EP117: We Try Hardest!

In striving for market dominance, which among the top companies in any field do you think puts forth the most effort to gain — or hold onto — that dominant position? Our guest, Matt McCorkle, Manager of Branch Operations for Kaeser Compressors, and our two Market Dominance Guys, Chris Beall and Corey Frank, debate this question during this final conversation of their four-part discussion on all things sales-related. Even loyal followers of our Market Dominance Guys’ podcast will be surprised at the shared opinion these three sales gurus hold about which highly ranked company within each industry or service can claim bragging rights to the title of this episode, “We Try Hardest!”

About Our Guest

Matt McCorkle is Manager of Branch Operations for Kaeser Compressors. He has earned both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and has now been with Kaeser Compressors for 13 years.

Catch the three previous episodes in this session with Matt McCorkle:

EP107: On the Phone, They’ll Tell You the Truth

EP108: Sales and the State of Apprehension

EP109: Being There for Your Customers

Full episode transcript below:

Chris Beall (00:00):

Well, that's funny. Many people have asked me, "Who do you want to do business with in any industry?" And I always say, "I want to do business with the number three player. Always."

Corey Frank (01:22):

Okay. So, Matt, we always leave it on recording because we have just a brief... But thanks. Great stuff, brother. That's really kind of you to spend so much time and to... We're very careful about asking questions. We want to disclose the family jewels there. So I appreciate you indulging in some but not all of your techniques.

Matt McCorkle (01:43):

Absolutely. By the way, there is one that I was realizing, I probably shouldn't have said third, I'm thinking. I mean, I feel like it's common knowledge, probably. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but the guys who are fourth and fifth might be like, "I thought I was third." I don't know.

Chris Beall (02:00):

Well, that's funny. Many people have asked me, "Who do you want to do business with in any industry?" And I always say, "I want to do business with the number three player. Always. Always." Because number one is focused on the past.

Matt McCorkle (02:15):

Right.

Chris Beall (02:16):

Number two is focused on number one.

Matt McCorkle (02:19):

Yeah.

Chris Beall (02:19):

Three is focused on taking the entire industry. It's always the same.

Matt McCorkle (02:24):

And the guys behind are just hanging around.

Chris Beall (02:26):

That's right.

Matt McCorkle (02:27):

[crosstalk 00:02:27]-

Chris Beall (02:27):

So I mean, you look at it back in the day, right? Number one was Hertz. Number two was Avis. Number three was Enterprise. If you knew how Enterprise ran, you knew they were going to own the world.

Matt McCorkle (02:37):

Yeah, yeah.

Chris Beall (02:39):

It was abundantly clear, because they weren't going after Hertz and Avis. They were going after the true loyalty of the person who rented a car, and they were going in places the other guys didn't go. I was talking to somebody today who worked at Enterprise. Day one at Enterprise, here's what they tell you. They ask a question, "So what's the most important thing that we have around here as an asset, piece of equipment or whatever?" "Oh, the cars." "Oh, the system." Everybody has answers and nobody ever comes up with the right answer.

Chris Beall (03:10):

The trainer's right answer is, "No, the telephone. And here's what you're going to learn to do. When that phone rings you answer within two rings and you sound like the person that that person needs right now." And that's how they built that business. Right? Avis and Hertz, they didn't focus on that. So the number three player I've been obsessed with in every industry I've ever done business in. Because you can't become number three unless you're great, right?

Matt McCorkle (03:45):

Yeah.

Chris Beall (03:46):

You've built in real industries. But the question is who wants to own it all? Who wants to go after it? It's never number one or number two.

Matt McCorkle (03:54):

Well, Chris, this is what's great about our partnership with you because I don't know that we can. It's still, to me, a little bit of an open question of whether we can take those spots, because we are the top of the top. I mean, it is a different product, a different solution we offer than the other guys. And it is a dramatic different price. And so part of this experiment is to say, "What is that market share? What is the amount of the market that is willing to pay for the fully engineered German product that we sell? And that it is a good business decision for them to do that. How big of a market is it that needs that reliable of air at the cost we're able to give it to them?"

Chris Beall (04:43):

Well, something to remember, and we've discussed this on Market Dominance Guys, is the market is always a list.

Matt McCorkle (04:50):

Right.

Chris Beall (04:51):

It's always a list. And you dominate that list.

Matt McCorkle (04:54):

Yes.

Chris Beall (04:55):

So what somebody else might define as the market and market share is irrelevant. The question is four of those that you put on the list because you think they belong on the list because they meet the characteristics of those in the list, do you dominate there?

