What Would “Chainsaw Al” Say?

Albert Dunlap was a corporate raider and turnaround expert on public companies in the 1970s through 1990s. He had one simple motto: “sell, sell, sell and cut, cut, cut”. Although his life ended in scandal when there were allegations of accounting fraud at one of his projects, he was heralded as the original powerhouse in restoring profitability to companies that had run out of steam. In this Billboard Mastery podcast we’re going to review how “Chainsaw Al’s” philosophy can be utilized by every billboard owner to increase profits. 

What is The Billboard Mastery Podcast?

Welcome to the Billboard Mastery Podcast, where you will learn the correct way to identify, evaluate, negotiate, perform diligence on, select the construction type, build, rent the ad space and operate billboard signs. And now here is your host – the guy that built from scratch the largest privately-owned billboard company in Dallas/Ft. Worth – Frank Rolfe.

Albert Dunlap was a corporate raider, a turnaround artist at a time when few people went there. Most people were more passive in their investing, but not for Albert Dunlap. And he developed the nickname of Chainsaw Al because he liked to go into companies that were doing poorly and then bolster their net income. And he did it with a very simple mantra. This was the mantra of Chainsaw Al Dunlap, sell, sell, sell, and cut, cut, cut. That's all he told people. He'd go to the business and say, here's what we're doing everyone, we're gonna sell, sell, sell, and we're gonna cut, cut, cut. And that simple mantra was able to boost revenues and net income at some of the largest companies by multiple of where they were before he showed up on the scene. And even though his career ended in scandal, because ultimately appeared, there were some accounting irregularities in some of the companies that he managed.

So, he was not ever emblazoned in bronze on a statue somewhere, but he was a guiding light for many companies that were failing or doing poorly to turn themselves around under his very simple formula. This is Frank Rolfe, The Billboard Mastery Podcast. We're gonna talk about how you can be a little bit more like Chainsaw Al. Now, back in the Texas Savings and Loan crash, which occurred back in 1987, 1988, if you were gonna survive that, you had to be a little bit more like Chainsaw Al. I should know, I was there. I saw my revenues plummet by 50% in one single year, the year of the great savings and loan crash. It was really bleak, but I was able to survive by just focusing on Chainsaw Al's directive, sell, sell, sell.

Because I was out beating the streets trying to fill every vacant sign I had, 24 hours a day, and then cut, cut, cut, because that's how I was able to stay in business when my revenues halved, was I tried to half my costs. I went around to all of my property owners and tried to get them to reduce their ground rent, which many of them agreed to do. And I went around and I renegotiated all of my production costs of getting the ads up on the signs. And I let a lot of people go because I couldn't afford to pay the salaries like I had with rent falling by half. But no matter how many signs you own or no matter what the condition of the economy, there's no doubt that if you just focus for a day or a week and pretend that you're Chainsaw Al, it can do some magical things for your bottom line. Now, many of us tend to gravitate towards the billboards that are the easiest to rent, but there's always the other side that's no fun because it's not easy to rent.

And typically it's at a lower revenue number. So if you wanna be more like Chainsaw Al, force yourself to rent everything, say, you know what, I'm not going to accept having any vacancy at all, because there are many different things you can do to fill even weak signs, at least with some kind of ad. If you go out to everyone at the next exit, maybe two or three exits down and go to them and say, look, I've got this billboard and you'd be perfect for it. What would I have to do to get you on the sign? You will get offers. You may get a Wendy's that says, well, I don't know. I guess I'd pay 400 bucks a month for that. If that's the best offer you get, take it. Vacancy doesn't do you any good at all. It's nothing but endless opportunity cost.

And if you get an advertiser up on the sign, it makes the sign look more desirable. It will help you re-rent it later, or the person you put up there, well, they may elect to stay and pay more rent 'cause it has proven itself then to work for them. You can also do things like trades. You can trade your billboard for somebody else's goods or services. I always traded a billboard for a $1000 a month of food. I ate at that restaurant pretty much every meal for as long as they were on my sign. But find some way to monetize every bit of vacancy that you have. On the cutting side if the sign is not hitting your targets, do not be embarrassed to go to the property owner and say, look, I'm not getting what I thought I would budgetarily on the sign.

Would you be satisfied with taking a smaller amount, here I'll prove to you how I'm missing the mark. Would you inclusively share with me this issue? And you'll find many good natured property owners will, if you simply show them economically where you're at, and they go every line item on your P&L, one by one creatively say, how can I get this lowered. On insurance, for example you might be able to go with a higher deductible in order to get that rate reduced. But think creatively, think outside the box. Think like Chainsaw Al. If you just focus on sell, sell, sell, and cut, cut, cut. It's definitely going to bolster your bottom line. Definitely gonna give you more peace of mind, and definitely you'll be delighted with the additional net income that you'll receive. This is Frank Rolfe, The Billboard Mastery Podcast. Hope you enjoyed this. Talk to you again soon.