Landing New Clients
Lou Schornack
President
Criterion Technology
www.criteriontech.com
TAB member since 2006
On working with Blair Koch: "She's no-nonsense and she helps keep me on track," says Schornack. "She's been extremely instrumental in helping me be very definitive and precise in putting together a new marketing plan. I needed that urgently."
The client: Lou Schornack is President of Criterion Technology which specializes in testing hard drives, medical equipment, and various types of electronics. He has five employees. In 2003, Schornack purchased the Rollinsville, Colorado based company which was founded by Fujitsu in 1991.
The business challenge: Schornack was working hard to transition his company from a test lab with captive, internal clients (when Fujitsu owned the facility they used it primarily for testing their own products) into a viable independent, commercial business. "I was involved about 140% in running all of the day-to-day operations," says Schornack. He needed to focus less on the details of managing the business and more on developing new services and landing new clients.
On considering TAB: Schornack says he was attracted to the accountability aspect of TAB and to the idea of having a place where he could focus on the big picture aspects of his business. "When you're in the thick of battle as the CEO or president, it's difficult to step back and see the larger picture," he says. Schornack's only concern was that, because of the high-tech nature of Criterion, the other board members might not be able to adequately grasp the essence of his business and offer useful advice and feedback. What he found once he joined surprised him. "It's true that they don't understand the technology . . . but it's not all that important," says Schornack. "The business questions that I need to address on a week-to-week and month-to-month basis have nothing to do with the technology we have here."
The TAB experience: Sitting down regularly with other business owners to discuss common problems is what Schornack says he values most about TAB. That, and the accountability that comes with being part of a peer group. "Without TAB I sit here and who am I accountable to? Just myself," says Schornack. Discussing not only issues related to his own business, but listening and learning from others in the group has proven extremely useful to Schornack. "I focus on the questions that other board members are raising. I give them advice and then I need to put a mirror in front of my face and give that same advice to myself," he says. Looking at other people's problems helps Schornack see his own issues more objectively. "This happens in almost every meeting," says Schornack. "As incredibly diverse as our businesses are, we all have problems like personnel and finance. The problems that are brought up by each of the board members apply almost universally to everyone. I didn't expect that."
The results: Schornack recalls one meeting where the group had read and then discussed a book review titled "Bag the Elephant" by Steve Kaplan about going after bigger clients. "Prior, I was always focusing on little accounts, picking up the scraps, seeing what I could do to bring those in, but not focusing on large clients," says Schornack. As a direct result of discussing the article at a TAB meeting, Schornack redirected his focus and started looking for larger clients in different business segments. He's landed one very large account and has a second one in the works. "Our sales cycle is long, very long." Schornack estimates that the one large client he recently landed will pay for his TAB membership 60-80 times over. Less tangible but no less important, Schornack credits TAB with helping him stave off burnout by supporting him to maintain perspective. "In a small business it's way too easy to do everything and work infinite hours. You have to ask yourself, ‘what is my job really about and what should others do?"
