Learning the Systems World

Learning the Systems World

I started my in the systems world as a systems analyst in the Retail Marketing Department of the National Cash Register Co. The “Cash” as the locals referred to it. I spent the first month learning about the new Century Series computer that was just being introduced to the market. An interesting anecdote, this was 1965, and the first 16k Century delivered to our facility required a room 20 X 30 Ft. Just to give you a benchmark. My iphone has a memory capacity of 7.1 GB. . After my indoctrination, I began to design systems specs for the programmers focused on retail merchandising.

Soon a new product called an electronic cash register, the 280, was developed to replace the original mechanical cash register as a very sophisticated point of sale input device. These coupled with the Century computer provided a complete merchandising and inventory control system for the Retail Market place. I was asked to help design those systems and introduce the concept to major retailers. I was promoted to Account Manager a position developed to support our field sales personnel in their sales efforts. I was assigned to Marshal Fields and Sears in Chicago, Thalheimers, in Richmond VA, a large holding company in St. Louis.

We also made presentations and entertained visiting customers and prospects from around the world. The company owned two very impressive homes that were used to house our guests. Our international guests stayed in the Wright Brothers mansion. Our domestic guests stayed in the Kettering Estate. Both venues were maintained, as they were when the original owners lived there. For example the Wright Brothers library was as it was during their lifetime and the Kettering estate had a bowling alley and a skeet range on the property. We also had a world-renowned NCR country club at our disposal. If fact while I was a member we hosted the 1967 PGA Championship tournament. Talk about perks. This club was for employees only and the cost for membership including a locker and all greens fees was less than $200.00 a year.

It was also during this period that I assisted in the installation of the first computer in a department store at Thalheimers in Richmond. What an experience. The night before we were to go live with their accounts receivable and billing system the CRAM (Card Random Access Memory) crashed and we had to spend the entire night reconstructing files. We made the deadline.

I also remember the first presentation of the new 280 electronic cash register. The processor chip was not ready yet so the terminal was wired to the main computer in the next room. A bit of a sham but did demonstrate the capabilities of the terminal. The customer was Sears and we wanted to impress them. I could not stand the deception so I spilled the beans at dinner. They understood and became our first customer.

Near the end of 1967, I was asked by Bill our department manager and my latest mentor, to represent the retail marketing department at a training session on a new strategic planning process the company was implementing. I was so intrigued by the process; I asked to be the facilitator for our department. That started a whole new career path for me. Bill encouraged me to pursue this new path and stayed with me as an advisor for the rest of my NCR career.

Lessons learned:

1. The value of good systems design prior to coding a program.

2. The potential impact of computers and data processing on the business enterprise.

3. The skills and techniques necessary to successfully manage a major corporate account.

4. How a good mentor guides you through challenges and new learning experiences.

5. The value of honesty in everything we do.

My Government Service

My Government Service

Because of my age and family situation, I was never eligible for the military draft. However, my next promotion with Xerox to Government accounts manager in Dayton, Ohio did give me the opportunity to help the logistics group that supported our troops in Viet Nam from Wright Patterson Air Force Base. At that time, this base was responsible for all military logistics, new aircraft development management, was a SAC base, and housed the Foreign Technology Division. In addition my team was responsible for the nuclear research labs located near Dayton, Ohio. We all had to have top secret Federal government clearances.

We had literally hundreds of copiers and duplicators operating in these facilities. The usage was so huge that we shipped 1 to 3 boxcars of paper and toner to this base every quarter. I was most proud of how the team was able to help with both the efficiency and costs or copier and duplicator systems at these installations. At the same time we were able to grow our business substantially over the next 18 months that I was involved.

We implemented several programs to facilitate this process. First, we instituted a monthly update of both systems and costs for the base commander to ensure his constant support and develop a personal relationship that would allow us access to him and his staff. That took place every first Wednesday of the month at 3:00AM sharp. Due to the Viet Nam time zone his day started at 8:00 PM and finished at 5:00 AM. He was impressed and very appreciative of our recognition of his scheduling needs.

Second, we were able to help develop systems that made processing orders for shipment of goods and personnel much faster and efficient.

