products and leverage the Lenovo channel—the depth and breadth of our channel, our SMB market strategy and take their great innovations, pick the best of both organizations’ processes, and try to bring the best experience possible. It’s going to be a lot of work but it’s going to be exciting. Our historical results of what we’ve done in the PC business are an indicator to the market of what we’ll do in the x86 business. We want our partners to want to be a part of it. The Lenovo channel is super-excited about the opportunity.

With Lenovo leading in smartphone share in China, describe the impact of the mobility market on Lenovo’s success, and what North American resellers may expect to see with the acquisition of Motorola? » Chris: We do believe that Motorola in North America and Latin America is a known name and matches the premium name we have as it relates to a product category like Think.

Motorola has a very similar premium connotation when it comes to the phone business.

The nice thing about it is that this whole mobility to the cloud conversation—if you think about it long term— it’s not about being able to offer the hardware. It’s the ecosystem that ties them together. That’s the vision of the company. It’s not just to be the best devices from the pockets to the cloud, it’s to create that ecosystem where they all talk to each other.

I think the mobility practice Tech Data [has] is going to be an exciting one. If you look at our business, we will be the only company in the industry that can solve the problem of the pants pocket to the data center. Mobility practice isn’t just about devices. It’s not only providing a device, but also supporting it and creating solutions around it, and I think that’s what Tech Data’s doing that’s going to be on the cutting edge. And I think we’ll be a nice fit to that.

“ Solution providers now have an opportunity to benefit from an expanded Lenovo portfolio from the device to the data center,” says Wendy Maurer-Linsky, Tech Data’s vice president, Product Marketing, Systems & Peripherals.

“Lenovo’s unwavering commitment to the channel is evidenced by the consistency of their robust programs, promotions, resources and support. Lenovo is a great partner, and it is our honor to support the launch and success of the x86 server business.”

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“ Mobility practice isn’t just about devices. It’s not only providing a device, but also supporting it and creating solutions around it, and I think that’s what Tech Data’s doing that’s going to be on the cutting edge. And I think we’ll be a nice fit to that.”

– Chris Frey, Vice President North American Commercial Channels, Lenovo

How will Intel’s new Core M/Broadwell chip affect Lenovo’s PC and mobile business? » Chris: If you want thinness and the right weight and you want the right battery life, I think this Core M technology is going to give it to us. I think you’re going to get the same things you’re getting out of a thick clamshell in a thin, light device where the battery will last a long time.

This is an opportunity for business partners to talk to customers. We already know that the tablet did not takeover the PC business, but there’s still a need for companion

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devices and probably a lot of them are new technology. It’s an opportunity to create a new buzz and perhaps a new solution out of this mobility practice. Because mobility practice isn’t just about phones.

It’s anything that can go in a pocket or a holster or whatever. I think small businesses need that practice more than anybody because they have no IT staff— they need somebody to advise them what to buy, why to buy it, how to support it, how to get connected on it, how to make the devices talk.

1 LENOVO. 1 CHANNEL. Lenovo welcomes IBM x86 servers into its family of innovative products. You can expect the same channel commitment you’ve come to expect from Lenovo:

1 Partner Community 1 Sales Coverage Model 1 Sales Compensation Plan 1 Set of Programs 1 Open Distribution Model 1 Partner Experience

For more information, contact Lenovo@techdata.com or call 800-237-8931.

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DOCTORS GO MOBILE The latest opportunities in healthcare IT

By Jessica Chapman, Editor Visiting your doctor’s office might soon be a thing of the past. Mobility is infiltrating the busy world of healthcare at rapid speed, and it’s starting to impact patient care—in a good way.

With physicians and healthcare professionals constantly on the go, access to patient information is more important than ever.

And it works both ways. The rising costs in healthcare only

add to the numerous reasons patients need better tools to monitor their own health. But how can IT make an impact on improving patient care?

More ways than you think.

According to the Healthcare Management and Information Systems Society’s (HMISS) 2013 Analytics Mobile Technology Survey, 44 percent of respondents (healthcare professionals) consider mobile technology

a top priority. A whopping 83 percent indicated physicians use mobile technology to facilitate at least some patient care.

“Internet of Things is coming to healthcare,” says Research Vice President for IDC Health Insights Lynne Dunbrack. “Sensors are becoming smaller and more passive so they can unobtrusively collect consumer health data.”

