Faith is a powerful thing, whether in matters of religion or business. Business leader and author Frank Pacetta keeps the faith.
“I’m a believer that anything is possible,” said Pacetta. “We started our business, ComDoc, here in Columbus, Ohio, 11 years ago from scratch: zero customers. We’ll finish 2014 at about $40 million in sales. In the five or six roughest years our economy had lately, we flourished. We’re growing and hiring people, all with unbelievable competition.”
Pacetta, an infectious New York City native, will be one of the guest speakers at the fifth annual Small Market Meetings Conference scheduled for September 28-30 in Mesa, Arizona.
Pacetta, president of the Central Ohio Region for ComDoc, says the message to attendees in his seminar entitled “Energizing Your Leader-ship and Your Customers” will include tips on leadership, no matter what the industry.
“Do you believe in the impossible? Do you surround yourself with great talent? Does the message you have for customers differentiate you from the competition?” asked Pacetta. “I’m a dinosaur. I still believe in hard work.”
He also believes in great meetings and presentations to keep workers engaged. ComDoc recently had a big companywide kickoff meeting. “We really impacted the minds of our 150 sales representatives,” said Pacetta.
Joe Cappuzzello, president and CEO of the Small Market Meetings Conference, heard Pacetta speak some time ago and was impressed. Cappuzzello remembered him when it came time to select seminar speakers for the Mesa conference.
Pacetta is the author of two books, each with a clever title. The first, “Don’t Fire Them, Fire Them Up!” delves into how managers can motivate themselves and their employees in “the most positive ways possible,” said Pacetta. The second, “Stop Whining and Start Winning,” tells the story of a district manager job Pacetta held 25 years ago with Xerox in Cleveland. The district was ranked low in sales.
“No one wanted the job,” Pacetta said. “I was like their fourth choice as a district manager. I took the job and told them we’d be the No. 1 branch by the end of the year, and we were.”
Pacetta is big on customer service, a philosophy he thinks has elevated ComDoc, which sells copiers, printers and software services for document management. He thinks too many businesspeople take shortcuts when servicing customers and that some companies don’t take their customers seriously.
Pacetta said leaders must set expectations and have great vision that is genuine and honest in order to inspire others to their best efforts. Managers must meet often, one-on-one, with their staffs. “Take time to inspire and develop them and give them feedback,” he said. “Do the day-to-day things.”
As for employees who are sitting on the fence about whether to go the extra mile, Pacetta is blunt: “If you’re doing what you want to do, then give it all you’ve got,” he said. “Otherwise, go find another job. If you can’t do this, then leave.”
For more information or to register, visit www.smallmarketmeetingsconference.com.