Third, we helped with the processing and distribution of Foreign Intelligence photographs. On key days like May day (Photos from the USSR parade), we provided both service and operations staff , on site, to assure 24/7 uninterrupted operations.

Fourth, we were able to develop a very efficient method for the multitude of engineers working on the development of the C – 5A Transporter aircraft to communicate and document engineering changes. There were over 200 engineers working on this project.

Our team was recognized for this effort and I was invited to represent them at the initial fly in of the aircraft. What an experience just to see this huge aircraft fly. I will never forget the base commanders opening remarks.

He said, “This aircraft is so large that the Wright brothers could have flown the first flight inside the C- 5A. The aircraft is designed to transport a company of men, supporting equipment and vehicles to an unprepared field in the war zone.”

Although it was never used for that purpose, it did transport a lot of supplies into Viet Nam and a lot of refugees out of Viet Nam.

In Early May of 1967, was given the opportunity to attend a special seminar, again in Fort Lauderdale, to learn systems selling in large accounts. I was never able to finish the seminar because our third beautiful daughter Karen was born early the morning of May 4^th. You can imagine my emotions when receiving a phone call at 3:00AM from my wife and a neighbor who took her to the hospital. I was upset, elated, and very concerned that I was not there. Fortunately, the seminar director was very helpful and got me on an early morning flight and I was able to see her, my wife, and her sisters the very next day.

Shortly after that a new branch manager was assigned to Dayton. He had never had experience with the government market. His overall results were not to his liking and he challenged all of his team to significantly increase our order books. I tried valiantly to explain to him that this was mid year and government contracts were established at the beginning of each year and could not be increased until the next budgeting period, which was in 6 months. We were already working on it but would see no results until next year. He could not accept that fact and asked me to resign. My cheerleader helped me get through this challenge and the next phase of my career started about two weeks later.

Lesson learned,

1. Get involved with your customers business and become a valuable resource.

2. Work with your team and get involved with the day – to - day operations whenever possible.

3. The investment of additional resources to assist in critical situations is never forgotten by the customer.

4. Listen to your cheerleaders.

A New Career Path

A New Career Path

In January of 1964 we were blessed with a second beautiful daughter Patricia. Patti as she is known. This event set into motion some serious thought about work verses family. I came to realize that the last two years I was not there for the development of my children or the personal support I should be providing them and my wife. I began to start searching for a new career.

This led me to taking a position as sales trainee for Xerox Corporation. At this time in the history of Xerox they had only one desktop copier. In the brief two years that I worked for Xerox three new duplicator products were released. The first thirty days of my career with Xerox was spent in training. For the first week I learned product information and demonstration techniques. I then spent the next few weeks with a very interesting mentor in the field. My mentor and field trainer was the top salesman in the branch. Interestingly he was the son of the secretary of the original founder and developer of the Xerox copier company. He brought the Haloids photo coping process into the broad commercial market. Bill’s mother agreed to work for stock instead of salary for the first year of the company and of course became a millionaire.

Bill had great instinctive sales skills and I learned a lot. We would put the domo copier in our car and take it to prospective customers. The technique was the old dog food trick. We would wheel in the system and try to get an audience with the boss. In many cases we ended up dealing with the receptionist or the bosses secretary. In any case we would offer the leave the system for them to use for a day or two and then return to get their reaction. Our success rate with this approach was over 40%. Obviously the dogs loved the dog food. It was then fairly easy to justify the cost verses carbon paper or typing multiple copies.

I learned several valuable lessons from Bill about selling.

I was then given my own territory, which consisted of an area of small businesses in southwest Columbus and then two counties southeast of Columbus. It was relatively virgin territory so I had plenty of opportunity for success. I was able to achieve enough success to get the attention of our branch manager. I along with my mentor Bill were two of the first salespeople in our branch to be selected to go to a national training school in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for the companies new 2400 ‘copier/duplicator system. Here we learned professional selling techniques and office systems philosophies.

