Quality & Longevity

100 + years

An article in This Old House magazine (July 2015) highlighted 37 businesses that have been in existence for over 100 years. These were American companies that made products for the home.

The key pont of the article was that these 37 companies made quality products that have stood the test of time. While some of the business still used machinery from the past….they also were able to innovate when necessary.

Quality wins every time….and without the quality there is no longevity.

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/magazines

Some of the Companies: Sherwin-Williams, Stanley Hand Tools & Black+Decker, Briggs & Stratton, Toro, Armstrong, Honeywell, Kohler Co and Council Tool (NC)

Integrity

A Key Value

“But the whole edifice tumbles if one doesn’t deal off a base of integrity.” – Tom Peters

Integrity: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

Unfortunately USA Living (discount retailer)….did not have Integrity as a key business value (and probably not a personal value either).

Fortunately they are now out of business: http://www.wral.com/discount-retailer-usa-living-out-of-business/14853986/

Integrity may not show up on the financial statements….non-the-less it a vital part of doing business.

Mascots

Olympus Group

Almost every sports team has a mascot as well as there are mascots for branded products. The reason is in opening paragraph in the JS Online article: http://www.jsonline.com/business/from-bucky-badger-to-ronald-mcdonald-milwaukee-maker-of-mascot-costumes-has-you-covered-b99560943z1-322740421.html?ipad=y

“Our collective inclination to invest animals and inanimate objects with human characteristics runs deep, and so does the capacity of people to do stupid things.”

Mascots can personify a brand….they can perform silly antics….and for the most part are entertaining and funny.

Olympus Group (Milwaukee, WI) is a major creator and provider of mascot costumes. While signs and flags are worthy products. Making mascots costumes certainly differentiates Olympus from other like companies.

http://www.olympusgrp.com/olympusgrp-home.htm

 

Route 66

New Expectations

Famous Route 66 landmark on the road in Californian desert

“But we should realize that our fortunes if we do nothing different will follow the same trajectory as Route 66: up for decades as the only road west, peaking in the 1960s when Interstate sections were opened, starting downward as new expectations of the driving experience settled in, and now abandoned.” – Tom Ehrich

I have worked off and on with some organizations that could easily be called Route 66 (a good analogy). Simply these Rt. 66 folks don’t want to or are incapable of change….and for the most part are becoming irrelevant.

The key question can these groups change to adapt to the Interstate (reality). A few can….yet unfortunately most will eventually be abandoned….like the old Route 66.

Consultants like to fix problems and might like to encourage businesses/organizations to adapt/change. On the other hand, maybe some can’t change and the advice might be: think bigger….think better….think differently – create a new expectation. 

Note: We lived a few blocks from Rt. 66 in San Bernardino, CA

Wood Blocks

Uncle Goose & Google

Google recently used Uncle Goose wood blocks in the introduction of Alphabet as the Google holding company.

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2015/08/google_used_this_michigan_made.html#incart_river

Uncle Goose is a small company (~20 employees) located in Kentwood, MI.

Making wood blocks is probably not a complicated business. Some wood working machines….silk screening equipment ought to do the job well. Making a quality product at a reasonable cost creates a solid business.

Although only 20 employees, Lindenwood, Inc. has developed a successful business that is unique and different.

https://unclegoose.com/

More on Lindenwood, Inc.

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2014/03/jimmy_fallon_creates_buzz_for.html

Leaders Eat Last

Leadership

Another book on leadership! What more can be written on the subject?

Simon Sinek has always had some good ideas about organizations and leadership. Leaders Eat Last should be no different. The following video:

http://vimeo.com/79899786

gives further details on why Leaders Eat Last (in the military it is an unwritten rule….the troops eat first….officers last).

Simon Sinek’s first book: “Start with Why” is an excellent starting point on how businesses/organizations can be better and different.

Gold Standard

Perfection

Sometimes work has to be perfect. That was the case of “pitch books” from an article in Business North Carolina (August 2015). Pitch books are proposals developed by investment bankers filled with detailed narratives and financial data….and had to be perfect before going to prospective buyers, banks and capital providers.

The reason for perfection was that the investment bank cared enough about the proposals and clients to make it perfect….always an “A” effort. Thus the pitch books by the investment bank were an “A” effort and set the gold standard for their work.

The article concluded….”The power of what we learned early at Bowles Hollowell (the investment bank) was in its simplicity. You focused on the products, the market and the client. Forty years after the fact, it’s still a beautiful thing.

Two key points:

• Sometimes a product or service has to be perfect – set the gold standard.
• Simplicity in business is long-term/lasting….and successful.

Thank You

More than two words

Every business needs to say thank you to its customers for the simple reason of doing business. From the day-to-day business of a Starbucks, to the intricate business of an IBM. Yet for many businesses….”thank you” is rather perfunctory.

Kroger says thank you quite often. Almost every week a Kroger mailing arrives with a special offer and/or coupons for products we buy. Of course, the offerings are designed to increase sales.

In our business, we did not have the luxury of an extensive data base….much less a computer. Our computer….if it could be called that, was an NCR paper tape and of course, the 3×5 index card (software of the 70’s).

Our thank you was providing the customer with some form of a furniture care product and occasionally, special mailings to previous customers. Overall our Thank You was OK….yet we could have developed a stronger and larger customer data base with just a little more effort….and subsequently more ways to say thank you.

 

ABRES

1965 (50 years)

The first two years at Ballistic Systems Division (BSD), I was a production officer for the MMRBM (Mobile Mid-Range Ballistic Missile). We of course thought it a great program….after all that was our mission. Robert McNamara (Secretary of Defense) didn’t think so and canceled it.

After a few months working on a Titan ll study….I was assigned to the ABRES SPO (Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems-Special Projects Office). As with all assignments….the position is what you make it. Our major effort was to conduct a review of all the ABRES projects….gather together the primary defense agencies….and make sure they were all working off the same page. Since this was before the internet….it was our shops responsibility to have the Navy, ARPA, Air Force Commands and DOD contractors know exactly what the ABRES SPO was developing.

ABRES was a good assignment….Roy my cubie mate a good friend and it was the right time to be at BSD and Systems Command.

 

Customer Experience

Competitive Advantage

The only sustainable competitive advantage is a world-class customer experience. It cannot be copied, outsourced or done overseas – John DiJulius

Does every company/business create a world-class customer experience?….probably not. For some businesses, a certain culture sets in and that is what defines the customer experience.

USAA is a world-class company. Of course the military focus is part of the customer experience….USAA is deliberate in creating the kind of company that people want to do business with and also a company that has its customers trust and confidence.

While it has been some time ago….I would like to think that we gave our customers a first-class experience….if not that at least a Muskegon-classed customer experience! Our relationships were a key competitive advantage in a highly competitive market.