Review customer ideas
A customer recommendation might sound like a brilliant idea, but before you give it the green light, you have to make sure it fits your company’s foundation.
“We have a very, very detailed and a very good process, organized process, of understanding information within our organization and being able to move forward,” Backman says.
Each idea, before it becomes implementation-ready, must align with Aurora’s seven-piece strategy map. Think of it as a matchmaker game. Aurora runs the idea past the definitions of its core values and beliefs, its purpose as an organization, and its core strengths, competencies, operating model, who the company serves and its mission.
“We need to make sure that within the gathering of this information we have strategic clarity,” Backman says. If the idea passes the test of the strategic map, “that means that the strategy will have a much, much better chance of working than not.”
You have to use your best judgment on who in the organization to involve in strategizing based on the size and effect of the new focus. If the information from the marketing team affects the vision and mission, Backman has his hands on it.
“I recommend the CEO being in charge of it,” he says of creating the strategy. “It has to be a participatory process, but I believe that the vision and the mission must come from the CEO.”
The team of people helping with the strategy should involve members from departments that will be directly affected, such as sales, marketing, customer service, manufacturing and IT.
“I want to make sure that it’s an involvement of the entire organization so we all understand what it is that we’re going to do,” Backman says. “When you have the power of an entire organization moving forward and believing and having an understanding of what your core values are, what your purpose is, what your competencies are, who you serve and what your mission is, the power of that is phenomenal. The power of that is best of class.”
The more different departments of the organization are involved from the beginning, the easier it will be to circulate news and changes.
“You have to move quickly,” Backman says. “You have to be precise and you have to have a very clear understanding of what it is you do, but you have to execute and you have to move quickly.”
When implementing a new strategy, Backman reaches employees and customers through personal contact, external marketing pieces, social media and e-mail. It’s important for employees to clearly understand the message, so those who are passing the message along, probably the sales team, can communicate it to customers. After all, helping the customer was the entire point.
“We always go back to (customers) and tell them we listened because we listen to everything,” Backman says. “What we do from that point forward is we communicate again what we heard, what came out of the research and what we know to be the best practices for whatever that is for that particular situation.”
Throughout the entire process you need to be organized, but for Backman, the key is speed. He points to the fact that the company’s nimbleness comes from it being family owned. No matter what your company’s hierarchy, speed is an element you should work to perfect.
“The importance of moving quickly is getting quickly back to your client … with whatever that need may be that you need to move forward with,” Backman says. “It also shows your organization that you’re engaged, that you’re organized and that you’re truly, truly moving forward for the right reasons and that you truly, truly trust and have confidence in the things that they bring to you as a team at all levels.”
How to reach: Aurora Casket Co. Inc., (800) 457-1111 or www.auroracasket.com