WHAT ABOUT EBOLA? The potential impact technology can have on preventing the spread of infectious disease is limitless.

IDC’s Dunbrack offered some tips on how healthcare IT resellers can help America stay healthy. “[We need] better access to physician and nursing notes, a mechanism to flag upfront in the electronic chart that the patient might be at greater risk for being 22

infected with Ebola or other infectious diseases that are highly contagious,” she says.

Dunbrack also says that HIT providers should search for better automation opportunities to flag these patients—that streamlines the process and mitigates the risk of information not being available to front-line healthcare processionals caring for the patient.

Platforms like Apple HealthKit, Google Fit or Microsoft HealthVault are good examples of how the telehealth process works.

The three vendors are now offering interactive platforms that let you keep track of your health and fitness and even share access with healthcare professionals.

Not surprisingly, physicians and clinicians are most interested in monitoring patient health. According to the aforementioned HMISS survey, about 70 percent of

healthcare professionals are viewing patient information, while 64 percent are looking up non-PHI information (like clinical guidelines). But it gets better for IT resellers—more than half of respondents said they’re using apps developed by the healthcare organization’s HIT provider.

Doors are opening in every healthcare facility across the nation to help your clients launch a mobile strategy or maximize opportunities to get patient information updated and to the physician quickly.

To dive right in, contact Tech Data Mobile Solutions at 800-237-8931, ext. 83662, or visit their website here to find out how to get the process started.

TECH DATA IS YOUR Rx FOR HEALTHCARE IT Join TechMED Alliance to grow your healthcare IT sales using a broad range of services, products and solutions.

800-436-5353, opt. 2 (Healthcare) publicsector@techdata.com

Better Solutions.

Better Healthcare.

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Becoming Cloud T

ype the word “practitioner” into your Google search engine, and you’ll come up with the following definition: A person actively engaged in an art, discipline or profession. MerriamWebster takes it one step further describing this person as one “who regularly does an activity that requires skill or practice.”

Most of us associate the term practitioner exclusively with medical professionals.

Perhaps it’s because we’re creatures of habit—or maybe we just don’t see ourselves as more than the title behind our name.

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Be it “sales representative,” “solutions consultant” or even “cloud specialist,” our title can sometimes define us, or at least attempt to. But what if you flipped the sales paradigm to reveal a different angle—to consider yourself more of an artful, skilled, outcome-driven practitioner of the cloud?

During a recent cloud solutions presentation, Carlos Nouche, vice president of Visualize, a company focused on providing a value-focused sales framework, used a compelling metaphor that struck a chord. He likened the methodology of medical diagnosis to that of sales.

a Practitioner A NEW WAY TO THINK ABOUT SALES

By Laura Stewart, Contributing Writer “What if your doctor approached your health concerns like a typical sales person would?” he asked. “What if he said, ‘So your knee’s hurting you? Fantastic. I’m doing a great job with knees these days. I’ve got a 98% approval rate and, by the way, if you buy before the end of the quarter, I’ll give you twenty percent off. What do you say?”

If you’re feeling uncomfortable with the scenario, you’re not alone. But why would this set most of us on edge? Doctors are experts, right? They know what they’re doing; they’ve studied. Why not trust

them to have all the answers? It may seem obvious that a doctor can’t possibly know how to diagnose a problem and suggest a solution without asking questions, right?

Not so with sales—but it should be.

A good doctor will start by asking questions in order to diagnose your problem. They’ll want to hear about your lifestyle and history, as much as understand your recent challenges and pain points.

A good doctor will probably have done some homework if they know you’re coming in for a visit.

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“ What if your doctor approached your health concerns like a typical sales person would?

What if he said, ‘So your knee’s hurting you?

Fantastic. I’m doing a great job with knees these days.”

What if we approached selling cloud services this way? Could it help us break down barriers and build relationships? Absolutely. Here are some simple ways to get started.

ASSESS THE OPPORTUNITY You might be the foremost expert on cloud solutions in your area, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to instinctively know the right outcome for any given customer.

Prospects may expect—or at least hope— that you can give them a quick and easy answer, but don’t get caught in this trap.

“Take the time to ask the right questions,” Nouche says. “If the customer doesn’t allow you to go through this process—to get to know them—then recognize that you don’t have a qualified deal.”