Matt McCorkle (05:10):

Right.

Chris Beall (05:10):

That-

Matt McCorkle (05:11):

That's true. And leave out that segment that doesn't need reliable air because [crosstalk 00:05:18]-

Chris Beall (05:17):

Yeah. That's it. I mean, it's so simple. And the beauty of dominance is dominance always excludes competition unless you want them to have part of it so you can throw them the bad deals. Because even within your list there are the-

Matt McCorkle (05:35):

[crosstalk 00:05:35]-

Chris Beall (05:35):

... so you can throw them the bad deals. Because even within your list there are the-

Corey Frank (05:37):

True.

Matt McCorkle (05:37):

Absolutely.

Chris Beall (05:37):

And you definitely need somebody to throw the bad deals to, or else you get stuck with the damn things.

Matt McCorkle (05:44):

Very true. Very true. I was coaching one of my managers on that just today. I don't think this is done, not meeting the criteria that we talk about as somebody we're going to do business with.

Chris Beall (05:55):

Exactly. My dad told me something. He said once to me, "I'm only ever going to give you one piece of business advice. And here it is. You are never better than your worst customer."

Matt McCorkle (06:06):

Oh, man. Huh, that's interesting.

Corey Frank (06:09):

Yeah.

Matt McCorkle (06:11):

Yeah. There you go.

Corey Frank (06:13):

Yeah.

Matt McCorkle (06:14):

And you don't want to be that.

Corey Frank (06:15):

Actually, we got a couple of and nuggets just right there, just keep the record button on for another five minutes. We got both of you guys in the can with a couple of other... So, Matt-

Matt McCorkle (06:26):

[crosstalk 00:06:26]-

Corey Frank (06:26):

... you're not in Milwaukee, you're in Virginia, then?

Matt McCorkle (06:28):

I'm in Virginia. Yes.

Corey Frank (06:29):

Okay. Gotcha. All right.

Matt McCorkle (06:30):

Where are you out of? You're in Phoenix, you said.

Corey Frank (06:32):

We're in Phoenix. Chris is just south of me right now. He's seasonally adjusted, should be by now. My dad was a cop in Milwaukee for 30 plus years or so. So we grew up-

Matt McCorkle (06:44):

Wow.

Corey Frank (06:45):

... not five minutes from where you're talking about. My grandpa, we got pictures, right, my grandpa selling fruit right around the corner from there. That was all swampland where now they have... It's Summerfest grounds and all that stuff.

Matt McCorkle (07:00):

Right, right.

Corey Frank (07:01):

And so it's a beautiful place, but gotcha.

Matt McCorkle (07:04):

Great city.

Corey Frank (07:04):

Yeah, absolutely. So, Chris, plans for the birthday? What are you doing this weekend, then?

Chris Beall (07:09):

We were going to go play golf somewhere and I decided to change that up. So we're going to go for a hike up Madera Canyon for three or four hours.

Corey Frank (07:17):

Oh, beautiful.

Chris Beall (07:18):

Who knows? Maybe we'll see the trogon, maybe we won't. Helen doesn't give a damn about birds, but for the sake of my mom and my late wife, I'll take a look for the trogon. Oh, my friend, Robert Garner, just yesterday I had a snack with him and a coffee or whatever in Los Gatos. And he pulls out a picture of the trogon and he says, "You got to go see this bird at Madera Canyon." So we'll see whether on my 67th birthday I can see a bird that most people don't ever see.

Matt McCorkle (07:46):

That's really awesome.

Corey Frank (07:48):

Oh, that's going to be great. Well, I've been privileged to know you for many of those. So we'll look for many, many, many more. So thanks for what you do, Chris. And, Matt, thank you again for the time. And we'll keep in touch and we'll get you on the program here again and again. You're a natural.

Matt McCorkle (08:05):

Oh, thank you. You're too kind. Again, really appreciate it. Hope it's valuable.

Corey Frank (08:08):

Awesome.

Matt McCorkle (08:08):

And happy birthday, Chris.

Corey Frank (08:09):

All right, everybody.

Matt McCorkle (08:09):

Have a great weekend.

Corey Frank (08:09):

All right.

Chris Beall (08:10):

Thanks so much, Matt, [crosstalk 00:08:11]-

Corey Frank (08:11):

Thank care, guys. See you. Bye-bye.

Chris Beall (08:12):

Have fun dominating. Bye-bye.

Matt McCorkle (08:14):

Thank you.