1.
BRAVE NEW WORLDS:
Growing Sales in a Down
Economy
By
Tom Barrett
Tom Barrett is an accomplished corporate growth and change agent with over thirty years of landscape industry experience. Tomʼs leadership
experience, holding executive level positions, drives corporate revenue growth through change and innovation for business start-ups,
corporate expansions, and divisional turnarounds. Tom Barrett has been delivering energetic, dynamic presentations and training for over
twenty years. These presentations empower people to become masters of change rather than victims of circumstance by developing tools for
transformative thinking. Currently, Tom Barrett delivers over thirty presentations and trainings each year to organizations and associations
around the country.

2.
If you’re not confused . . .
…you’re not paying attention.
- Tom Peters
I want to keep this light and informal. So hereʼs the last slide. I put it first because I wanted to make sure we covered it and after thinking
about things I realized thereʼs a lot to talk about. We may not get to this slide.

3.
IT’S the ECONOMY

4.
Bank Closures
reach a record
in July
As of August 21, 2009 eighty-one banks have closed this year. Almost half of them are in July. This is 280% more than closed in the previous
seven years combined.

5.
Excessive
Manufacturing
Capacity

6.
... of the 5.1 Lost Jobs
Almost 80% Lost by Men
actual unemployment is over 14 million.

7.
Nationalized
Banking
One large US Investment bank has disappeared - Lehman while the remaining four have been acquired or become conventional banks.

8.
Nationalized
Manufacturing
The New York Times Reports that beyond the $700 billion TARP bailout, the goverment has committed to spend about $12.2 trillion to prop up
the economy.

9.
GM
#1 in Research & Development over the
last twenty-five years
And you in this room have weathered competition but the fact remains the rock stars of irrigation today most likely will not be the rock stars of irrigation tomorrow.
“Forbes100” from 1917 to 1987: 39 members of the Class of ʼ17 were alive in ʼ87; 18 in ʼ87 F100; 18 F100 “survivors” significantly underperformed the market; just 2 (2%), GE &
Kodak, outperformed the market from 1917 to 1987.
Source: Dick Foster & Sarah Kaplan, Creative Destruction:
Why Companies That Are Built to Last Underperform the Market
Ford, GM and Chrysler do not just make cars expensively … they make bad cars expensively.” —Investec analyst, International Herald, 0805.06
Of Koreaʼs Top 100 companies in 1955, only 7 were still on the list in 2004. The 1997 crisis “destroyed half of Koreaʼs
30 largest conglomerates.”
Source: “KET Issue Report,” Kim Jong Nyun (14.05.2005
Excellence
Innovation
Or DieFlat as a Pancake (Or Worse)
Wal*Mart … Dell … Intel … Home Depot … Microsoft … GE
Can anyone tell me which company has been # 1 in Research and Development over the last twenty-five years?
--- GM
Itʼs more than money

10.
Emotional
Economics
Theory

11.
China
The country with the most number of English
speakers

12.
The World is Changing
To begin with, itʼs worth noting that all the insanity around us notwithstanding there will be a moment when this age will start to make sense:
That brave new world will look very different than it does now...
Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of The Age of the Unthinkable

13.
Opportunity
It’s all about People
It’s all about
Innovation

14.
Outstanding Customer
Service

15.
80% of
Success
is
Showing
Up

16.
Positive Mental Attitude

17.
Integrity
We are all
buying
insurance
Assurance
Value

18.
Value = Relative Service + Relative Price
The value-proposition of increasing its market share and growing revenue by:
providing superior customer service
product differentiation
operational efficiency

19.
Value

20.
My Average
Sales Person
Made 300 to 400
Sales Calls a
Year

21.
My Top
Sales
People
Made over
2,000
Sales Calls
a Year

22.
ZAG

23.
Be Different

24.
Be REALLY
Different

25.
ED TURI
Whatever
It
Takes
Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes
During the height of the recession in 2009 I was driving home from work on a Friday afternoon and was surprised to see a man standing at a busy intersection with a sign that
read I need a job, with his phone number below. In the midst of the worst recession in years it wasnʼt surprising that someone was standing at a corner with a sign looking for
work.. What was uncommon was how he looked. He appeared to be in his fifties and was dressed in a suit, tie and all. It was July and it was hot and his face was beat red. It
was apparent that he had been standing there all day. On Monday morning driving to work he was there once again. This time I decided to stop and talk with him. I assumed
he must have been desperate for a job. He had probably been out of work for 6 months to a year and was on the verge of losing his house, his family, and perhaps was losing
his mind. Why else would he be here. I had connections and thought perhaps I could help him out.
What I learned from talking to him surprised me. He was out of work, but he had only been out of work for 2 weeks! He told me that he couldnʼt sit home and stare at a
computer all day long looking for a job and he could think of no better way to get himself out there than this. “Times were tough, he said, youʼve got to do whatever it takes.”
He went on to say that he was an accountant and lost his job because his company had downsized. He wanted to stay in accounting but was willing to do whatever it took to
keep working. He also said that in the two days he was out there he received over 100 phone calls! He handed me his resume and I promised him I would see if I could help
him out. It was obvious to me though that he didnʼt need much help and in reality he had done more for me than I had done for him. I saw him at the corner one more day and
that was it. I donʼt know for sure but I bet he wasnʼt out of work for too long.
I couldnʼt stop thinking about the situation. Was I putting forth that type of effort in my business? Of course not. Training and Consulting budgets had been slashed by virtually
every company and my business was hurting bad. I was putting forth more effort to find clients but by no means had I done something as bold as this guy. I knew I could do
more. I knew I wasnʼt doing whatever it takes.
It wasnʼt long after that experience that I saw a sign at our church for a menʼs group that was starting up. The name of the group? “Whatever it takes.” You bet I signed up for
that group.

26.
Shane’s Landscape

27.
Frisbees
Mail Box
Magnets

28.
Landscape Concept

29.
Landscape Concepts
A Plan
Targeted Accounts
Sales Calls
Follow-up
AND . . .

30.
The World is Different
To begin with, itʼs worth noting that all the insanity around us notwithstanding there will be a moment when this age will start to make sense:
That brave new world will look very different than it does now...
Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of The Age of the Unthinkable

31.
Panera
Bread is
focusing on
the 90% of
People who
are
employed

32.
It is not the strongest of the species
that survives, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most
responsive to change.
- Charles Darwin

33.
Summary
People
Innovation
Outrageous Customer Service
Invest in Sales & Marketing
ZAG

34.
Just Do It

35.
BRAVE NEW WORLDS:
Growing Sales in a Down
Economy
With
Tom Barrett
Tom Barrett is an accomplished corporate growth and change agent with over thirty years of landscape industry experience. Tomʼs leadership
experience, holding executive level positions, drives corporate revenue growth through change and innovation for business start-ups,
corporate expansions, and divisional turnarounds. Tom Barrett has been delivering energetic, dynamic presentations and training for over
twenty years. These presentations empower people to become masters of change rather than victims of circumstance by developing tools for
transformative thinking. Currently, Tom Barrett delivers over thirty presentations and trainings each year to organizations and associations
around the country.