When we returned I was made Marketing Team Manager with 5 salespeople reporting to me. I held this position for 6 months. Bill helped me a lot with my new team, even though he was not part of my team. He was always interested in how it was going and had great advice. I recall one episode in particular. I had a new salesman who was fantastic in training and very polished but had not closed an order in the first month of his territory assignment. I asked Bill for his advice and he suggested traveling with my new salesman for a day or two and observing his sales technique. I called Bill after the first day and said he performed great but was still not able to close. Bill gave me another lesson in closing a sale.

Ask for the order and shut up!!! I light went off in my head and I realized that my new salesman could not stop talking. The next day I instructed him to do his sales presentation, ask for the order, and not say another word until I spoke. On the first call after about a minute of silence, the prospect said no because he was going on vacation and did not want to start anything new until he returned. We waited for about 3 minutes in silence while the prospect carried out his own internal conversation and finally said yes. It seemed like an eternity. With great joy I said thank you, told him we would deliver the equipment and train his staff in the next 48 hours and we left. After that experience my new salesman became a star and eventually ended up on the national Xerox training staff.

This first 7 months led to another great opportunity and a challenge, both of which I will talk about in the next chapter. I should also mention that Bill continued to be interested in my career progress even after I left Xerox.

Lessons learned,

1. Become an expert in your products or systems as soon as possible.

2. The principles of good selling work. Get their attention, solve a problem, describe your products benefits in the customer’s terms, help make it the prospects decision, and ask for the order. Then shut up.

3. A negative answer to a question is an opportunity to develop a better understanding of your products benefits.

4. The cold calling process helps you learn what works and what does not work in developing real opportunities.

5. How to identify and find the real decision maker.

6. How to motivate sales people.

7. The value of having a cheerleader at home when things are not going well.

My introduction to the Fashion World

My introduction to the Fashion World

This was a very exciting time in my life. I was now immersed into the very basics of the fashion world. In order to be successful we had to know not only fashion design but also the fabrics used to make the fashions. Of course a good part of the excitement was traveling to New York every three weeks. I remember staying in a hotel that is now closed but was located about a block from Time Square and only a few blocks from the majority of my market and the Associated Merchandising Corporation Buying offices. AMC was a buying group that negotiated prices based on the total needs of all of its members. Most of these products were of a staple verses fashion nature. They also assisted us in making appointments, hotel reservations, printed a fashion update, and published a list of all buyers who were in the market each week. They were also our contact point for incoming calls and assistance on anything from travel plans to doctors if necessary. I also served on their fabric buying committee because we were one of the top two volume purchasers of staple fabrics like cotton broadcloth and basic woolens.

Now the nature of my mentors was quite different. The people I mentioned in the previous chapter helped me learn how to manage a retail business. The people who helped me understand the fashion world were not part of my organization but part of the fabric markets. They were a native New Yorker, Abe, who taught me how to work the markets. He owned a cotton fabric manufacturing company. He showed me where to go and how to buy. It was Abe who introduced me to the downtown fabric market. There were three or four merchants on lower Broadway who seemed to be able to get inventories of very popular brand name fabrics for about 20% of the normal wholesale price. I would spend one day each week in market shopping this market and about ever other trip would find some fantastic bargains. This would allow me to mix this inventory with my full priced inventory and when I had sales I was able to mark the fabrics down significantly without impacting my margins.

Frequently other buyers and myself would end our day in Abe’s bar at the back of his showroom and discuss the day’s successes and failures. Abe had never been West of the Hudson River and never had a driver’s license or owned a car. We became so close, that Abe wanted to see my store and he took his first trip, by train to Ohio, to see me. I was very excited to see him in my store.

I also remember another experience, with another New York mentor. The owner of a world-renowned woolen fabric house. When you were in the market you were expected to visit his establishment and have lunch with him and other buyers at Shakespeare’s Tavern, which was across the street from his showrooms. Here you had the opportunity to mingle with buyers from all over the world and trade ideas and experiences. Mostly I listened and learned a lot.

Part of the fun of the market was the time I would spend in the high fashion show rooms. After abut three months in the business I began to hear the seamstresses who used our department for their clients talk about wanting more high fashion fabrics. My lunches at Shakespeare’s tavern lead me to several very expensive high fashion fabric houses. In visits to these show rooms fabrics were not just on display but were made into garments and modeled for our viewing. This not only showed the fabric well but also gave us ideas to pass on to our customers. This also led me to using real models at least once a week instead of just mannequins. We also began to participate in the stores fashion shows.

