I’m talking to Hartley Peavey in the greenroom moments before SNAMM’s Industry Icon event. I reference the theme of the show — the need for change and new ideas — and point out he was preaching this 12 years ago during what would be my first of many colorful interviews with him.
“Kevin, I’ve always only tried to do one thing, and that’s make the dealer successful whether he wanted to be or not,” he says. I soak in yet another Hartleyism, and he continues. He says that while the need to change is on the lips of nearly everyone, when it comes to actually following through on learning about a new product and bringing it into one’s shop, some retailers hold back.
There’s a reason for that: There’s a good chance the change won’t work out. While the workshops, sessions, and conversations at Summer NAMM were about the need to change, less discussed was what comes with trying new things: failure. Guru Bob Negen, who ran the Retail Boot Camp, warned that if a retailer tries something new and it isn’t a smashing success, that doesn’t mean to not try it again. Maybe it needs some tweaks. Sometimes good ideas need time to grow.
But key to success is accepting that wrong ideas are part of the process.
In another conversation with Hap Kuffner and NAMM’s Joe Lamond, the two were discussing the history of Summer NAMM shows. Lamond expressed he’s still smarting from the “failure” of the Indianapolis and Austin shows. But with Edison in mind, I pointed out that those forays weren’t failures. NAMM learned that Shows wouldn’t work in those towns.
All this is just not bumper sticker sloganism for me. I am right in it with you. I’m part of an organization going through tremendous changes right now, and with the thrills, there is the to-be-expected frustration.
You’ve seen many of our changes, including the new look, updated websites and apps, and a more comprehensive social media presence. In Nashville, publisher Terry Lowe walked around the show floor taking high-quality video and getting those up on our new MMR TV YouTube channel within 24 hours (we now have a dedicated video editor – talk about a positive change!). And there have been internal changes regarding people, processes, and the nuts and bolts of publishing.
With so many changes, have they all been successful from the moment of implementation? Inevitably, they have not. We are learning what works and what doesn’t, and we’re making adjustments to those in the near-miss category. It’s all to build a better media source that can serve you better.
Mr. Edison also said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Let’s never give up.
Kevin M. Mitchell
