Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Thanks Gary. Very well put.

How might you suggest I put this to them?

Dear Aaron,

How about short and to the point?

If this means sitting down with the head honcho and telling to him or
her to listen to you very carefully because you're only going to say
what you're about to say once, then so be it.

Consider telling them frankly, bluntly, that their lack of planning and
their inability to install disaster management systems could kill someone.

They might think this is a joke but you know and I know that it's not.

Think about telling this person that your staff are not the people he or she locks out of the system, that you're there as the fixers, as the clean up squad, as the dead man's handle on the run away train, and that you're there to make people like this person look good in board meetings.

Consider letting them know that you're also there to stop them from getting sued for hundreds of millions of dollars and to keep their penny pinching backsides out of jail on Federal criminal charges and civil penalties.

Then consider asking them if they want to be the person that really wants to tell a six year old girl that her daddy died horribly when he was sliced in two by a piece of heavy machinery that was on fire and whirling out of control because her daddy's boss was a penny pinching halfwit that valued the shareholder's dividend over the safety of his or her personnel.

Consider telling them that if they want all that, that if they truly
want whatever hell storm is unleashed by their cheap management
and disregard for human safety then they are to ignore you.

Your goal here is to let them know that no matter what, THEY NEED
YOU and your expertise to keep them on the straight and narrow.

But if you're going to say ANYTHING like this, get it on tape, or on
video and get the tape transcribed: get the transcription dated, signed, witnessed, and notarized.

Then make three copies.

Give one copy to your CPA, one to your attorney, and put the other copy in the company strong box at the bank. That way, if the Feds ever come a-knocking, you have solid evidence to back up your case.

Your job is to sell your services to cover these people's backsides.
But your job is also to cover your own butt.

Now yes, this might mean ruffling a few feathers. It might even mean ticking a few people off, or losing the client. That's a risk you'll have to weigh with your colleagues and let me be clear here: what YOU do or
say is up to you. I'm not telling you to say anything. But if the contract
is worth a lot of money to you—and I'm presuming it is, it might be worth taking a few risks in order to secure it.

The thing is this: in the long run, what's worse? A few ruffled feathers
and the possibility of a lost contract?

Or dozens of dead oil workers and another Gulf oil spill? That's not the kind of PR any company needs.

I'm from a blue collar background and as well as being involved in marketing and design, I've also spent a lot of time on construction sites and in heavy lifting and shifting. Any oil chief that's WORKED on a rig ought to appreciate your honesty.

If you want to sleep at night and die in your dotage with a clear conscious, and if they don't respect you for speaking your mind, ask yourself if you REALLY want these people as clients? If your answer to this question is that you don't need the hassle and the BS, then walk away if you can. There will always be another client.

But above everything else, your job is also to cover your own butt. That way, if the Feds ever come a-knocking, you have solid evidence to back up your case.

On an oil rig, as in construction, things can and do happen very quickly. When things go wrong, the errors compound—one on top of another like a line of dominos—and when extremely large pieces of astonishingly heavy machinery break and go flying across a derrick, particularly one at sea, help, rescue, salvation, whatever the hell you want to call it, can all be a long way off and a long time coming, if they ever show up at all.

In those moments of time, when every second can last a hundred thousand years and when days and nights can zip by at the speed of light, people can die.

Many years ago I worked on a railway swing gang.

Ever been smacked HARD in the face by the kinetic force of a 66 foot long piece of railway track connected to a LARGE crow bar? I have. I'm lucky it didn't split my skull open like a ripe watermelon. And no. I am NOT joking.

Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING on a railway is on a huge scale: weight, height, everything. The world of heavy engineering is highly unforgiving, thus, IT NEEDS CONTROLS AND SAFEGUARDS, and these people need your services.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
Wilmington, DE, USA

Great answer Gary. Not much else I can honestly say.

Do you think I can make the case that IT services are THAT critical?

Jay, how might I PROVE my claims? Testimonials/case studies?

Thanks again for your help

Dear Aaron,

With computer systems controlling so many aspects of heavy industry these days, yes, I think you can.

Gary Bloomer
The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
Wilmington, DE, USA

You must showcase your clients' uptime (vs. the "average"). Then it's a basic formula to compute the amount of downtime * value of the time to show why your services are a smart investment.