Wow, I say this all the time, but this might be William’s best article yet! Magic and so true. Sticking to the core and growing from there is so important. I am learning that myself right now. In a small way I have seen the reprecussions of spreading ones self too thin and losing sight of what keeps you the strongest. I am going to take this advise for sure and if Keith Richard’s knew his cracked out life taught someone this message, I bet he would be proud!! lol Thanks William!

Notes from the Field:  The Teachings of Keith Richards, Unsuspecting Shoe Guru … and If I See Another Rocker-Bottom “Wellness” Shoe I’m Going To Slit My Wrists

In an interview a few years ago, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones was asked why he thought he has survived so long, when so many of his compatriots — living equally decadent rock and roll lifestyles — have shuffled off this mortal coil (NOTE: a free Hush Puppies keychain to anyone who can identify the literary reference in the previous sentence!).  His answer, mumbled/gargled in vintage Keith-speak, was as usual, unintelligible.  Being fluent in Keith-speak, however (a result of a lifetime of study and worship) I was able to decipher his point.  Boiled down to its essence, it was that he knows himself – what he can do, what he can’t, and what he can take. And (most importantly) with each hit, snort, syringe or glug, he learned and assimilated more and more information about his abilities.

Or, as we say in the shoe business, he knows his core business very, very well, and is always striving to strengthen that core.  Shoe people (wholesalers/manufacturers or retailers) strive for the same thing – not heroin addiction (but I certainly HAVE met some characters in my time…) but a strong, profitable, manageable core on which we can build our business.  Retailers are looking for a high margin, renewable annuity that they can depend on to pay their bills; wholesalers are looking for the same so they can layer on new fresh lines each season with the hope of 1 or 2 styles migrating over into that core.

I have a morbid fascination with drug addicts and other fringe-of-society types; mostly they provide wonderful reading and watching (and have created some breathtaking art over the years) but I believe it is mostly because they represent a complete id-based existence – their words and actions represent a mind completely uncluttered by the pressures of, and need to conform to, “straight” society.  They are the human condition, in its most raw, unfiltered, messy, glorious form.  Basically, they live as I wish I could, if I had the guts.  And if you’re wondering, I don’t.  I do, however, have a t-shirt that my wife bought me that shows His Majesty, circa 1974, in a pure opiate daze, with the caption “Je Ne Regrette Rien.”  That means “I Regret Nothing” in French; that’s as far as I go.

What I DO do, however is take Mr. Richard’s point — about knowing/growing one’s abilities — to heart  It applies to me personally in my goal to be a better salesperson/business person, and it directly applies to the challenges shoe brands have in this environment.

For me, every time I walk into a sales call, I say to myself “I am a sales GOD – I know every trick in the book on how to guide the meeting, I am prepared for every objection, I know my product perfectly, I am cool.”  Over the years I have watched sales videos, read sales magazines and books, had countless mentors teaching me, and every time I plan to use each and every piece of that learning.

Never happens.  Especially in those cases when I’m caught off guard and I instantly become Ralph Kramden from The Honeymooners “aaaahh….hamina…hamina…hamina” (and I’m sure there are some reading this who are too young to know what I’m talking about there, but rest assured that’s the sound of someone who doesn’t know what to say).  This would be not unlike Keith, say, having a little too much to drink one day and getting – shall we say – “an upset stomach”.  He pays the price that day, but the next time, he knows that particular combination of heroin, Ritalin and Rebel Yell bourbon just doesn’t mix well.  And I, next time, am prepared for that objection that reduced me to a stammering mess.  Guess what?  Me and Keith both just increased our core.

I have found, over the years, that my core of selling skills has increased on a daily basis.  Each sales call, I (consciously or subconsciously) try to employ everything I know; gradually, each one worms its way into my regular repertoire and becomes part of the core.  Just like with each passing season, one shoe from my new line worms its way into my customers’ core assortments.

Recognizing, learning about and building on a core is something that some brands do well – and some not so well.  A brand has an individual identity and place in consumers’ minds – like it or not – that should be mined and encouraged; nine times out of ten the attributes that “brought you to the dance” are unique, powerful and profitable.  Granted, there are times when a brand identity might NEED to be changed…but why?  To stave off obsolescence/emergency or simply to chase a trend?  Do we REALLY need 45 different EVA-rocker bottom sneakers, all designed to tighten, tone and work our leg muscles?  Didn’t one brand create and market that as their core?  Why take a brand with a different core competency, and shoehorn it into this one?  Or, like Keith said to Ron Wood (also of the Rolling Stones, upon his first attempt at “keeping up” with Keith), “this just ain’t you, man – stick to alcohol.”

 We, as brands, need to take a page from Keith and identify – and always be strengthening – our core.  This is what our customers need from us, and this is why they are buying our products.  Identify that reason, and amplify it! This does not mean be stagnant, by any means (has Keith gotten sober? No way….) but conversely continually be progressing.  Always be learning and building on our core competencies and making them better – and making better shoes that do us, our customers and our brands proud.

Now if anyone wants to nit-pick, and remind me that Keith hasn’t produced any good recorded music since 1990, we can talk.  But last year, he did a Luis Vuitton luggage magazine ad that was more rock and roll than anyone has done in the last 20 years – and it depicted a man who was the product of everything he had done over the past sixty.  You could SEE his core. 

-William

www.wolverineworldwide.com