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● S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 ● I N C . ● 4 3

GROW LIKE YOU MEAN IT

Every day, my colleagues and I meet with

young entrepreneurs seeking funding and

expertise to help grow their businesses. All of

them have one goal in common: to achieve the

kind of success that might one day land them

on the Inc. 5000. It’s an honor we’re familiar with, as the outfit I founded and ran for nearly two

decades, Big Ass Fans, appeared on the Inc. 5000

for 11 consecutive years. That’s a feat matched by

few companies.

Behind that accomplishment was a deter­

mination to increase revenue and put profits

back into the business to expand product lines

and markets; a firm belief that excessive profits

at year­end meant missed opportunities; and a

steadfast refusal to accept outside investment.

And, honestly, after making the list the first time,

I always wanted to climb higher in the rankings

the next year.

This focus on top­line growth accomplished a

couple of important things: First, it allowed us to

operate the kind of business we wanted, one that

delivered quality products and service and that

took good care of its people. And, second, when

we decided to sell, we had plenty of suitors. Pri­

vate equity firms find nothing more enticing than

a company with lots of potential for cost cutting.

It all worked out fine, but were we to do it

over again, would we make the same decisions?

Maybe not. And while I much prefer to look

ahead, hindsight (never mind the notion that it’s

always 20­20) can be an excellent teacher. So

it’s useful to reflect on what we might have done

differently.

But, before getting into that, I’ll give a quick

and tidy version of the Big Ass Fans story for any­

one who might not know it.

MOVING A LOT OF HOT AIR

You’ve no doubt seen a Big Ass Fan. These very

large, very slow­moving overhead fans are now

everywhere, from arenas to zoos and all kinds of

food­related facilities. One of our tag lines used to

be that everything you ate for breakfast had spent

time beneath a Big Ass Fan.

We launched in 1999 with six people, funded

with the proceeds from the sale of a roof­based fan

business and a lot of credit cards. From the start,

we knew we had a great product that solved a real

problem—keeping people (and animals) comfort­

able in buildings too large for air conditioning. We

were convinced that it was only a matter of time

before the world recognized this.

Our first year, we sold 146 fans. By our fourth

year, the number had jumped to 1,900. I remember

someone asking how large I thought the market

might be, and I said, “Maybe 50,000.” Little did I

know. We sold our 100,000th fan in 2013, and every

year after that we sold hundreds of thousands.

From 2002 to 2008, our revenue increased

around 45 percent annually on average. Then the

recession hit. Sales took a dive, but I was damned

if I was going to lay off anybody. So we launched

a new installation service and did a little penny

pinching. Everyone kept their jobs, and we even

eked out a tiny profit. As soon as the economy

picked up, we had the people we needed to keep

growing. The rest of the time I owned the company,

sales grew at a minimum 30 percent annual pace.

Constant development of new products and

services played a huge role in that growth. After the

recession, installation turned into a lucrative divi­

sion. Our R&D efforts paid off as we expanded from

simply manufacturing and selling industrial fans

to developing silent, elegant fans for commercial

spaces. And when we learned about work being

done by an innovative motor designer in Asia, we

brought the man and his home ceiling fan into the

Big Ass Fans founder Carey Smith led the fan and light maker from $0 to its $500 million sale. He started working at age 9 and has never stopped. His “secret” to success is common sense, and he’s happy to share it. His firm, Unorthodox Ventures, focuses on finding small companies with big potential.

R I G H T , Y O U ’ R E W R O N G ❱❱ C A R E Y S M I T H

My company spent a decade-plus on the Inc. 5000. Of course, I’m proud of that. More important for your company, increasing the top line gives you better opportunities to focus on the things that matter more than money.

4 4 ● I N C . ● S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 ●

Kabir Barday, co-founder of OneTrust, No. 1 last year on the Inc. 5000, bootstrapped his company to be able to develop products without having to meet investors’ aggressive targets. See inc.com/ magazine.

company. After some tweaks,

we christened it Haiku and

made it smart—the first

ceiling fan to join the internet

of things, as it was quaintly

called. The Haiku quickly

grew into a $60 million divi-

sion. Sales poetry.

