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Convergence Channel have a disciplined application engineering/estimating team and, even more importantly, an installation team that has been recently trained in the converged solution they are installing. As the company commander why does this matter? T e rules of engagement are changing at a faster tempo than in the past. Speed is a competitive advantage. T is is especially true if your customers are increasingly asking for, or specifying specifi c products rather than asking your advice on product solutions. T e Internet, tradeshows, more competitors and new marketing tools inform your customer faster than you can in a traditional sense. Nobody likes doing other people's work for them, do they? Discipline dictates that you cannot be everything nor off er everything to everybody and still be successful. T e math just doesn't work. Neither does the service response. 4 TIPS TO SET YOUR COMPANY APART Let's get back to how to distinguish your company in a Marine Corps mindset. T ere are some lessons my departed friend and I learned and are appropriate to share here: Rule #1: Marines recognize the value of "extreme" training almost to an art form. "T e more you bleed in training, the less you bleed in battle" was drilled into us. Consider how you train your team from a fresh perspective. Ask yourself, does our training address how the whole team prepares for and executes the convergence solution mission? Rule #2: When in doubt, innovate. Problems on the battlefi eld, like in business, are rarely static. Strategies and tactics that were successful in the past have only taught your competitors, and sometimes customers, what your next move will be. So surprise them by learning from past mistakes and innovating through evolution. Rule #3: Use tempo as a strategic weapon. T e Marines understand the tempo of battle can turn liabilities into assets through speed of deployment. Traditionally, we worked through a qualifi cation, evaluation, site survey, estimation, approval and proposal process that became a liability. T is is particularly true in the commercial/industrial markets. T e liability is time. You may not draw your customer into the "ownership" side of the sale early enough, which can often delay the "decision" to fund or buy a solution. Rule #4: Drive decision making down to the lowest level in the organization. Planning your business operations and establishing standard operating procedures (SOPs) is a fundamental discipline of running a strong and profi table business. However, in the heat of the battle things can go awry. T e best laid plans cannot account for the chaos in business today. When you are presenting a proposal to a customer and you fi nd out your competitor has done something totally unexpected, how will you react in that moment of battle? What if an unexpected technical issue 22 / SECURITYSALES.COM / NOVEMBER 2012 Unlike conventional products and services you have offered in the past, network-centric and software-specifi c solutions are complicated, and call for much greater teamwork. At the same time, strong leadership is vital. arises during a routine service call? Will your team say, "I'll get back to you?" 3 SIGNS OF STRENGTH FOR ANY FIRM T e lessons learned as a systems integrator must be captured and analyzed if you want to distinguish your company in your market. While larger companies have more resources, they also have longer decision cycles and layers of management. Smaller companies are often more nimble in their decision making, but are often led by the founder of the company who may have strong but outdated opinions. No disrespect is intended, just a fi eld observation of working with lots of diff erent clients during the past 30+ years. So what is the answer to this riddle? OK, my work here is done and yours is just beginning! Actually what I have just shared is not as hard as it sounds if you are willing to drop some of the baggage we carry around and take a fresh look at how you work as a team to accomplish a converged mission. Here are a few pointers: 1. Start by looking at your communication protocols. During group meetings do you allow and encourage new opinions to be openly voiced without fear of political reprisals? 2. Examine the leadership style that is predominate in your company and ask yourself, does this encourage or discourage innovation and decision making? T e Marines push leadership down to the lowest level of enlisted noncommissioned offi cers (NCOs). 3. Do you allow and embrace the concept of "making the wrong decision for the right reasons" and then objectively evaluating that decision as an opportunity to add to the lessons learned library? So whether you work for or run a Mutt- or Jeff -sized company, take time to distinguish yourself and your fi rm by remembering the lessons you have learned on the convergence battlefi eld. PHOTOGRAPHY ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/PIXHOOK