22 November 2008 E-MAIL SEARCH Home Page Newsroom From the Top Business Buzz Marketing Mix Financial Focus Management Matters PR Points Web Wisdom Industry Reports Business Glossary Resources U.S. Gov. Resources      Macher vs. Method   Macher \mah-ker\ n [Yiddish/German maker] 1: a big shot 2: a person with access to authorities 3: a person with contacts "I can introduce you to senior managers at..." (pick one: Intel, Microsoft, GE, J&J). "My cousin in Los Angeles used to be VP at..." (pick one: Disney, Bank of America, Wal-Mart, IBM) "and he knows..." (pick one: the CEO, the CFO, the marketing VP, the COO). How many times have you heard these or similar statements filled with the promise of wonderful business development opportunities all based on "they'll-do-anything-for-me" contacts? I don't know if the macher is a uniquely Israeli phenomenon, but I do know that an American business associate recently said to me, "We have nothing like it in the United States." Only in Israel My guess is that the macher phenomenon is largely the result of the confluence of two circumstances: As an immigrant-based society, Israel is host to myriad foreign contacts, languages, and business cultures. As a small country, Israelis must expand into "foreign" territory to grow their businesses. Enter the Macher In my experience, there are two basic "species" of machers: the "random macher" and the "selective macher." The Random Macher The random macher operates on the theory that if you throw enough stuff against the wall, something is bound stick. He runs from company to company gathering brochures and commission agreements which he then ships en masse to his cousin in... (pick one: Chicago, Buenos Aires, London, Moscow) with the instruction to "find buyers." Does this method work? It must, on occasion, but I've never heard of a success. (If you've never run across a random macher, just think Kramer from Seinfeld.) So what's wrong with the approach? Know-nothings. For starters, The Cousin (in whatever city) probably doesn't know anything about the business he is supposed to represent. He hasn't done research; qualified leads; or even made an effort to understand the product, the market, or the market drivers. The first time The Cousin gets a nibble (invariably reported back to the Israeli client as "We are a negotiating a large order from IBM."), he is completely clueless about how to answer, and he is equally clueless about how to distinguish between serious interest and idle curiosity. Noisemakers. Random machers tend to introduce a lot of "noise" into a company's marketing efforts. Not knowing the product, the market, or whether a potential buyer is seriously interested, The Cousin floods the Israeli company with dozens of requests for... (pick one: price lists, "50 brochures," price concessions, documents translated into Sanskrit). The hapless company is "hooked" — either supply the information or miss out on that multimillion dollar contract with Mitsubishi. The Selective Macher The selective macher actually worked for many years as a VP at... (pick one: Lucent, Teva, Boeing, Dell) and has all the best contacts in the... (pick one: ERP, nutraceutical, automotive, medical device) industry. Selective machers are almost certainly guaranteed to do a better job of presenting your product than the random macher; in fact, sometimes they may even present it better than you. And they often have real value to add to the sales process with a good understanding of a market, an ability to accurately identify points of entry for an Israeli manufacturer, and the ability to tell you when your product does not have a chance of making it in the market. Does their approach work? I think the answer is "sometimes." A good selective macher can organize useful meetings, present well, and help structure a deal, but there are disadvantages to their approach. In my conversations with clients who have worked with selective machers over the years they have identified four main drawbacks: Getting the right meeting. Okay, Carol (our prototypical selective macher) was a VP at Nestlé for years and has great contacts there, but it is a huge multinational with a very complicated structure. She's arranged a meeting for you. Are you traveling to Switzerland to meet with the right person for your unique food technology? Or are you going to meet a former colleague of Carol's who after five minutes will tell you, "Your product is interesting, but you should be meeting with Bill in our New York office." Getting a qualified meeting. Great, you've spent another $1,000 to meet Bill in New York, but is Bill meeting with you out of genuine interest or as a favor to his colleague, Carol? Playing the network game. One of the problems with a network is that it harbors obligations. Maybe Kraft is a better partner than Nestlé, but Carol doesn't introduce you to the folks at Kraft for fear of alienating her long-nurtured relationship with Nestlé — "...better to fail for you than to screw up my 20-year relationship at Nestlé." Protecting the network. Carol has to be careful not to annoy her contact by being overly aggressive. She needs to be concerned about maintaining and nurturing her network. It is unlikely that she will push too hard to get a meeting, a response, or even a proposal. If you do decide that Carol has great added value to offer your organization, make sure to ask her what other deals she is currently working on in the same field. The last thing you want is for her to present you to Nestlé as one in a shopping list of six "interesting" technologies she is currently developing. Alternatives Are Available In our more than 20 years of business development work, Trendlines has developed a methodological approach that we believe gives our clients the best chance of succeeding. Our approach is based on the following underlying assumptions: Successful business development requires a good understanding of the market and market structure — size, trends, competition. It is critical to map the distribution channels in the industry and to identify possible points of entry. The strengths and weaknesses of the client must be taken into account so as to identify the "optimal" — not necessarily the "best" — partners. It requires a lot of time, persistence, and a good sense of humor to identify and make contact with the right person in a potential partner company. There is no substitute for well-prepared, face-to-face meetings. After laying the groundwork and capturing the interest of the potential partner, spending time and money to travel to meet is a must. To get a deal involves flexibility, honesty, an ability to listen well in order to understand the needs of the other side, and a lot of patience. The deal must be "win-win." A methodical approach to business development addresses each of these issues, in turn, to build a winning approach to forging the right business relationships. By conducting focused research about the market and its players, you greatly increase your chances of succeeding. Remember that successful business development is a matter of matching unique needs and abilities with the unique needs and abilities of your channel partners and your end-users. So, do your homework, identify the ideal partners, and go after them. Happy hunting! The Trendletter team welcomes your comments. Steve Rhodes Managing Director The Trendlines Group ©2002–2008 Trendlines International Ltd. All rights reserved. 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