Plus, asking the right questions will differentiate you as a qualified consultant, build trust and help you discern the right outcome for your customer.

“Lack of differentiation very seldom indicates poor product functionality or service limitations,” Nouche explains.

“It usually means we failed to find out what was important about our unique capabilities in relation to the customer’s business.”

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CREATE A SENSE OF URGENCY

BECOME THE TRUSTED ADVISOR

Don’t try to diagnose everything at one time. Instead, think like a practitioner— look for the biggest pain points and find the urgency. Sell them the “must have” not the “nice to have” because that is what will cause them to make a change.

Remember that building trust starts before you ever make contact with the customer.

Think like a practitioner. Research, assess, diagnose and prove that you are interested in providing the right outcome to meet their needs. You won’t just be selling something, you’ll be selling the right thing for their company—including the service they need to leverage cloud solutions.

“Whatever it is, you have to find it in order to understand how to sell them a solution,” Nouche says. “Know your client, find the sense of urgency and then differentiate yourself.”

DIFFERENTIATE WITH SERVICE The market is shifting toward service: consulting, selecting, deployment, optimization, education, support and management. You—and your sales staff— need to embrace and understand how to sell and manage these services because that’s where the big opportunity is.

“You can assess and recommend, even outsource the IT,” Nouche explains.

“There are all sorts of options. This is the way that you can compete with your bigger competitors.”

Margins in product are small. Not so with service. Leverage service offerings as a part of your outcome package. It’s a value-add and a differentiator.

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Smarter Education Doesn’t Happen Inside Four Walls

IT

Inspire curiosity with cutting-edge technologies from Tech Data’s Systems & PeripheralsIT division.

Industry-certified sales staff skillfully architect end-to-end solutions that enhance the way staff and students learn, communicate and flourish, at home and in the classroom.

Visit our Solutions Hub or call 800-237-8931 to start building brighter futures with Tech Data.

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SMB Spotlight

MIRROR, MIRROR

By Laura Stewart, Contributing Writer

WHAT DO YOUR CUSTOMERS SEE WHEN THEY LOOK AT YOUR BUSINESS? In an age when anyone can broadcast content to the world in a matter of seconds, it’s more important than ever to value principles like sincerity, authenticity, originality.

Whether you’re a small-business owner or representing a larger organization, the task of trying to discern what’s genuine, as well as cultivate your own authentic, differentiated brand, can seem like an unreachable goal. But is it really?

Thankfully, the answer is no—it’s not unreachable at all. Companies and individuals able to break through the clutter with a unique and well-defined message of who they are, what they stand for, and what they offer the world are winning in today’s marketplace. You just have to know where to start.

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DEFINE WHO YOU ARE “You cannot differentiate that which you cannot define,” offers Scott McKain, internationally recognized expert on distinction, bestselling author and hall-of-fame speaker.

“Start by developing a clarity statement.”

Once you know who you really are—and you’ve articulated that—then you can get creative, he says.

“Most small businesses today lack a vision or mission statement,” says Greg Banning, vice president, SMB Sales, and general manager of Tech Data’s Costa Rica operations.

“Many don’t even have an overall business plan, and the few that do haven’t dusted them off for years.”

Banning asserts that, in today’s world, companies should revisit their business plan twice a year. The health of an organization starts at its core—and the core should be clearly defined in a company’s mission and up-to-date business plan.

BUILD ON YOUR ASSESS YOUR BRAND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY “Constantly assess (never “What makes you great today is not necessarily going to make you great tomorrow,” McKain says. “If your business is focused on selling products, then you’re building your business on shifting sand.

Products have a limited shelf life.”

assume) how your customers feel about your brand and service,” Banning says.

That seems simple, yet many of us miss it, not because we’re unaware but because we remain focused on other priorities that tend to scream louder.

It may seem elementary, but it comes down to a simple paradigm shift that focuses on selling to your customer, not at your customer. Get to know what your customers’ strengths are and know their challenges. Develop a relationship based on a personal focus rather than a product focus.

“You’ve got to sell your intellectual property and services because that’s your differentiator,” McKain says.

“Sales folks need to know their customers’ operation, what services are important to them, as opposed to giving them a price list and launching into a discussion about installation dates.”

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EDUCATE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

GROW YOUR GREATEST ASSET

Does every member of your organization fully understand and embrace what value your company offers? Could they give a simple elevator pitch on what makes your organization competitive?

