How to Change Companies Without Ever Quitting. Well, OK, Maybe Once.

By John Halapchuk

The views and opinions expressed by me are mine only and are sometimes factual, sometimes dramatized for effect, and every once in a while, comletely made up. They do not reflect the views and opinions of any of my employers, peers, friends, or strangers on elevators, past or present.

I work an industry where you can work for five companies in fifteen years and almost never quit a job. The Uniti Fiber and Windstream merger has caused me to reflect on what an ever-changing industry I work in. ?With the constant specter of acquisition hanging over your head it can often create concern and uncertainty. I say, just pay attention to what you do, do it well and you’ll come out the other side ok. For all the concern in the world I still see the same top-notch sales pros for the last 30 years at the top of the stack rankings, no matter what the name says on the front of the jersey. The name on the back of the jersey is who they really are. This isn’t to say they aren’t loyal. In fact, they are very loyal. They just understand where their focus needs to be. They stick to the basics (prepare, engage, discover, position, negotiate, and close), provide solutions focused on their customer’s desired business outcomes and at the end of the day, make money. No matter who they work for. Knowing who you will be working for a year from now in telecom is about as reliable as James Harden in a game 7.

Here's how crazy it can get.

Let’s say that back in the day you go to work for Cavalier Telephone but didn’t like your peers and management team. Especially your boss, Dewey McTool. ?Just leave, right? So, you move over to USLEC. Everything seems to be going ok and then PAETEC purchases USLEC. No problems so far and the transition seems to be going well. As time goes by everything is fine. Until PAETEC purchases Cavalier Telephone. You begin to panic thinking that you gotta work for Dewey McTool again. Then you hear the good news. Dewey moved over to a leadership position at Windstream. They made him a director! Thank God, you avoided him. Maybe the merged companies will create some opportunity for you. You’re cruising along and then Windstream acquires PAETEC. You’re told to report to the local Windstream office for the reorganization on Monday. You show up and there’s Dewey with a big smile on his face. He extends his hand and says, “Welcome back!” as only he could. Welcome back??? I never came back. I was already here! ?You immediately begin working your inside channels to get away from the CLEC side of the business to move over to the fiber side of the business. It works out and you’ve avoided Dewey again. The new gig is going great. Life is good, you like your job and your co-workers and then one evening you are relaxing at home and learn that Uniti Fiber has acquired Windstream. Windstream owned Uniti Fiber at one point, spun the company out and now Uniti acquired the company that used to own them. Oh, and Windstream is Uniti’s biggest customer now. Wait a minute, I mean, they were Uniti’s biggest customer.? No worries for you. You’re asked to report to the new Uniti office to go over the new business model. You walk in and you notice in the front of the room the leadership team is happy to announce the new VP of Fiber Sales…

?

Dewey Friggin’ McTool

?

Somehow you just figured out how to work for five different companies for the last 15 years, but you only left a company once. And Dewey McTool figured out how to get promoted to VP by quitting companies and going to work for the companies that did the acquiring. Even one that owned the company it got acquired by. It’s as simple as figuring out the square of Pi, right? Nobody told me I needed an abacus to work in telecom!

This might seem like a bit of an exaggeration (not really - I saw much of it happen!) but you never know what will happen in telecom. The only thing you have any control over is you and what you do. It’s all you’ll ever have control over, trust me.

Which means that the reality is this. There was and never will be a company that ever acquired another that said, “Stop selling stuff immediately. It’s not aligned with our strategic vision!” So, fill that funnel, work on being the best sales professional you can be, find and close business no matter what the giant logo on the front of the building at HQ says. I promise you, that thing can be replaced within 30 minutes of a company getting acquired. This really happened too – you can read about it here -?No Ordinary Joe (forbes.com). Remember, the logo that represents who you are on the inside will never change.