by Dr. Iain Corness
One
man who understands business systems more than most is Laurie Muir. An
Australian, he has set records in every position he has had since leaving
school. He is now here with his wife and family as the Bartercard sales
manager, though not the high pressure kind of salesman. His final words
were, “Like a doctor, you have to care and have empathy for the
clients.”
In many ways it is quite amazing that he eventually
found himself in the sales professional role, considering that his first
job after finishing school early was that of an apprentice butcher. I
asked Laurie whether the decision to enter butchering as a trade was his,
or did it come from his butcher father. He sidestepped, saying, “I just
wanted to get out of school.” However, further questioning revealed that
as a school student he had worked in abattoirs and butchers shops, so he
was used to the environment.
The apprenticeship in Australia for a butcher is four
years, and Laurie must have learned his trade well, while indentured to
the Woolworths chain. He can still count to 10 using the fingers of both
hands, but what really showed his abilities was the fact that by the time
he was in his third year he had been raised to managerial level. “I was
the youngest ever meat manager for Woolworths,” said Laurie with pride.
I asked why the other, older butchers did not want the position, and
apparently they showed reluctance. “I took the bull by the horns and ran
with it,” said Laurie with a very apt metaphor.
He spent six years with Woolworths, becoming a
‘trouble-shooting’ manager. This was an onerous and unenviable task.
“I didn’t make too many friends when I had to recommend firing
someone!”
However there was more to Laurie than the butcher’s
block in the daytime. At night he was working as a DJ in pubs and clubs.
This was to be a major feature of his life, because after six years he was
able to get a mature age scholarship to go to university. Studying Applied
Science with Hospitality and Tourism Management and a major in marketing
took up the next five years during daylight hours, while spinning records
took up the nights, and helped pay his way through university. This was
the long hard road, and Laurie was regretting leaving school early. “I
wished I had stayed at school and completed my high school leaving
certificate!”
After graduation, his knowledge of the pub and club
scene stood him in good stead, being hired by a hotel chain in Sydney to
revamp and market the hotels and their night clubs. In fact he even met
his wife there, who had gone out with a group of friends for a ‘hen’s
party’.
After five years of working at night as well as days,
being offered the position of marketing manager in Australia for the
American Domino’s Pizza looked like being a great move. But similar to
the local ‘pizza wars’, the two competitors Pizza Hut and Domino’s
went through torrid times. Price cutting became so acute that stores
without a large profit margin had to be closed. “In one night we closed
30 stores. It was cheaper to pay the rent but close the store!”
Laurie’s job was to turn all this around, which he did, making
Domino’s the most successful pizza company in Australia. “We went back
to basics and increased takings by 125 percent in one night. We changed
the attitude of the market away from home delivery to pick up in the
store.”
After two years, and countless pizzas, Laurie and his
wife married and went to Bali for their honeymoon. On their return, his
wife was offered a job as a chemical engineer in Brisbane, Queensland,
1000 km from Sydney, while Laurie was offered a position with the South
Pacific Trade Commission. “It was two years of commuting,” said
Laurie. “At least at that time air fares were pretty cheap!” To give
themselves a feeling of nearness, they would watch the same TV shows, 1000
km apart and talk to each other on the phone while watching. It was better
than nothing.
Finally Laurie was offered a job in Brisbane too, as
marketing manager for the Queensland Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He
watched over the rebranding of this group, but was then invited to join
the Bartercard operation as national marketing manager, and in two years
saw its growth go from 35 offices in 12 countries up to 60 offices in 18
countries.
In marketing, Laurie had by this stage, done it all and
wanted a change. Bartercard suggested to him that he might like to try
sales, and since he always enjoyed direct contact with people, decided to
give it a go. (Even when he was a butcher he had always enjoyed working
behind the cabinet, talking to customers.)
He was a runaway success in sales, breaking the
company’s 10 year old record, but he was getting itchy feet again. He
had experienced Thailand in international sales conferences, and he and
his wife had been here on holidays. There was an opening here and he said
to his wife, “How would you like to give up your career in the
petro-chemical industry and go to a man’s paradise?”
Soon after, they arrived here, where Laurie bought into
two franchises, with one being Pattaya. In his usual way, within six
months he doubled the customer base, and in fact has had to slow up
somewhat to allow staff training to catch up!
He is very confident that Pattaya will be a sound base.
“We have had the support of local businesses. Pattaya is yet to blossom.
The future is wonderful for business owners here. Top end business is
going to change the face of Pattaya,” he said enthusiastically.
He now considers Pattaya home and describes his work as
his hobby. We will see a lot more of Laurie Muir, I am sure.