LEARNING FROM MISTAKES

There were misses, too. I

was loath to venture into

M&A territory, and that

probably held us back. For

example, at the end of the

recession, a competitor—

one that sold more than

just fans—was looking for

a buyer, and at $40 million,

the cost was quite reason-

able. If I had pursued that

deal, we might have more

than doubled our revenue.

As time went on, we

also saw opportunity in

some shiny objects we probably shouldn’t have

approached. If we’d rethought these, we might

have improved the bottom line while not detract-

ing all that much from the top.

For example, our customers told us they

needed brighter, more energy-efficient lighting,

so we took a deep dive into industrial LEDs. From

there, we added more lighting products and even

ventured into home lighting. Our lighting division

was profitable, and we made a good product, but

it took longer than anticipated, and it diluted our

focus. Worst of all was the fact that we were con-

stantly chasing leaders like Philips, the Dutch

electronics giant, in a very competitive market. 

The large, existing companies regularly improved

their offerings and benefited from size efficiencies.

In that respect, we were out of our comfort zone.

We were used to being ahead of everyone with our

fans. The lighting venture also led us to change

our name from Big Ass Fans to Big Ass Solutions,

something we soon regretted.

ON THE OTHER HAND

We may have gotten involved in some areas we

shouldn’t have, but keeping a foot on the growth

pedal paid off. If we hadn’t put so much money and

effort into new product development, we would

have almost certainly run into scaling problems. If

we’d kept all our eggs in one basket and sold only

industrial fans, we would have had a hard time

keeping up the pace of growth while maintaining a

high-quality product. As it was, our gearbox sup-

plier had to expand its facility to meet our demand.

At Big Ass Fans, our primary focus was always

on quality. But we were also determined to increase

sales, because we believed in our way of doing

busi ness—and the more we grew, the greater the

impact we could have on our community. I always

said we weren’t in business to make money; we

made money to stay in business. If we had money at

the end of the year, I truly believed that meant we’d

missed an opportunity to invest it in the company.

We always made a profit—just not as much as we

might have if profit had been our top priority.

If I had it to do over, I would’ve sought more

advice—assuming I’d found anyone I believed

worth listening to. Maybe they would have told

us to acquire more companies, as I would tell

my former self today. Our acquisition of Haiku

worked out great. But I was reluctant to make

other deals because we lacked the expertise on

staff; because when we did consider them, the

companies either had bad products or too much

baggage; and because we would have had to bor-

row money, which I did not want to do.

Our success tells you that, for the most part, we

made good decisions. Focusing on revenue growth

allowed us to spend on the things we believed

were more important and interesting than money.

Our customers loved us, as evidenced by a net

promoter score that would be the envy of any

company. We owned the market. And when it

came time to sell, we were an enticing property to

private equity and VC firms. I got my asking price

of $500 million, and because of a plan in place to

share the wealth, more than $50 million of it went

to colleagues. Twenty of them became instant

millionaires. Several have used that money to start

businesses of their own—and they each have a

game plan of their own for reaching the Inc. 5000.

AT BIG ASS FANS, OUR PRIMARY FOCUS WAS ALWAYS ON QUALITY. BUT WE WERE ALSO DETERMINED TO INCREASE SALES, BECAUSE WE BELIEVED IN OUR WAY OF DOING BUSINESS—AND THE MORE WE GREW, THE GREATER THE IMPACT WE COULD HAVE ON OUR COMMUNITY.

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50 TD | December 2018

SALES ENABLEMENT

December 2018 | TD 51IMAGE | MICROSTOCKHUB/GETTY IMAGES

P O D C A S T

WAYS SALES ENABLEMENT WILL DRIVE REVENUE IN 2019

The enablement team is a key part of business success.

5

52 TD | December 2018

1 Support sustainment effortsTo outsell an equally armed competitor, sales organi- zations need more-effective selling behaviors. Moreover,

this effort to sharpen skills must be ongoing. Consider that

“mature companies spend 34 percent more on training and

development than their less mature counterparts,” according

to research from Bersin by Deloitte. These well-established

companies understand that improvement is an ongoing

practice. As a result, they earn a profit growth three times

that of their competitors.

