Precast Inc. - July/August 2008 - (Page 22) BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT Take It from the Top Successful management strategies for precasters. By Bridget McCrea S ome business leaders may get their inspiration and motivation through osmosis or some other magical formula to start the day with a refreshed sense of attitude, productivity and accomplishment. For others it takes a little more effort, and one of the best ways to absorb such knowledge is through reading. Ted Coons is so inspired by management books that he shares them with his customers and staff. The chairman and CEO of Spillman Co., Columbus, Ohio, purchases multiple copies of “topical” business management books, sends them to select current and prospective customers, and hands them out to key staff members a couple of times a year. “I use them internally here and as a marketing tool,” says Coons, an avid reader whose reading and sharing strategy blends well with the firm’s 12-year-old continuous, companywide improvement process. It is a process that also includes annual strategic reviews and off-site management team meetings where issues like new product development and expansion are discussed in depth. Coons uses the Amazon and Barnes and Noble Web sites, and the Wall Street Journal and New York Times book lists, to come up with the best-suited selections. Most recently, he sent around a book on how to treat customers. Coons says feedback on the books – both from internal and external recipients – has been largely positive. “I just got a thank-you letter from a customer this morning,” he says. On the ball Precast manufacturers may offer products that serve as the underpinnings for many of the world’s structures, but that doesn’t preclude them from having to practice excellent management strategies. Not only are they competing against one another, they are also going up against a selection of triedand-true and up-and-coming materials being sold by other industries. By combining real-world experience with books, magazines, the Internet, continuing education and association participation, today’s precasters are gaining an edge in the marketplace not only for themselves but for the industry as a whole. At Modern Precast Concrete in Bethlehem, Pa., for example, company president Vernon Wehrung turns to the philosophies of management guru Stephen Covey for help in running his company. In his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” for 22 JULY/AUGUST 2008 | PRECAST INC. dreamstime.com example, Covey discusses his Sharpen the Saw strategy, which centers on the idea of preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have: you. Doing so requires a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental and spiritual. “You increase your capacity to produce and handle the challenges around you,” writes Covey. “Without this renewal, the body becomes weak, the mind mechanical, the emotions raw, the spirit insensitive and the person selfish. Not a pretty picture, is it?” Wehrung says the philosophy translates well at the business level, where too many company heads focus on working their business rather than working on their business. “Strategic thinking falls by the wayside, because it’s not something that needs to be done urgently,” says Wehrung, whose firm has 150 employees and three locations. “During tough times, however, you really need to be thinking strategically instead of operationally.” In following Covey’s strategic management philosophies, Wehrung prefers to “begin with the end in mind,” meaning figure out what his firm does better than any other company and then try to maximize that strength over a period of five to 10 years. “Ask yourself what role you want to play in the industry, with your customers and within your community,” says Wehrung. “Then figure out what you have to do to get there.” Wehrung also believes in the classic 8020 rule, which states that 80 percent of a firm’s business comes from 20 percent of its customers. By following this strategy, he and his management team are able to ease the burden on Modern Precast’s estimating department, which during these challenging economic times is dealing with more and more requests from customers who want to “buy as cheap as they can,” says Wehrung. “We have to ask in the most polite manner possible what the actual chances are that we’ll get the bid on a quote that’s going to take two dreamstime.com
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