EDUCATION – JULY 2015

Several issues back, I talked about meetings amongst jobbers that had been set up via Brian Lynch and Ernesto Vasquez. These two are employees of Matrix that decided to change the way business was done. Bad robots? Probably, but if that’s what you have to be to get answers, then count me in! Counting me in, is exactly what they did. This whole idea stemmed from many conversations that Brian and I have had for several years. In those conversations I was always asking why Matrix as a company did things that just didn’t make any sense, and he was basically asking me why I looked at it the way I did. There was a definite difference of opinion, in which sometimes I would see things his way, and him my way…….COMUNICATION! Eventually this communication gave way to education, and that’s where it all began. My biggest complaint was Matrix items that had been discontinued. I would always hear his explanation as to why they were discontinued before chiming in from my perspective. It became painfully obvious to me that a simple explanation was not going to work, so I started showing him how and what I did with those items, and that’s when I got his attention. Many of the items all had two things in common, but upon careful inspection we realized that only one thing had been considered when the trigger was pulled……..lack of sales! Apparently that was good enough reason for the “bean counters”, but it was definitely not enough for me (us). That second commonality was “marketing”, or should I say “lack of marketing”! How did we know this? Simple, we communicated! We also just so happened to be at The Paint Spot while many of these conversations took place. Now that begs the question of why The Paint Spot would be significant? Well, because most of those discontinued items were all viable stock right here in my store. We routinely used and sold all of them, and when I showed Brian just how important they were to our operation, he understood what I’d been trying to say for so long. In short, Matrix wasn’t selling them because Matrix didn’t want to sell them! Fine by me, you run your business however you see fit, but realize this: You negate your right to demand that your sales staff increase their sales!

We took that and brainstormed it further down stream. Many things came up, and I remember tying together some of my pet peeves such as jobbers having “competing paint lines” in their store, and the lack of “custom paint” sales, both of which The Paint Spot is not guilty of. Why? We were on to something, or at least we thought we were, but to know for sure, something had to happen, and it had to happen at this level!

Is a complete Matrix system really so limited, that a competing line was necessary?

As far as Brian is concerned, he is NOT one to say anything negative about Matrix, he’s as loyal an employee as it gets. Me, well my money was on the latter, and I’m the most loyal Matrix distributor they’ve ever hoped to have! So much so, that I am willing to sacrifice my own time and my own money to do “Whatever it Takes” to identify and fix “their” problems.

I have several examples of either non existent marketing, lack of marketing, improper marketing. I even have one example (and arguably several more) of me personally being the SOLE marketing “GLOBALLY” (I will submit proof upon request).

Since there was at least a question of whether or not those entrusted with selling the Matrix brand (jobbers) were basically given a distributorship, not properly vetted or trained, and then expected to grow like gang busters, it had to be addressed.

With all that said, the obvious question is: What about the “Warehouse Distributors” (W.D.’s)?

The Plan: To hold meetings in test areas where all jobbers and warehouse distributors are invited to sit next to each other. To step by step walk through the complete Matrix line. “Accushade”: to be gone through from start to finish, and completely understood throughout.

To educate the jobber AND warehouse distributors of what they have access to when they have “The Matrix System”. To give them the understanding that they are the “eyes and ears” of this company, without which, the company could not survive. To get them “Tier One” training that virtually no other paint mfg has ever offered before. To assure them that this information is not just the criteria by which a Matrix distributor is accepted upon, but it is essential in approaching and understanding the end users needs.

That last one is my favorite. Outside of Chris Butler, Aaron Mastro, and Dave Brunori, I’m willing to bet I’m the only one in this country that best knows the complete system. Since all those other guys have job titles that prohibit them from attending our meetings, I have to suffice, and I love every minute of it!

Brian is a stickler for keeping the agenda, but he’s also 10,000 leagues above us, in that he’s just so friggin smart and he’s got the ten dollar technical terms coming at you a million miles per hour.

My role is: To “dumb it down” a bit so all who attend can go out the next day and translate what they learned into dollars.

Ernesto’s role: is to sell us on the idea that a power point presentation really is the best approach.

If any of you suits up there in Ohio are reading this, ya’ll need to lighten up on Ernesto. He’s starting to believe that power point shit, and we all know what kind of trouble that can cause…….just ask Ken Papich! FYI Ken: we “discovered” what should have been in your “discovery” meetings……………MARKETING and THE MATRIX SYSTEM!!!!!

Sorry for the sarcasm, power point does have its place, just not right now….please!

Hey Brian Jones from BCI Supply in Conroe Texas…..do you think it’s working? I am so glad to know you!

Brian Lynch, how about you? You were the brain child behind this whole thing, and I haven’t forgot the time you got me and Joe from V&M to sit down together! I’ll bet you had 911 set up on speed dial for that meeting. Turned out to be “just what the doctor ordered” instead……LOL!!!!

They’re working so good that if I were Dave Brunori I would see if I could con Brian Lynch into heading up a national version of them. Not to mention making them mandatory as well as a prerequisite to even being a Matrix distributor. Furthermore, I would exploit the fact that this is unprecedented in the industry which clearly shows that Matrix is far and away the ONLY “true” tier one paint company in the world!

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> 10.2013-Cutting and Buffing,Color Class, Matrix vs PPG, New location Matrix MPB-LV Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.