I was introduced to Tariq in Dubai in November 2008 at a construction machinery exhibition. The discussion quickly turned to the machine demonstration I oversaw in Prague, as this turned out to be a common passion between us. Bobcat had already been running demonstrations for 10 years before introducing it in Saudi Arabia, where it immediately became a success. Over a quick lunch Tariq and I scheduled a demonstration program for the following February, shaking hands as a promise.
At my arrival at the dealership in Saudi in February, Tariq showed me the 2 trailers that were supposed to transport the Bobcat machines to the demonstration site. He felt ashamed and apologized. Apparently, the trailers had stayed outdoors for 10 years under the sun. There were no tractors anymore and some wheels were missing on the trailers.
Tariq continued to explain to me the situation of the approximately 50 “mechanics” in the workshop. They were extremely poor workers coming from either African countries or India. Some months prior, they were hairdressers, shop owners, or something else unrelated to mechanics in their home country. They moved to Saudi to earn better money that they could send to their families back home to survive. Work conditions were extreme. Mechanics had to repair machines in temperatures of 50+ degree under the sun. Tariq held their passports in a safe and they were not allowed to travel more than some kilometers away from the dealership. Despite all this, I felt respect for them in Tariq’s voice as he told me their story.
I watched him walk calmly through the workshop and talk with each of them in English, Arabic and other languages. He explained what we wanted to achieve and listen to them. The mechanics went to find wheels and started to figure out ways to repair the broken trailers. They cleaned, maintained and prepared the demo-machines for the demonstration.
Two days later, the machines were loaded onto the trailers. The mechanics that had been proactive and willing to participate in this adventure received a Bobcat overall. They liked it, it was a kind of new skin. They were proud of it and proud to be part of something.
Once we got to the demonstration site, Tariq also enjoyed spending time with the demonstrators of the exhibition. This category of people was usually ignored by the rest of the organization. If a sale goes well, it is generally attributed to the salesmen. If a sale is lost it is because of the price or because of the demonstrator. When it is time to reduce headcount, they are the first on the list. Their salaries were the lowest within the organization, they are usually not even invited to share a meal with customers by the salesmen and they sleep in low-cost hotels.
Patrick was Tariq’s favorite demonstrator. He was not able to speak English and so he is often ignored by other demonstrators, but he is the only one who was able to communicate with the mechanics in Saudi. You might wonder how they were able to communicate if they didn’t speak a common language. Did they speak with their hands? Maybe. With their hearts and empathy for sure.
Patrick travelled with me to Saudi, but we needed at least 3 more demonstrators to make a show. There was no Saudi demonstrator, but we had 50 mechanics. Patrick showed them the figures that needed to be done, such as driving the machines on 2 wheels. It was impossible to exchange more than a couple of words between Patrick and the mechanics. They let the silence speak and enjoyed the silence between them. Eye contact, hand gestures, touching an arm here and there to show something, that was how we communicated together. By showing them the necessary moves, Patrick invited the mechanics to become “Bobcat demonstrators.” Opening the possibility to everyone within the organization to be a part of the project and get the right skills was a kind of respect that Tariq and Patrick had enabled.
A couple days later, the first Saudi “mechanic-demonstrators” managed to drive the machines on 2 wheels. I couldn’t tell you who was more satisfied, the “mechanic-demonstrators”, Tariq or us. All of us were extremely proud. We were ready for the first show.
The first show was a success and we did 7 more. Customers were coming from everywhere in the desert. One even arrived with a suitcase full of cash and wanted to buy the machines we were using for demonstration on the spot. In 2008, during the financial crisis, we increased the share of market in Saudi by 6%.
However, the economic success was not our real success. Maybe it was a validation that when you care about people at the bottom of the organization, the invisible ones, it pays off. Our real success, though, that brought us internal joy and true consolation was the social success. Giving a chance to these mechanics, empowering them to be visible, to be on the stage, to become a star for a day and to share it with their family, to give them hope.
At the dealer meeting of the following year, unfortunately, nobody from the demo team was invited to share in the company success. “Cost saving of course, you understand…” At the end of the dinner Tariq stood up and asked for silence to make his speech. He started off with the words, “I have something very important to say. I want to thank someone and his team who are not here tonight: Laurence of Arabi and his team of demonstrators.”
Words can sometimes be stronger than money or weapons.
Thanks to Bernard Bougon, Olga Banyrova and Sebastian Karl for inspiration and cowriting.