Sales Support

Sales Support

There are two programs that I believed made our sales efforts effective.  They were our sales support philosophy and our incentive programs. 

We made sure that our sales organization had technical support through the development of a very skilled field organization that worked hand in hand with our sales people, customers, and installers.  They provided technical support to the sales person, and assisted the customer in the development or their customized ATM software and processing systems.  After the sale they worked with the customer and our installation team to assure a smooth efficient installation of the hardware, test and install software and systems, and finally assist in the training of the customers personnel. 

An outstanding and dedicated software development group at our home office supported the field teams. 

Finally we offered our sales teams an outstanding home office customer visitation program.  They were encouraged to invite customers to Canton at our expense.  The customer was accommodated in the best hotel in the area and transported by limousine.  All meals were hosted by a home office executive (Often the President or Chairman).  This gave the prospect or customer the opportunity to get to know the management team and gave us the opportunity to demonstrate our corporate commitment to our products, philosophies, and customer satisfaction.  Then the customer visited our display area, where all the company’s products were on display and demonstrated by experts on each product.  If the customer requested specific information about a product or system they were visited by and expert or escorted to that specific department for a more in depth presentation.

In addition to this program, as a part of our community support initiative, we took advantage of the annual NFL Hall of Fame enshrinement festivities to host 50 to 75 of our best customers for a great weekend of parties, golf and of course the enshrinement and the game.

We also insisted that the offices that had professional sports teams have season tickets to those games and regularly invite customers and prospects.

At major conventions, we always hosted luncheons, a provided a suite for our sales people to entertain their customers and prospects.  Early in the history of the ATM the Bank Administration Institute initiated an annual convention devoted to this market.  We thought it was such a good idea that we committed to hosting a cocktail party for the entire convention.  In return for our commitment to do this we were given the premier center front location for our booth.  These parties became quite famous because we always brought in famous entertainment and held them in very memorable locations.  The only speech that was made was a welcome to the party and thanks for the business.  We never tried to sell anything.

Finally we hosted an annual Christmas luncheon for the New York bankers at the 21 Club.  Again the only speech was from Ray, who just said Merry Christmas and thanks for the business.

Lessons learned:

1.  Sales of complex hardware and systems require professional support programs.

2.  Always make sure that the sales, support, and service organizations operate as a team.

3.  Getting to know your customer in a comfortable environment is very beneficial.

4.  The involvement of top management in the sales process is an important part of the sales process.

5.  Demonstration of support to your community and your industry is good for your employees, customers, and the community.

6.  A great message is delivered when you don’t try make a sales pitch when you are entertaining.

Corporate Sales & Marketing

Corporate Sales & Marketing

Sometime in the early 80s Ray and Earl decided that I should assume responsibility for the sales & Marketing of all the company’s products. 

The next ten years of my career required me to be away from my family frequently.  In addition to taking on all corporate sales, we also decided to begin to go global.  More about that in later chapters. 

It was during this period that our three girls were really beginning to establish themselves as both good high school students, and talented musicians.  I regret how much I missed being a more active part of their successes and failures.

Missy our oldest daughter decided she wanted to go to a high school for the deaf in Tennessee.  Reluctantly we agreed that it would be a good program for her and easier than her public school teachers having to be concerned about her ability to understand lectures and given special attention.  It worked out very well for her and she went on to Gallaudet University in DC and earned a bachelors and Masters degree.  She is now a very successful counselor in a girls school in Los Angeles and does great work for her church interpreting the bible and teaching sign language in Eastern Europe on a volunteer basis when she can.

Patti in addition to her studies became an accomplished drummer, softball player, and a better golfer than her father.  She was part of the highs school marching band and our local drum and bugle corp.  She went on to Bowling Green University became the lead drummer in their marching band, and got her BS degree.  After working in several positions she decided to go to Ashland University and got her Masters Degree in Divinity.  She is now a counselor at Ashland University.