Earning results like those requires sustainment. However,

the problem is that sustainment is elusive. This challenge

is best illustrated by the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve, whose

downward sloping line represents how people forget infor-

mation over time. Fortunately, researchers have discovered

that diminished recall is preventable. The key is to make the

information meaningful and more salient. Learners retain

more information when they see the connection between

the material and the sale—the greater the relevance, the

greater the recall. Here is where sales enablement enters

the picture.

Enablement professionals help tie training lessons to

real-world selling scenarios. They make concepts salient

by working with L&D to align skills with corporate goals

and customer needs. Enablement teams also work with

sales leaders to develop a list of critical skills that resonate

with today’s market.

Having the appropriate resources is only half of the equa-

tion. Sales professionals also must have a support team

capable of isolating the material that matters by distributing

assets that underscore how lessons from training connect

with selling. These assets can include assessment tools,

conversation guides, and client-facing collateral. When

one group owns this responsibility, there is consistency

across the organization.

2 Bring efficiency to the onboarding processTime to productivity is a major influence on revenue, and sales enablement professionals are well placed to affect

this lever.

Sales enablement teams should have an in-depth understand-

ing of buyer needs and sales best practices. They understand

market-facing resources and how they align to the selling pro-

cess. Therefore, enablement teams can play a more involved role

in onboarding new hires.

T here was a time

when the sales pro-

fessional’s arsenal

was a telephone

and a list of con-

tacts. Since then, technology

has changed the game. Selling

organizations now have access

to nearly limitless data and out-

reach capabilities. However, these

tools often function like more

pistons and valves on an already

complex and noisy machine.

According to the Accenture report Selling

in the Age of Distraction, 59 percent of sales

professionals say they have more tools than

they can use. The researchers also found

that sales professionals “are simply awash

in more product data, competitor data, and

customer data than they now can effectively

absorb or use.” This challenge has given rise

to one of the fastest-growing titles in sales

today: sales enablement.

Sales enablement professionals make

information actionable. Enablement is

about organizing decentralized infor-

mation and leveraging resources to their

fullest extent. These resources include

digital tools, marketing materials, and,

of course, people. Doing so leaves sales

professionals unencumbered and free to

pursue the next opportunity. Enablement

teams deploy marketing collateral and

selling tools to the appropriate sales pro-

fessional; the strongest teams are those

able to yield the greatest value from avail-

able resources.

Given that, these are the five new ways

that sales enablement will drive revenue in

the coming year.

BY ANDREA GRODNITZKY

December 2018 | TD 53

Sales enablement professionals have experience with

learning management system software, back-office systems,

messaging, and overall strategy. By leveraging their experi-

ence with sales and learning leaders, enablement professionals

can build a tiered onboarding routine. The result is a layered

approach in which foundational skills come first, followed by

more specialized skills.

New hires benefit because the sales enablement team com-

municates with both sales and marketing. This exposure

helps new salespeople understand more about the organiza-

tion in less time.

The pairing of new salespeople with sales enablement pro-

fessionals is appropriate because the enablement team often

tracks the use and effectiveness of materials among salespeo-

ple. This insight gives the team a fast read on which practices

and messaging move the sale. These measurements extend to

win rate, quota attainment, contract value, and profitability.

Enablement teams know what drives these numbers and un-

derstand the best practices for compelling customers to buy.

3 Develop talent from withinProductivity is about more than getting new sales pro- fessionals up to speed faster. It also relates to experienced

sales professionals.

Developing internal talent avoids the time and expense of

sourcing external talent. Aberdeen data show that the aver-

age cost of replacing a sales professional is more than $29,000.

Moreover, the average training time is 7.3 months.

Enablement teams are critical to avoiding these costs, be-

cause they help internal sales professionals develop their

skills. Doing so can develop an inside sales professional into

a field rep or a field rep into a global account manager. Sales

enablement teams can chart this path because they know the

customer and product and where value lies. Therefore, they

know how to support sales professionals with the messaging

and skills that connect with buyers.

A salesperson’s tenure with a company is connected to his

sense of satisfaction. When someone feels that his actions create

meaningful influence within the business, he is more likely to

stay and thrive. Enablement teams become part of this process

by helping sales professionals acquire new skills that make sell-

ing behaviors more effective. As a result, sales professionals are

more influential to the business.

