Fresh Perspectives

A True Evangelist

I’m a big follower of Guy Kawasaki.  Guy was an “evangelist” for Macintosh early on, and is now a venture capitalist, author and speaker.  He has a contagious passion for marketing. 

I was recently watching a local PBS show called Northeast Business Journal, a program that highlights local entrepreneurs and is hosted by Bill Kelly, station President.  Bill’s guest was Jim Corbett, principal of a Minooka Subaru, a large local Subaru dealer.  Like Guy, he has a passion for marketing and is an evangelist for the Subaru brand.  Jim loves to sell cars, a passion he learned from his father, Jake Corbett.  Jake started as a used car dealer in 1954 and took on the Subaru dealership in 1970.  In 1969, I purchased my first vehicle from Minooka Motors, and my brother-in-law purchased a brand new Subaru FF1 (pictured) in 1971.  Jake Corbett was a true evangelist for Subaru, and was one of the most convincing salespeople I have ever met.

In a 2006 blog article, Guy outlined the “art of evangelism”.  Let me take a few of Guy’s points and equate them to Jake:

• Create a Cause – In 1970, the $1,900 Subaru brand was very new to this area.  This was a time when the quintessential small car was the Volkswagen.  The oil crisis was ramping up.  Jake took advantage of this time and leveraged the advantages of better gas mileage in a very dependable small package, and he truly was a creator of the cause he was also promoting.
• Love the Cause – Jake was passionate about the cause and the car.  The Subaru automobile became his life’s work, and he truly believed in it.
• Look for Agnostics, Ignore Atheists – Jake Corbett knew when to cut his losses and move on.  He could quickly spot a person who would never share his passion, and he quickly moved to people he knew could share his passion.
• Let People Test-Drive the Cause – Everyone who stepped onto the lot had to take a test-drive.  These cars were all standard shift, and whether you had ever driven a stick-shift, Jake insisted on taking you out to drive the car.  These things were truly fun to drive, and in experienced hands, could be shifted without using the clutch.
• Never Tell a Lie – Jake was so passionate about the car that one could have viewed him as pushy.  Yet, Jake was sincere and truly believed in the product.  He had no reason to lie, and never did.  You could count him among the few numbers of honest car salesmen. 

Minooka is a section of Scranton, PA that was originally settled by people of predominately Irish decent, and is considered its own town by some residents.  By 1973, many people in Minooka were driving Subaru cars all thanks to Jake Corbett.  His neighbors and friends purchased the cars, and now, Minooka Motors is one of the largest Subaru dealers in the nation.  The foundation of passion for the brand lives on with this family-owned business.

In these difficult times, it is great to find a business like this.  They are true evangelists of their product. 

The Price of Admission

I had a chance discussion yesterday which prompted me to reflect on the issue of professional standards.  From the bankers who were involved in less than ethical situations to sports figures taking steroids, it seems the media is full of stories about people not living up to basic standards of professionalism.  Here are some examples:

• The cleaning person who doesn’t correctly sanitize a public restroom puts the people using that restroom at risk.
• The contractor who does shoddy work and covers their mistakes. Anyone who watches the TV show “Holmes on Homes” can relate.
• The accounting firm who ignores professional standards by involving themselves in illegal schemes of their client.  When it happens large-scale, the overseers (AICPA) have to enact rules that adversely affect the good accounting firms.
• Professional firms taking part in political pay to play schemes.  This seems to be the standard in Washington.
• The insurance agent who sells a customer sub-standard auto insurance just to get business.

In all of these cases, the individuals likely know where the line is drawn, yet they frequently cross that line. 

There are many cases to the contrary as well, although they generally don’t get media coverage.  Many of the people I know seem to fall into this category.  I very much value these trust relationships:

• The insurance broker I deal with both personally and professionally has been in the business most of his life.  I trust him inherently and completely.  He earned that over time.
• The used car dealer I deal with exclusively has been in business over 30 years and he doesn’t advertise.  He does not compromise anything and has earned my trust.  The few dollars more I may pay for a vehicle is well worth it.
• The contractor who works on my house never cuts corners; he goes above and beyond.
• The accounting firm I deal with professionally is a true independent auditor and upholds a high standard.  They’ve done so for almost 25 years even before it was statutory.

The best way to promote professional standards is to demand it as a minimum price of admission.  I’ve found that doing so uncovers people who also perform the work well beyond expectation.  In my view, although there are situations where compromise is necessary, we shouldn't compromise professional standards.  If we hold professional standards as foundational, maybe the abundance of rules and regulations we have could prove to be unnecessary.

NEPACIL - Community Presence

The Northeast Pennsylvania Center for Independent Living (NEPACIL) is dedicating its new building on Friday, November 18.  I'm back on the Board of the NEPACIL, and I view this dedication as a monumental occasion for people with disabilities in the counties covered by the CIL.  The main reason?  Community presence.

This renewed community presence helps promote the ideals of independent living.  It promotes a different mind-set when legislators are making decisions about programs for people with disabilities; it promotes the understanding that people with disabilities need to be part of the community; it lets everyone know that people with disabilities can work and prosper.  The community supports that the NEPACIL embraces and promotes are not hand-outs.  Instead, they provide ways for people with disabilities to contribute to the community through work and interaction.

So this is much more than just a building.  Its a representation to all of us that everyone deserves the right to say "nothing about me without me"!