Butt for Every Seat.

I am a firm believer that there is a butt for every seat and a place for every person. This applies to management, sales, relationships, religion, pretty much everything...

From a Sales Perspective:

The saying “There is a butt for every seat” is quite literal in the transportation industry and over the years, I have heard this said many ways:

·         There is a face for the windshield.

·         There's a sweaty hand for every steering wheel

·         There is a bar for every pickup artist

·         There is a sock for every foot

·         Beauty is only a light switch away.

Ok, maybe that last saying didn't come from business.

For the most part this is very consistent throughout the industry, with the exception of credit. (If a customer does not have the ability or intention to pay his debt, it's probably best that you skip out on a truck sale rather than ruin the relationship with the lender.)

I have seen equipment that I would have never thought sell-able  sold to a customer well over market value because the customer needed that equipment at that specific time. That was one heck of a lucky deal, but it does happen. This also relates to finance products as all of us offer at least one flavor of lease and several different kinds of finance programs. 

Why do we do this? 

Because, we need to build seats to fit (almost) every butt. 

If we only offered one finance program we would only get one type of customer, and this would be extremely limiting. I know, I have done it. (I will tell you in a later blog)

From a Management Perspective:

 Have you ever tried to assemble a puzzle using pieces from several different puzzles? I can tell you it doesn't work. I have watched my children try. When the pieces don't fit together your puzzle will be incomplete and  not be a true work of art, as I discussed in an earlier blog. You must come to terms with the fact that there may be pieces in your organization that don't fit your puzzle.  I always ask myself three basic questions and trying to analyze this effect. They are:

• Do I have this person and the right position?
• Have I changed the puzzle? (Have our goals and direction changed?)
• If this person was the right piece at the right time, what is different now?

I am the first person to admit, that sometimes I am not the right puzzle piece. Or, more succinctly, sometimes my piece is not in the right puzzle.

Until you find your perfect puzzle, grab a flavored water and ride the wave.

John