No. 12 December 2009

I just heard from a friend at the North American Equipment Dealers Association (NAEDA). Our discussion centered about the large number of dealers going out of business this year. He stated what we all know is true about OPE dealers living on thin margins and the struggle to keep inventory on hand, pay wages, cover overhead etc. He recently read that the powersports industry estimates dealer closings could reach 1000 by the end of the year. I told him our company’s business analyst informed me today that our company had about 365 of our dealer customers go out of business through December 1 of this year. That’s over one a day. He and I worry that this industry will lose valuable employees plus quite a few dealers, and they will be very difficult to replace.

One day in ancient Greece, an acquaintance met the great philosopher Socrates and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple Filter Test?” asked the man.

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

Advice columnist Dear Abby had a wonderful saying about gossip which still rings true, "It is almost impossible to throw dirt on someone without getting a little on yourself."

I want to share with you a Christmas story I particularly like called “The Gold Wrapping Paper.”

“Once upon a time, a man punished his five-year-old daughter for using up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper before Christmas.

Money was tight, so he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve, he saw that the child had used the expensive gold paper to decorate a large shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!"

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her.

But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the package!"

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full."

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us as human beings have been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God.

There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.”

Have a wonderful Holiday season with your family and friends.

No. 11 November 2009

A shareholder vote held recently by Tecumseh Products resulted in the Herrick family regaining control of the company they once owned and ran.

As you may recall, I called this saga a “soap opera” in my November 2008 OPE “Anonymous Distributor” column that detailed all the posturing and lawsuits. Remember that Kent Herrick, a former executive and his father Todd Herrick, former CEO, president and chairman, were ousted from the company in 2007. At that time some shareholders blamed the Herrick’s and their management team for allowing the Tecumseh engine division to become a non-factor in the air-cooled engine manufacturing business and losing major placement with lawn mower manufacturers and retailers like Sears.

As we all know, new management was put in place in 2007 and the engine division was later sold to Platinum Equity, LLC. But the Herrick family continued to be major shareholders in Tecumseh Products through their Herrick Foundation which owned more than 40 percent of the company’s voting stock in 2008.

As a result of the annual meeting in August, 2009, the shareholders voted to elect the Herrick slate of board candidates and voted down a recapitalization proposal that would have reduced the Herrick Foundation’s voting power. Kent Herrick was elected chairman of the board of directors.

Remembering a proud Tecumseh Engine Division once so strong, I can’t help but wonder why the shareholders want the fox’s guarding the chicken house again?

Here are some thoughts about the health care bills that may be imposed on all of us soon. Why should you and I care? Because we’re going to be paying for it for a very long time.

Here’s what John Feehy, president of the Feehy Group, an advocacy firm located in Washington, DC, had to say about the health care bill: “I believe that the health care bill is overly complex and not well-understood by most Americans. And it frontloads the pain and backloads the gain.

“To help pay for the benefits and to fit into the budget parameters as laid out by the president, most of the bills start increasing taxes and cutting Medicare benefits almost immediately, while the health insurance programs don’t really get up to speed for another four years or so.”

“The Democrat’s health care bill is also a direct money transfer from those middle class Americans who have health insurance to those who don’t. But polls show that most Americans not only have insurance, they are satisfied with it and fear that the Democratic plans could make it either more expensive or less effective.”

Feehy goes on to say that “making Americans pay more for their insurance (through higher premiums or taxes) or giving them fewer benefits (such as cutting the Medicare Advantage program), will cause a firestorm with middle class voters.”

Agree or disagree, you owe it to yourself to become more informed on this topic and its potential impact on your wallet and you and your family’s healthcare.

Harvey MacKay tells a wonderful story about applying a personal touch to make your sales efforts more effective. During World War II, the U.S. government began offering soldiers a life insurance policy with a $10,000 benefit if they were killed in combat.

In one unit, a young lieutenant delivered a polished presentation on the details of the plan. No one signed up. Then an older sergeant quietly asked the lieutenant if he could talk to the troops.

"Men," he said, "if you get this life insurance and you get killed, the government is going to send your family $10,000. If you don't get this insurance and you get killed, the government isn't going to send your family anything. So who do you think they're going to send up to the front lines—the ones who'll cost $10,000 when they're killed, or the ones who won't cost anything?"

All the soldiers immediately signed up.

That’s a great example of the power of applying a personal touch to your sales effort!