Nothing Left to Chance…

As we started down this path detailing how strong businesses are built on a foundation of values, I shared something I personally experienced while creating a policy manual for the new owners of company - a textbook example of not just designed that handbook around their core values but building those values into every decision they made while leading the organization. Through the time I spent with Craig as we crafted the product we’d be rolling out to his new team, I saw him exemplify the five values he and Kim decided to build their company around. Not only did I see him exhibit compassion, integrity, humility, family, and dependability while performing each of his own responsibilities, I can’t think of a time when I was at their place of business and didn’t see Craig take advantage of opportunities to model how those values could be applied in other roles too. Whether it was being compassionate in a situation with a teammate where his predecessors would have been less understanding, showing genuine humility by carrying a purchase to a customer’s car (rather than directing someone else to do it), or by treating everyone he interacted with - included me and Cindy - like they really were part of his family, everyone working there saw and felt those values for months before we detailed them in his new handbook. Each of them had ample opportunities to see how Craig expected the values to be displayed in their own roles. And quite honestly, the longest tenured employees seemed to respect and appreciate his example even more than the newer ones.

Just after their second anniversary of owning the business, Craig, Kim, and I had an initial conversation about adding a sixth value for at least one segment of their team: visibility. As we discussed it, Craig shared that he believed that having each team member being more intentional about their visibility with customers could yield as much as a five percent increase in that department’s revenue. He went on to share something he experienced personally a few days prior. He saw an opportunity to be visible with a customer in their outdoor area, away from the more prevalent seasonal inventory where the rest of the team was focused. In less than fifteen minutes with that customer, he created a sale that represented TEN percent of the entire day’s sales, a transaction that likely wouldn’t have happened otherwise.

The three of us revisited the ideas of adding visibility as their sixth core value a few weeks after that initial conversation. I asked if they had been talking about it routinely with their team. Craig shared that he had been emphasizing it so much that many of them were starting to joke about it; when calling for them on their walkie-talkies, they would respond saying, “I’m out being visible!” Like Truett Cathy had done in borrowing the “My Pleasure” idea from a high end hotel, Craig and Kim related the idea of visibility to practices they had experienced in a Neiman Marcus store where associates took them directly to what they were looking for rather than telling them where to find it. They suggested that their team do the same AND look for opportunities to answer other questions while they did it.

Craig shared with me that the company’s overall revenue had grown by fifty percent - FIVE ZERO percent - in their first twenty-four months of ownership. More recently, the part of the business where visibility has been incorporated as their sixth value grew during a year with significant market challenges while most of their direct competitors were down ten to fifteen percent from the previous year. The one clear difference I can point to has been how I’ve seen Craig, Kim, and now their entire leadership team living out their core values. They haven’t left anything to chance, they’re walking the talk every day! Even then, consistent reinforcement is crucial so we’ll pick up there next time.