Karen was also a good student and became an accomplished flutist.   She was also in the high school marching band.  She went on to the University of South Carolina.  Became active in a sorority, helped with the football-recruiting program as an on campus guide.  After graduation she became active in her sorority as a visiting representative of the sorority assigned to help with recruiting and local chapter reviews and training.  After that she began work in the insurance industry.  She also got her masters in marketing at Case Western Reserve.  She is now a vey successful executive at Progressive Insurance Company.

Unfortunately their mother Jan passed away before the girls had established their current successful careers.  I know she is a proud of them as I am.  She had a great deal more to do with their molding and mentoring than I did because of my travel and work commitments.  I hope I was able to help some.

Lessons learned:

1.  Your work and career are never more important than your family.

2.  When you are home give as much time as you can to helping your family further their desires and development.

3.  Cheer for your children whenever you can.

4.  Stay in contact with family even if you are on the other side of the world.

Customer Mentors

Customer Mentors

My first customer mentor was Al from Atlanta.  He was the father of “Tillie the Teller”.  Earl, my boss at Diebold, introduced me to him.  Al was an early adaptor of ATMs.  Although he had deployed a competitor’s equipment, he liked our system and customer service philosophies.  Al introduced us to a number of our first customers in the South.  He eventually replaced his equipment with ours and used our equipment when he moved to two other financial institutions.   Al also became a very good personal friend who I could go to for advice on the financial institution markets and new products and marketing ideas as we developed them.

I was also able to develop a mentoring relationship with an executive from each of the two largest financial institutions in the US in the 70s and 80s, Dan at Bank of America and Fred at Chase Manhattan Bank.  Both became good friends and advisors.  They were both very instrumental in getting the market really started.

I also had a great mentor in Las Vegas that helped us get into the casinos.  Another mentor in Miami that moved to the west coast and helped us with both the California and Washington markets. 

There were a number of others that seemed to want to be helpful when you were open to them and delivered on your promises.  I believe these mentors were responsible for our success. 

Lessons learned:

1.  Always be open to advice and assistance.

2.  Don’t over commit and always deliver on your promises.

3.  Get to know your customers on as personal a basis as possible.

4.  Ask your good contacts for advice frequently,  It will serve to solidify your relationships.

Selling the Market

This phase of market development presented several challenges:

First, we had to convince the market that we had a superior and reliable product.

Second, since we were not known as a systems company, we had to convince the market that we could be competitive with companies like IBM and NCR.

Third, we had to convince the market that ATMs would supplement their marketing strategies by providing an exciting new service that their customers would use.

For most of 1975 we focused or attention on getting the first 30 or 40 customers involved in our previous product successful with our pilot program.  Then we began to focus our sales efforts on the large to medium size financial institutions that we knew would be a positive influence on the market.  Remember at this time interstate banking was not allowed and a significant number of states did not allow bank branches. 

The pilot installations and one single sales success really started a significant positive market change.

One of my early mentors in this process was the IT manager for a small local bank.  John was very helpful is both testing and critiquing our early ATM software. More importantly he suggested we develop online transaction processing capability and helped us along the way with real world testing.  As a result we were the first company with the ability to implement real time online transaction processing.  Yes, even before IBM and NCR.  That took care of that challenge.  Well more on that later.

One of the ideas that really helped with the consumer acceptance issue came from a bank that was an early adaptor using Docutel machines.  In order to humanize the machines and make them friendlier, they named them.  In this case “Tillie the Teller”.  AL, the VP of marketing for the bank, became an important mentor and a great friend of mine.  Virtually all the early adaptors of ATMs began to name them.  It was a great marketing idea and helped us sell ATMs.

However the key event in moving this market was the decision by Bank of America to purchase 100 ATMs from Diebold.  This was not only good for us but energized virtually all financial institutions to make sure they stayed competitive with this giant financial institution.

Lessons learned:

1.  Always keep your eyes and ears open for mentoring.

2.  Always take the time to prove your product or system in a controlled environment prior to full release.

3.  Be on the constant look out for new marketing ideas and spread the word via your sales force.

4.  Never assume you cannot achieve sales success if you are not the biggest and most experienced.  Ie…Bank of America.