Ron McFarlandの Personal Journey (速報):ロンさん、Youtubeで語る＠東京アメリカンクラブ

先日、ロンさんは六本木のアメリカンクラブでインタビューを受け、それがYoutubeにアップされました。

タイトルは「BRIDGING THE GAP」ですが、内容はまさしくこのブログのタイトル「Ron's Personal Jourbey」です。

以下は、ロンさんからのメールです。

Subject: Fwd: RON HERE AND NOW

I was interviewed at the Tokyo American Club, which was posted on YouTube.

Many of you know my background, but here is me now. Talked about growing up, coming to Japan, and what I'm involved in right now.

Hope you enjoy it.

https://youtu.be/crg8mWW6ciw?si=fR5GGXaiHEMhmXZn

Ron McFarlandの Personal Journey (9-o): Business Trip - Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

To finish that first trip to Latin America, I returned to Puerto Rico to give a seminar to the local Isuzu distributor and its dealers on dealership sales management. At that time there was a quota on Japanese vehicles going into the United States, but vehicles could be supplied unrestricted to all US territories, like Puerto Rico. So, Puerto Rican dealers were ordering vehicles from their Japanese supplier and reselling them to dealers in the United States with a profit margin. This is very common among dealers that need a particular vehicle in a hurry to satisfy a customer who is willing to pay a little be more. They are called dealer-to-dealer agreements.

Well, with the quota, dealers in Puerto Rico were making a killing on reselling into the United States. They bought 10,000 units from just Isuzu at the time of that trip. So, my training was more a thank you note to the dealers than actual dealer development. Simply speaking, I was very serious about sales management and how to develop a strong sales force, and over half the group was there to party. Unfortunately, even my interpreter wanted to join in with the party. Right in the middle of my presentation, the interpreter said to just speak to the English speakers and don’t worry about the rest. I felt terrible about the people who just sat there and couldn’t understand a word I was saying. It was in a casino hotel with a lot of guests from the Eastern part of the US on vacation. So, the atmosphere was all fun and little work. All in all, most of the people were fascinated with the concepts I presented, and the seminar was a success. I should say it was a success for them, but not for me. I guess I expected too much.

< Puerto Rico Sales Training, February 1986 >

Ron McFarlandの Personal Journey (9-ｎ): Business Trip - Venezuela

1987年、中南米、カリブ海諸国を巡るロンさん。
日本ではNTT株が売りがされ、マイケル・ジャクソンが来日。
バブル真っただ中でした。

Venezuela

From Panama I went to Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuela has built its economy around oil. It is an oil producer and exporter. Unlike its neighbor, Colombia, its population is much lower and has a higher educational level. It does tend to live above its means though, and when the price of oil goes down, so do the Venezuelan economy and it’s Bolivar (their currency). Unlike other nations in the region, the cars are very large and luxurious. Caracas is a city like the shape of an octopus with many winding valleys going away from the center of the city. It is very close to the equator, so the climate is very mild year around.

< Venezuela Sales Training, February 1987 >

Ron McFarlandの Personal Journey (9-m): Business Trip - Costa Rica & Panama

コスタリカ、安全で豊か、教育の行き届いた国
Costa Rica, on the other hand, is very safe and more prosperous. Its population is similar to the United States in that most of the population is from European decent, although mostly Spain and southern Europe. Like the United States, most of the local Indian population had been killed or melted into the European population. The country has a very strong Spanish feel about it. The number one industry is tourism. It has very famous tropical rain forests around the country. Also, there is a population of retired North Americans there, enjoying the warm weather, lower cost and friendly people. Furthermore, on both coasts bananas are produced. The Costa Ricans are considered the most educated in Central America having good education and medical facilities.

< First Costa Rica Sales Seminar >



パナマはこの地域の物流センター
Panama is a service and distribution center for the region. It does have shrimp, bananas and other products, but distribution is the main foreign exchange earner. Not only do ships going through the canal earn money, but also in Colon, on the Atlantic side, there is a large product distribution center, which supplies products to all of South America. The Panamanians are considered rather less industrious than other Central Americans and getting things achieved is more difficult. I don’t know if that is because of adverse influence from North America or simply because of the activities of the canal. It very much follows what has happened to many island nations, which have continually been conquered throughout their histories. The general population expects someone else to take charge and uncomfortable with local management. The largest city of course is Panama City on the Pacific Ocean with Colon the second largest city.

The local currency is the US Dollar, so they never worry about getting foreign exchange to buy imported goods. Panama’s using the US Dollar has influenced other countries in the region to do the same thing and when I traveled there that first time Ecuador just had switched as well.

< Panama Sales Training, January 1987 >