Regardless of what you think is true, statistically they probably don’t.

“We often say that our people are our biggest asset, yet we turn right around and treat them like an expense,” McKain says. “If leadership would just make that simple philosophical shift of nurturing their people as assets rather than seeing them as expenses, their organizations would grow stronger.”

“Roughly 70 percent of employees at any given company can’t tell you why their company is superior,” McKain says. “When a member of your organization is in front of a client, they become your CEO.” So, what do your customers see when they are interacting with that employee? What face are they presenting?

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When employees feel supported and nurtured, they will support and nurture their organization.

And companies with the most loyal employees tend to have—guess what— the most loyal customers.

It’s all connected.

HIRE WITH A VISION

DARE TO BE HUMAN

“Every individual who works for you becomes your organization,” McKain says.

“The trend is to hire for skill.

It might sound strange to disagree with that, but it’s actually better to hire for attitude and aptitude first, then educate and develop skill.”

So how do you ensure that your organization stays healthy on the inside? Banning’s approach is simple.

It goes back to understanding your core values as an organization and hiring people who demonstrate those core values. Not doing so can have a devastating effect on the health of your organization and your customers will see that.

“It’s a human-to-human approach,” he says. “The same way we categorize business-to-business and business-to-consumer.

Today’s organizations need to think human-to-human.”

Stop focusing on roles, hierarchies and titles, and start relating to people on more of a human level.

“You need people with different responsibilities and titles to get the tactical things accomplished— the checks, balances and approvals—but we’re all in it together,” Banning says.

“Nobody is more valuable than anyone else. It’s the collective group that either makes it happen or doesn’t.”

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ABOUT YOU

BY TRACY BLALOCK, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SURPRISING LESSONS LURK BENEATH THE SURFACE

W

hen Harvey Mackay released Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive in 1996, it was meant to be a metaphor for how to outsell the competition. Tech Data’s Director of E-Business David Spindler took it literally.

Spindler has always been a thrill-seeker, consistently keeping his heart rate well above his target range by sky diving, bungee jumping, riding motorcycles and racing fast cars. Certified with both National Association of Underwater Instructors and Professional Association of Diving Instructors, Spindler has been diving for 10 years—so seeing sharks and other underwater life at a distance in their natural habitat was nothing new. But when he told friends and family he was going to swim with them side-by-side in an aquarium, they thought he was certifiably crazy.

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Spindler’s shark-swimming adventures really took off when he moved to Tech Data’s headquarters in Clearwater, FL. Although he’s been a member of the Tech Data family for more than 15 years, he came to the Clearwater office to support the SAP project in November 2012. He was asked to stay on as Director of E-Business and was hungry for details after finding out his real estate agent was a merman at The Florida Aquarium.

Now a dive master at Tampa’s Florida Aquarium, Spindler says one of the biggest challenges is keeping people calm during the aquarium’s Diving With the Sharks program.

While customers want to get as close to the sharks as they can, the reality of a 325-pound, 9-foot-long female tiger shark coming inches away from your face can freak people out.

But Spindler has had many memorable encounters. Like the time a few months ago when a customer got a nose bleed. Before Spindler could blink, the diver opened his mask releasing blood into the tank. Spindler says he wasn’t sure what to expect but was relieved when there was no change in the sharks’ swim pattern. He kept his cool but admits using more air than usual on that dive!

As dive master, his favorite moment underwater is seeing divers’ eyes wide with amazement, the joy on their faces—and most of all being part of an experience that stays with them forever. He also enjoys teaching them about how sharks react to different situations, for instance, how they swim closer to the surface when the water is warmer and further down in cool water.

Most of us listen to music, watch a movie or take a walk to relax. Not Spindler. As a technologist, he’s always connected.

Underwater with the sharks is where he’s completely unplugged and unwinds.

Ironically, for Spindler the sharks are in fact a metaphor for life and succeeding in business. The way he sees it, there are sharks everywhere—in the office, on the road, down the street. It’s about respecting people’s space and their expertise.

In the water, Spindler respects the fact that he’s a guest in the sharks’ home and feels fortunate to be experiencing their world.

Plus, sharks never stop moving to keep water through their gills. For Spindler, this is an important reminder to stay in action—not to avoid being eaten—but to keep making waves. You never know where they’ll lead you.

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