Bringing sales enablement and talent management together

means companies are better able to yield the full value of re-

sources within the company. They also are positioned to help

inform the marketing team of emerging customer needs. Mar-

keting can use these insights to develop new material that

resonates with the marketplace. This routine underscores the

value that sales enablement teams provide; communication

between sales and marketing is a feedback loop. By developing

talent from within, enablement teams create a bank of talent

that makes the content meaningful.

COMPANIES WITH A STRONG ENABLEMENT FOCUS GENERATE A 32 PERCENT HIGHER TEAM SALES QUOTA ATTAINMENT.

4 Yield revenue from digital tools Sales professionals have an arsenal of tools

at their disposal. In fact, they have so many

tools that the challenge is often determin-

ing which ones to use and how best to use

them. More digital tools often leave sales

professionals with diminishing returns.

McKinsey researchers found that the “ma-

jority of sales executives said that their

companies are increasing their investments

in digital sales tools and capabilities for the

near term.” Despite this, the same study re-

veals that less than 40 percent believe they

are even moderately effective. Sales enable-

ment teams can solve this problem.

They communicate with the market-

ing and sales teams. This ongoing dialogue

enables the sales enablement team to un-

derstand the macro- and microfocus. The

marketing team watches broad industry

changes. In contrast, sales professionals

watch individual customers. By understand-

ing these two sides, sales enablement teams

can develop a shared list of capabilities.

With this information, sales enablement

professionals make informed decisions

about which tools are relevant. They’re also

54 TD | December 2018

prepared to list measurements that both

sides will accept. Enablement teams can

use this information to decide which digital

tools to use. The result is capabilities that

are more in tune with the organization’s

everyday needs.

5 Draft and measure critical selling metrics Selling metrics are one of the sales enable-

ment team’s vital responsibilities. Such

metrics as quota attainment, win rate,

and average deal size inform major busi-

ness decisions. As the pace of competition

increases, enablement teams need to be

able to generate this information fast.

Doing so enables sales professionals to

outpace the competition.

A formalized measurement process also

simplifies today’s dynamic sales cycle. The

SiriusDecisions State of Sales Enablement

2017 found that 65 percent of respondents

face an increasingly complex sales process.

However, salespeople equipped with a sales

enablement process are two times more

likely to see reduced complexity in their

sales process. This simplification comes

from the fact that a single enablement

team has ownership of the data.

When enablement teams own the measurement process,

they gain a broad perspective of the business—they’re able

to understand cause and effect. The net result is a more

insightful view of which selling behaviors and marketing

materials compel customers to buy. Enablement teams

focus on more than measurement—they focus on meaning.

By interpreting the analytics, the enablement team can

release the right tools or message at the right point in the

sales cycle.

As this cycle becomes more complex, this capability is

increasingly important. For example, as a sales professional

works to build consensus among stakeholders, the sales enable-

ment team can be effective in sharing various marketing assets.

An effective enablement professional will ensure that each of

these pieces addresses each stakeholder’s unique perspective.

Takeaways Marketing and sales teams are not enough. Winning the sale

today means companies need professionals who can drive

more from those two groups. The sales enablement team ful-

fills this role by optimizing both teams’ capabilities.

For this reason, sales enablement has become a critical

function in sales organizations. Aberdeen research shows that

companies with a strong enablement focus generate a 32

percent higher team sales quota attainment. These organi-

zations also generate a 23 percent higher conversion rate.

Simply put: Enablement keeps the wheels greased.

Though many companies have a sales enablement function

in place, success comes from knowing how to focus that tal-

ent. Selling organizations can do so by asking themselves

five questions:

• How can my enablement team ensure that sales profes-

sionals retain the skills they have learned?

• What materials can the enablement team supply to new

hires so that they can be up to speed faster?

• Where do existing sales professionals need assistance in

enhancing their productivity and building their careers

internally?

• When in the sales cycle are digital tools helpful, and how

can we maximize our return on investment?

• Which sales metrics reveal our progress toward company

goals?

Answering those questions gives organizations a way to

build the efficiencies that are integral to winning the sale.

Efficiency is essential to succeeding today because technol-

ogy is putting organizations, large and small, on a more even

playing field. Thus, success doesn’t come from having more

technology—it comes from the ability to use technology in

more meaningful ways. Sales enablement is the function

making that approach possible.

