In my prior life as an industrial salesman, I was taught to never make assumptions before visiting a customer. My boss – Glenn – used to tell me, “You can’t assume anything.” It was kind of hard to put that out of my mind seeing as though Glenn was easily twice my size.
Apparently I had forgotten what Glenn had drilled into my head for the first four years of my professional career. Without thinking or asking questions of a caller on the other end of the phone, I scheduled an appointment to ‘upgrade’ a local manufacturer’s technology.
When I arrived I was greeted by the third generation of family who explained to me they wanted to embark on a significant change. The brother and sister team had just inherited a business they felt hadn’t been performing to its fullest potential. They told me their newly acquired business was stuck in the 1940’s.
During the visit I would have assumed to have stumbled on at least one computer. The closest thing to a computer was an IBM Selectric typewriter used to write proposals and type invoices. The team told me that no computers were ever used in their family business because the siblings had met resistance when they merely suggested stepping up technology.
It was explained to me that this company made its fortune servicing the furniture factories in this area. There was never any need for computers because Gardner always had an industrial base of companies that kept the business afloat. Grandparents and parents prior to the siblings never worried about where business was coming from.
Today, the brother and sister team would like to grow the business and see a definite potential to expand outside the area as well as expanding into further markets. The two of them realize that without accepting technology this expansion will be extremely difficult.
Market research, sales tracking, and inventory are all necessary to save the family business and bring it to the next level in this economy. During the first part of 2010, the company added a handful of accounts using the old methods but didn’t take on enough business to satisfy the new management team.
My company provided a host of new technology including four computers, a server, and high speed internet; none of which had ever been in the four walls of the business. Each computer served its own purpose and each had specialized software to support a business function. This little company just went from zero to sixty overnight.
I met the team about a year ago when they inherited the business. Today, almost a year after adopting the new system, the brother and sister team have expanded the core furniture business into other geographic markets and have added new industrial segments to their customer base. Sales and inventory are all centralized so they can keep up with demand and see where they’re at with a push of a button.
This little company saved itself by adopting technology and using it to grasp all aspects of their business. They were able to learn about new customers in other parts of the country – something that may not have been possible without the help of computers. Most importantly, they were able to turn the business around and increase sales as well as profit.
I guarantee, there are some readers of this article who are saying to themselves “technology isn’t the answer to growing a business.” I’m not saying that at all. I am saying that it made it easier for this new management team to increase sales and maximize potential profits.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can text him at (978) 413-2840 or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)