Get the Facts or Forget Common Sense

This is me with the first Paw Pets prototype taken over 1 year ago. Today we are in 8 states and make 7 toys and I'm still learning every single day.

I had a bit of a Paw Pets disappointment the other day and I immediately (and wrongly) became defensive and angry. I pride myself on my ability to use logic and common sense and here I was quite confused because we didn't get any sales from this easy formula: Great Pet Toys + well respected sales reps + big pet expo = big sales! Makes sense, right? As it turns out, no, it does not. Although that logic makes sense the problem was that I didn't get all of the right facts. Therefore, the common sense and logic that followed were worthless. Totally my fault and actually good news in the long run.

In a previous blog titled "Family, Business and the Root of the Problem" I discussed knowing what the real problem is or what the ROOT of the problem is before addressing (attacking) it based on emotion or situation. Similarly, this blog is about getting the facts before making other decisions or creating expectations. We must keep our common sense in check because even infallible common sense is worthless without the facts. And it is your responsibility to get the facts and get them in the right context and order.

I thought reps at these big pet expos were there to take orders but it's companies like me who pay for booths at these shows who get the orders. Reps, like mine, are there to get new clients (stores or chains of stores who later buy our toys). Of course they are not walking around with Paw Pets and every other toy showing every store or buyer. Many of them represent hundreds of different lines and they are thinking long term. Yes, they makes some sales, but it is the heavily discounted toys that get sold and it is better that our reps build long term relationships than sell then and there at the expos.

We could not afford a booth at any of the big conventions this year and if we discount any more, we won't make any money (a separate issue I'm writing about soon: quantification of brand equity). So why did I expect big sales? Why did I expect that my toys would stand out amongst the millions of other toys on other booths? I can tell you: I did not have the right facts so my equation, although set up logically, led me to a fatally flawed conclusion.

Ultimately, how do you get the right answer from _ + _ = _ without the right numbers (facts) to plug into this equation. Even if you have the answer _+_ = 10 there are a million options to fill in the blanks ranging from negative numbers to decimals and even equations within the equation. What if the real equation above is 5(10) + 4(-10) = 10. It's still correct but there was more to it than initially met the eye. What I did and what I urge you to avoid doing is just plugging in things that make sense like 5+5 =10 and thinking that you have the right or only possible equation or answer.

The correct equation for my situation is: Great Pet Toys + well respected sales reps + big pet expo = great long term sales. I just hadn't factored in the "long term" part of the solution so the rest of the equation was wrong.

Just like when you saw _+_=10, you probably didn't think that (4 X-10) would be part of the equation.

*Side note: another correct equation would be: Great Pet Toys + industry leading discounts and incentives + well respected sales reps who make direct sales an expo priority + big pet expo = decent sales but no promises and likely overall quantifiable losses..
Or
Great Pet Toys + industry leading discounts and incentives + a well designed booth + big pet expo + a good salesperson = great sales and great future sales.

My sales reps are the best in the industry and they know what they are doing. I'm just happy that I didn't allow my misunderstanding of the facts and immediate disappointment to color my understanding of my reps or expos. THANK YOU REPS!!!!