Richard
Riehl
is a Los Angeles-based consultant to the CI business and creator of BidMagic.
I had been pondering the growing mortgage crisis and how it was
affecting our entire economy. I was trying to process stories I had
heard of huge banks trying to retrieve a penny on the dollar for their
investments in credit cards, lines of credit, and more. What sort of
impact would the fall of housing prices and the construction downturn
have on the custom AV installation market?
Taking a sip from my Starbucks cup, my head spun around to see a dozen
classic Ford GTs pull out onto Pacific Coast Highway. It was a summer
afternoon in March as my wife and I walked along the beach at Zuma. The
beach has a way of making me forget about these types of worries. The
crashing waves can clear my thoughts and put me in touch with a sense
of timelessness.
Out on the ocean I saw a group of surfers sitting quietly on their
boards. As we continued to walk along, the sea was very calm. While I
felt the serenity of the sea, these surfers must have felt it a
hundreds time more as they sat there patiently waiting for a wave.
It seemed like a totally boring waste of time to sit there on their
boards, which were going nowhere. In our lives and in our businesses,
we can learn a lot from these surfers.
Surfer Wisdom
Sitting there so still, those surfers understood something about the
power of the ocean and how it flows. These students of the sea were at
peace with the waves that were always coming, but always changing.
Surfers know that good waves come in sets. All of a sudden a bunch of
waves will start to roll in, and they will mount up and skillfully ride
in. Business is like that. Surfers know that at the right place and
time some great waves will be coming and it is their job to be there
and be ready to ride.
Maybe your company is having a slow time right now with the current
economy. Maybe your ocean looks flat and there are no swells in sight.
If you want your business to ride the coming waves, you have to be
prepared. The surfers can show you how to be ready.
Preparation is the first step. Surfers must acquire the equipment,
skills, and physical strength needed for surfing. These levels vary
with the size of the waves they ride.
Use any spare time to bolster your team’s surfing skills. Get the
latest boards, get some new lessons, and prepare yourself to be a more
skillful rider and to get ready to ride bigger waves.
Once that is accomplished, the primary work of the surfer is
positioning himself where the right waves are. A lot of work goes into
being at the right place at the right time.
What’s Your Goal?
Study the surf at the beaches in your area. Are you waiting for a
six-foot wave? A lot of beaches can offer that. But if you expect to
ride a 20-foot wave, you need to setup somewhere else, like Hawaii’s
north shore. You should constantly prepare your company to ride bigger
waves (bigger jobs). How do the surf conditions line up with your
skills? Be warned that riding those big waves without enough experience
can kill you.
Next, you need to know which parts of the beach are best for surfing.
Some spots may have good waves, but might be overcrowded with 50 guys
already there. Take extra time to scout for innovative new spots that
are not overcrowded with competition.
Surfers refer to calendars that tell them the tide conditions. They
constantly keep tabs on wind and weather conditions, because unless
everything is right there won’t be good waves to ride. When the
conditions are right, all the preparation and planning is well worth it.
In our businesses, we need to be constantly studying, training and
positioning for bigger waves. We can break down the process for
business to two main steps: Preparation and Positioning.
Driving along the Pacific coast, I see guys floating on their boards at
dawn and I see them floating at sundown. They have made a personal
commitment to be there in position for the next set of waves.
The reward they seek is to stand tall and harness the raw power of an
awesome wave that they love. The reward that we seek is to ride the
wave of sales and success installing some awesome home theaters in this
business that we love.
I wish you long rides on big waves.