Andrea Grodnitzky is chief marketing officer for Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company; [email protected]

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125© HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1750-1938 JOURNAL OF AIRPORT MANAGEMENT VOL. 16, NO. 2, 125–133 SPRING 2022

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Building smart airports: Technology solutions to improve health, enhance experience and increase revenue Received: 11th November, 2021

PIERS MACNAUGHTON VP, Health Strategy,View Inc., USA

Piers MacNaughton SCD is an engineer turned public health advocate, specialising in healthy buildings. He is the Vice President of Health Strategy for View, where he partners with universities to conduct research and provides strategic guidance on product development. His goal is to accelerate the adoption of healthy building practices and technologies through transformative research and active engagement with building professionals. His work focuses on exploring the key drivers of decision making, such as health, productivity and student achievement in the places we live, work, learn and travel through. Dr MacNaughton graduated from Tufts University with a degree in environmental engineering and subsequently from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health with a master of science and doctor of science in exposure, epidemiology and risk in the Department of Environmental Health.

View, 195 S Milpitas Blvd, Milpitas, CA 95035, USA Tel: 978-886-0315; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract Modern airports are seeking new ways to differentiate and enhance the travel experience. They have hybridised to become both transportation hubs and shopping centres. Airports now view passengers as their primary customers and are becoming more aware of passenger needs throughout the travel experience. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, airport health and safety is the travelling public’s highest priority. Airports need to invest in technology that addresses health and safety concerns elevates the passenger experience, and provides a substantial return on investment in the long run. Recent surveys show that the most effective technologies are not always the ones airports are employing: environmental sensing, innovative display technology and smart glass that increases access to daylight and views of the outdoors are three such solutions. As these types of solutions become more prevalent, passengers will come to expect an increased level of comfort and convenience out of their travel experience. This paper will focus on two key technologies — smart glass and environmental sensing — that can provide a solution.

Keywords Passengers, retail, innovation, engineering, environmental management, customer service

INTRODUCTION The way airports view passengers has changed. Airports have largely tran sitioned from transportation hubs to destination spots in their own right. The success of this strategy depends on reducing the stressful components

of the airport experience and replacing them with engaging activities for passengers to enjoy. Therefore, airports now view passengers as their primary customers. There is an increasing realisation among airport executives that non-aeronautical revenue can be a

–

MacNaughtoN

126 © HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1750-1938 JOURNAL OF AIRPORT MANAGEMENT VOL. 16, NO. 2, 125–133 SPRING 2022

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substantial part of total airport revenue. Not only does improving the services available to travellers drive additional concessions, over time, the reputational and brand improvements position the airport favourably for additional enplane- ments and expansions. It follows that airports are changing how they address passengers’ needs.

At the same time, there has never been a greater need for airports to restore pas- senger confidence, enhance the passenger experience and generate additional reve- nue. The COVID-19 pandemic brought air travel to a halt. Globally, the number of people flying decreased by nearly 95 per cent at the beginning of the pandemic, and the impact on airport revenue was equally unprecedented.1

Throughout 2020, passenger travel was down 60 per cent, amounting to US$391bn in lost revenue for airlines.2

The individual’s personal health, and the health of others, are the travelling public’s two highest priorities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the association between infectious dis- ease and air travel will persist beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. With travel serv- ing as a vector for disease, the perception of the risks of travelling far exceed the actual risks of disease transmission during the travel experience. In a recent survey of 970 passengers across the United States, more than 70 per cent said that concern about the airport as a healthy environment is a greater priority than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.3

In response, according to a recent Airport Council International (ACI) study, 87 per cent of airports say they are looking to incorporate technology that addresses health and safety concerns.4

For example, much has been done to update air filtration systems, including upgrading to filters with higher MERV

(Minimum efficiency reporting value) ratings and even incorporating ultra- violet light to kill airborne pathogens. These investments are useful and go a long way toward creating a healthier airport environment; however, the passenger is unlikely to be aware of these solutions being present and effective. Solutions that are a visible part of the travel expe- rience or that communicate the impact of invisible solutions are necessary to improve passenger confidence.

Airports need to invest in technology that can work triple-time: technology that addresses health concerns, elevates the passenger experience and provides a substantial return on investment in the long run. This paper will focus on two key technologies