Lessons from Lennox LIVE 2018
March Madness means more than basketball when you work at Strategic America. March is also the time when our longtime client, Lennox Industries, host Lennox LIVE learning conferences in multiple cities across America. SA attends every Lennox LIVE event, which in 2018, will take us to Phoenix, AZ; Dallas, TX; Orlando, FL; and Mashantucket, CT. In addition to better understanding the new products and company news, these events provide our Lennox team the opportunity to renew partnerships, and in many cases personal friendships, with the nearly 4,000 dealers that make the pilgrimage to this annual gathering.
The “LIVE” in Lennox LIVE stands for more than an in-person meeting of dealers, vendors and Lennox leadership. LIVE means Leadership, Innovation, Vision and Education. The theme for this year’s Lennox LIVE events is Fuel the Disruption, which is a battle cry to all Lennox dealers across North America to shake the status quo and never be complacent; especially when things are going well. For our part, SA was invited to host a breakout session to educate dealers about the new Google product called Local Service Ads (LSAs). After two sessions concluded, the reception to our message has been incredibly positive – because it’s relevant, informative and provides clear direction.
As helpful as SA’s presentation may be for dealers, Lennox LIVE’s disruption message is resonating with SA as well. The clarion’s call to never be complacent, especially during times of growth or success, has not been lost on any of the SA attendees. It is critical to remember that our clients invest their hopes in us with each CAP or other marketing dollar we manage. They expect us to be strategic and accountable for those dollars, as if they were our own. In addition, they want to proactively hear from us in order to understand that the money leaving their bank account is delivering a return. Pretty simple needs with profound and lasting impact.
Whether you are a Lennox dealer or SA representative, personality will only carry you so far. The way to keep your partnerships healthy and strong is to:
- Always fight for your customer
- Treat their investment with you as if it were your own
- Deliver beyond your promise
It is an honor to work with over 1,500 Lennox dealers (for nearly 38 years) and meet many of them at Lennox LIVE. But when we return to Des Moines and they return to their offices, they are counting on us to disrupt the status quo, and if necessary, blow this $@%# up! In other words, find a better way (always). Now let’s do it.
