Learning by Fire

The coronavirus outbreak has forced many of us to work from home for a few weeks now, and we’re starting to see some interesting outcomes. Historically many sales organizations have been heavily focused on face-to-face meetings, hence the Road Warrior era of sales has dominated our industry and many others. As some of our processes transition to virtual, I expect we’ll discover things that will prove to be so effective, we may never entirely go back to our traditional way of doing things. Here are some of the trends we’re observing here at Okuma America that may be emerging at your organization as well.

Rapid Adoption of New Technologies

About a year and a half ago Okuma America began implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365. When the COVID-19 outbreak struck, we were already well underway with a significant technology transition in our business. Turns out this was excellent timing, because now we’re using tools associated with it, like Microsoft Teams, all day, every day.

There is a huge proliferation of video calls in our company (using Teams) and amongst our distributors and partners as well. While it can take a bit of getting used to at first, I notice most folks seem to really enjoy them. The efficiency in terms of cutting down on travel is a huge benefit I don’t think we’ll ever be able to walk away from entirely, so I see virtual meetings becoming a permanent fixture going forward, especially for sales teams. Perhaps we’re entering the era of the Virtual Warrior. This is not to say that in-person meetings will never come back – there will always be a need and a place for that. But likely we’ll land in a spot where there’s a healthy mixture of both.

Meaningful Customer Calls

Recently I heard about a four-hour conference call with a customer that was arranged by our distributor Gosiger. When it was over, they told me “I don’t know if we could have pulled off a meeting that successful in person.” Instead of carefully choosing a few select individuals that flew in for the in-person meeting, we were able to invite all of our experts for the virtual session. The customer was completely tuned-in for the entire marathon meeting, and got answers to a wide variety of questions, which made for hugely productive session.

Sharing Our Knowledge

Okuma America is holding lots of virtual training sessions with our employees where we have experts sharing the finer details of some of our technologies, like Advanced One Touch. We’re deepening our collective knowledge on service topics such as “why we servo tune a machine”, “how to read a blueprint”, and the meaning of various alarm codes. We’ve always had certain people who are extremely well qualified in these areas, and now we’re having them share that expertise with others throughout the company.

We’ve recorded these assets, and now that these training modules have been completed, it will be easy to share and use them on-demand. We’re taking advantage of the time we have to do these things because this will pay off both now and in the future.

Rising to the Occasion

In a recent article, Jim King, our President and COO, predicted that, even with all the hardship we’re enduring through the Coronavirus outbreak, it’s likely there will be some productive outcomes. We’ll find ways to enhance the way we function, within our own businesses, and as an industry. Even though it may feel like we’re “learning by fire” and experiencing change at a rapid pace, I can already see areas where we’re taking advantage of opportunities to improve. When our feet get held to the fire, we can often find a way to rise to the occasion and overcome challenges.

About Tim Thiessen
Tim Thiessen is Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Okuma America Corporation.
Connect with Tim on LinkedIn.