One of the most successful fabric houses specialized in very stylish cotton print. It was a French Company Bouclé Fabrics. They had an annual contest to select the models they would use for their world tour. Because of the volume we did with them we were selected as one of the tour stops in the US. What a great event for us. The show was on a Saturday and the models and their entourage arrived on Wednesday. They modeled on our floor twice a day and then had a two-hour fashion show on Saturday morning. This event not only sold a lot of Bouclé fabrics but also boosted the sales of all our fabrics.

Since the fabric business was primarily a Spring, Summer and Fall business, my boss asked me to take on the Trim-A-Tree business which required one trip to New York to find new and unique Holiday items and then open five shops in the store from November to January with a final sale in January. My last two holiday seasons in retailing, I was at the store from 8:00AM until 7:00PM five days a week and 10:00 PM two days a week.

In addition to this experience during my last year we opened the first branch in our history. We were all frightened that this new branch idea would erode our volumes and the main store. It did not while I was there but probably did as more and more branches were added.

Lessons learned:

1. Mentors are not always obvious, be alert to anyone who is interested in you.

2. The best mentors are not assigned.

3. The people who are on the front lines dong the work and facing the customer always know more than you about your business.

4. Listen to your customer with an open mind.

5. Try new approaches to old processes often.

6. Seek out and learn from peers and suppliers.

7. Don’t forget your family. (More about that later)

My First Business Management Experience

My First Business Management Experience

Before I get into my first management experience, there is a life experience that was both an important lesson and helped me put a better perspective on family verses career.

It was the event of the birth of our first child. Janet was two months early and gave birth to twins. Mark and Michelle. Mark only lived for 4 days. Michelle was in an incubator for 40 days. Needless to say this was a difficult time for us. Not only was it a sad and very tense, it presented us with a huge financial obligation.

To this day I do not know how Mr. Lazarus learned about our situation, but one day, I was summoned to his office. He asked me about my family and how we were doing. By then we had Michelle home and were learning to become parents and getting past the tragedy of losing a son. So, I said we were doing fine. He told me he knew all about the situation and understood our stress and wanted to help. He told me the Lazarus Employee Trust Fund was paying all my hospital bills and I would have no further obligation to the company or the hospital. Please just go home and take care of your family was his parting comment. I am tearing up a bit just writing about this meeting. What a blessing!

Not long after that meeting, I was promoted to Department Manager of the Fashion Fabrics Department. Wow, at the ripe age of 23, I was responsible for managing a $1.3 million a year business producing a net profit of about $150,000. Over the next four years we were able to grow it to almost $2 million and over $300,000 in net profit. In addition, I after the first year, I was given responsibility for the management of the 5 “Trim – A –Tree” shops in our store. This was a seasonal business that operated from October through December with clearance sales in January. My responsibility in both of these departments was merchandising, display, advertising, buying, sales management, hiring & firing, inventory control and the bottom line.

Thankfully, I inherited a very experienced staff of sales clerks and a very capable assistant manager, Barry. He went on to become the CEO of a national chain of Fabric Stores.

There were three women who were very helpful to me. One was an elderly lady, who was a holocaust survivor. Sophie taught me how to deal with the private seamstresses who came in looking for fabrics for their clients. She often called in sick because of the aftereffects of experimental surgeries performed on her in the concentration camps. She was 70 plus years old and we were just grateful to have her when we could. She was also not afraid to tell me when I was making mistakes.

The second woman was the most experienced salesperson in our department and became a very valuable advisor to me in the area of customer service, basic fabric selections and seemed to know what our customers wanted.

Finally there was our seamstress. She made clothes for our mannequins and live models. She also helped our live models dress and prepare for shows.

Lessons learned:

1. The importance of family.

2. The value of taking care of your employees.

3. The value of listening to the experience of fellow workers.

4. How to have the courage to tell the boss he or she is wrong.

5. The value of listening to customers.

6. How to manage a business to achieve real financial results.