Northeastern-U.S. Machine Tool Company A

(Company Name has been changed for privacy)

 

Situation:

In 2008, I met the Owner of Northeastern-U.S. Machine Tool Company A, who explained that sales were slowing in his business but expenses weren’t reducing, and something needed to change but he wasn’t sure what. He asked if I could take a look and see what could be improved.

Obstacles:

As we completed a tour of the shop floor, the operations seemed streamlined and efficient, product raw materials and machinery were being purchased at adequately low rates for good quality. As we sat with the management team and did a review in the back office conference room, the marketing plan and staffing seemed adequate, not bloated and not too lean. Sales were not being lost to competitors, or sent overseas and, although machinery and manufacturing as industries were typically being shipped from the U.S. to overseas for cheaper skilled labor, they didn’t appear to be losing market share or losing significantly to manufacturers who had moved overseas. I took a step back to evaluate what else could be the key factor, and, doing a bit of a deeper dive into the Company’s Marketing, looked at how the company was projecting itself and its values, and the contrast to who I saw the Owner and his own values to be. There was a conflict. The Owner was presenting the company and its values to the market as what he thought it wanted, and keeping his personal values separate, and it was causing a disjoint.

Actions:

I explained to the Owner what I was seeing as a disjoint in values, which was causing a gap in fully being able to promote the business, and to customers feeling alignment with the company’s figurehead and the company’s values. The customers could feel the disjoint. The values the company had been promoting and projecting were what the Owner thought the customers wanted, while what they really were looking for, in addition to the adequate product and price, was values aligned with who was selling to them.

Result:

In the conference room, we walked through a couple of test customers, focusing on sales they had won, and then on sales the company had lost. We then made phone calls to several of the companies they’d lost the sale to, and did a short interview, asking why they’d lost the sale, and then proposing the situation again if the company had been more aligned and upfront with its Owner’s true values – and several of the companies indicated they would have changed their mind and swayed the decision in their favor. We discussed the proposed change with the head of marketing and branding, and the marketing and branding team, and came up with a plan and rough timeline for re-marketing and re-branding the company and products. The company Owner was very pleased, and felt a lot more ease in promoting the business, and the team felt an increase in morale. Initial results about months later showed an increase in sales. Unfortunately, the machine industry in the Northeastern U.S. began to decline rapidly and, in 2015, Northeastern-U.S. Machine Tool Company A, like several other large machine companies in the area at the time, closed its doors.