HBE has 9 territories for healthcare sales. These “hospital
sales” guys are well compensated for success. A top earner can pull down
$500,000 in a single year. Unfortunately for most, the ability to prospect and
successfully pull in business for HBE is a unique skill and balancing act.
Wayne, who covered western territory was the top producer for several years
running. He seemed untouchable. Jim had modest success and David has been
marginal in his efforts. The fates of these three individuals only illustrate
the unpredictable nature of FSK decision-making. Privately held companies tend
to be reflections of the founders. HBE is no exception. Fred Kummer will
periodically find himself heading the healthcare sales team of 9 because for
whatever reason, he has dismissed yet another EVP of business development. In
the three years between 1998 and 2001, I saw one on the way out, one kicked out
and one hired and eventually kicked out of that top position. Fred has an old
fashioned model for sales and business development. He believes that sales
people need to hit the road and get in front of healthcare CEOs – when they
have building projects in the works, regardless of what stage of development.
He believes that, given the opportunity to review existing plans, it is highly
likely that his company and his interdisciplinary team will be able to find a
better solution. Better for the hospital. Better for the board and the
community. Better for HBE, too. Sure, he’s demonstrated it time and time again.
HBE knows what to look for and how to deliver the most cost efficient
“no-frills” product there is – for many the very best VALUE. “So what are we
selling?” was the challenge FSK put to the sales force in a series of
high-stress meetings orchestrated by the “maestro” over a period of several
months, while he was figuring out how to replace the EVP he fired suddenly.
As a marketing person, I am more than happy to oblige a
sort of company self-analysis and brand audit. I know such academic exercises
can be very helpful for organizations to fine-tune their messaging and
understand the positioning of the company for which they work. But FSK is not
good at leading this type of process. He is abrupt and judgmental in his words
and body language. Instead of creating a forum for openness and honesty, he
creates an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. So, as a result of FSK taking the
helm on marketing direction for the company: Nine sales guys sit around
listening and trying to avoid participation in the process. “What are we selling?”
is not some sort of rhetorical question in the spirit of Theodore Leavitt’s
famous Harvard Business Review piece on Marketing Myopia. Fred isn’t interested
in the sort of epiphany that railroads are not in the “railroad business” but
rather the “transportation” business.
Not at all. What Fred appears to want is a sort of
monolithic force of drones – all singing the same tune. He wants the sales guys
to find opportunities – and do it by reciting only the gospel according to
Fred. This Might be okay, except Fred Kummer doesn’t speak in complete
sentences. It seems that his mind is following several trains of thought at the
same time. He often starts a sentence in one place and ends up in another place
entirely. “Twenty years ago, yesterday, ya know we haven’t done a very good job
identifying the benefits of our approach….” No kidding – that’s they way he
talks! While it seems unfair to single out just three sales guys, they are
dramatic illustrations of the function as is has been designed by FSK himself.
He’s only looking for “opportunity finders” to kick the door open. He doesn’t
want these guys to “build relationships” or do anything after the client has
signed a simple one page letter of agreement to work exclusively with HBE on
their particular healthcare design and construction problem. Wayne, David and
Jim are just three of dozens of hospital sales guys (and they have been – with
few exceptions - men) that have parked their briefcases at HBE’s 11330 Olive
Boulevard headquarters – The “big house on Olive Boulevard” as I like to call
it.
“Wayne, when was the last time you went to Utah?” Fred
challenged Wayne in a meeting. Wayne had been more successful than any other
salesman over the past three years. Now Fred, in this public flogging – in
front of his peers, Wayne is asked to rope-a-dope with Fred about his travel
itinerary and his focus. It just wasn’t a fair fight. Wayne did the best he
could to defend his concentration on business outside the state of Utah but
this confrontation with his top guy seemed to mask his “not so well hidden
agenda” to root Wayne out and send a message to the remaining 8 hospital sales
people. In one sales meeting, Fred summarized the recent actions of Jim and
Dave: Jim presented an idea to a healthcare system involving HBE doing a master
plan for a facility. He hadn’t cleared this notion with Fred and the maestro
wanted no part of planning without a commitment to build a facility. Fred
didn’t want to waste the company’s energy and resources. On the other hand,
Dave had a client who was looking for information, for which Dave didn’t have
an answer. In Fred’s judgment, Jim and Dave were both guilty of something and
ripe for public humiliation. “Jim is dishonest and David is just stupid. I’ll
take stupid over dishonest any day,” Fred reasoned aloud. What became of Jim
and Dave? The scales of Fred Kummer justice resulted in the dismissal of Jim
and the retention of Dave. (Eventually Dave left as well.) Rightly or wrongly –
Fred determined
that Dave was trainable and Jim was not worth any additional coaching. Today, in addition to its status as a
leading design-builder of healthcare facilities HBE is also a major force in the
design build of
financial facilities (banks, credit unions, etc.) and the parent company of a chain 24
upscale hotels.
The company is still run by its fearless leader. The stories of Wayne,
Jim and Dave
are not atypical. Very few escape the long arm of the law at HBE. The town sheriff keeps
order with his quick draw and the townspeople just assume the relative prosperity and safety is attributable to the sheriff.
God help you if you are a Hospital Salesman, a Financial Facilities Salesman or a
General Manager
of an Adam’s Mark Hotel. High profile and high
casualty rates in all cases. Those
positions are always in the line of fire and no-one can reverse the outcome of a sheriff
with an itchy
trigger finger.
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