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By Rex Porter

These are cloudy days for the stock markets, and especially for "tech" stocks. I recently had a phone call from an analyst who had some questions about a merger.

Both companies supply data communication, and he asked basic questions about how the companies complemented each other. After I answered, I had to ask him why he and his cronies on Wall Street are thumbing their noses at "tech" stocks, while just months ago, these were the darlings of the Nasdaq.

He replied that perhaps it isn't too bad, because so many new companies are flooding the "tech" market that keeping up with all their technology is getting to be too complicated. "Maybe this will cause a shakeup, and those who are strong will stay and those who are weak will drop out," he said.

As bad as I hate to hear this from an analyst who is probably a year or two out of Yale or Harvard, what he said makes sense. Our business has faced a history of bad times. We suffered copper shortages, strangling rules from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and periods of layoffs. Throughout this long cycle of "ups and downs," those companies that kept a high profile in the marketplace during down periods were able to surge ahead when the market climate turned positive.

I worked for Ray Schneider in the 1970s and in the 1980s, and I remember him calling a meeting with the heads of the advertising, marketing and sales departments. Every budget we wrote or read warned that cable business would decrease by 50 percent. We expected we would be told to cut sales, reduce marketing expenditures and lay off part of the sales force. But Ray said the time to advertise, market and sell harder was always when competitors were pulling in their horns. He taught us a valuable lesson. Because the pie would get smaller, the only way to grow was to carve out a bigger piece.

"I want every new and innovative product and improvement to be out in front," he said. "I want a bigger sales force. I want a marketing program that, instead of singing the blues, will be advertising success. Hard times are the true test of vendor-customer relationships. Expect our competition to cut prices. We will sell at fair prices and stay profitable. Customers know they need suppliers who can pull through bad times with them."

Three of our competitors closed their doors that year. We had a record year! These may be rough times too, but the future of broadband communications will be only as strong as those of us who are building the industry.

 Back to June 2001 Issue

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