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Learning customer experience from a cowboy
You don't often see Bob Dylan, Ronald Reagan, and "Brokeback Mountain" mentioned in the same breath. But there in an obituary in The Economist a few weeks back, all three of those cultural icons were revealed to have a common thread.
It was Jack Weil's obit, age 107: a Denver businessman, a Western clothing manufacturer who, for over 60 years, popularized much of what we know as cowboy fashion: flannel plaid shirts, bolo ties, and so on - worn at various times by Dylan, Reagan, and in "Brokeback."
Weil's accomplishment was monumental as a clothing maker: defining, then leading, an entire product category for over sixty years. If Steve Jobs is still leading Apple and its remarkable innovations at age 90, he'll come close to matching Weil's tenure.
And for such a feat, what was Weil's secret? Did he embrace the various management fads along the way - from Total Quality Management to Re-engineering to moving his cheese - or, perhaps, did he have some mystical insight into successful business?
The Economist reveals all:
What mattered were two things, quality, and knowing the customer: which was why, until a few weeks before his death, "Papa Jack" was always to be found from 8am till noon at his front desk in the company store on Wazee Street, poring over the past-due accounts and shaking hands with whoever came in, asking "Where you from?" and frequently being astounded at the answer.
He talked with customers face-to-face. He cared about quality. The truth is so simple, sometimes, it's easy to overlook.
Listening to customers, at least for Jack Weil, was not the territory of PhD's in market research or multi-tiered CRM databases. It was the simple, everyday act of listening to another person and caring about delivering something good to them.
And thus the company thrived for generations, and continues to live on today: Rockmount Ranch Wear.
Listening to customers isn't a new idea - it's been around as long as business itself. And it's not a complicated idea - the act of listening is one of the first things we do, as humans. And it's not an unpopular idea - brands are constantly shouting advertisements about serving customers, with services called "your" this, and "my" that.
Even so, few companies actually do it. Listening to customers is DIFFICULT. I think it's just too plain and simple for many companies to really commit to. You can just imagine executives thinking: something so mundane as talking to another person who happens to be my customer - surely that couldn't be the key to success, when there are so many newer, flashier solutions available?
Jack Weil's story answers the question. And if anyone needed more proof, they could look to the similar story of Joyce Hall, who also had a habit of listening to customers. His company, like Weil's, lives on today: Hallmark. Here's his case study.
(Photo of Jack Weil above from the Rockmount website.)
"The Economist" has the best obituaries in the news business. Every time I read one, I feel that the world is somehow diminished by that person's passing.
I just had a phone conversation with the spokeswoman of the biggest gas company in Israel. I introduced myself as a journalist. I complained about their website.
Instead of listening to me or giving me straight answers, she argued with me.
So unbelievably clueless!
Listening is the key to Life, isn't it? It's how we stay centered, balanced. It's how our bodies looked at as integrated systems work at all. It would end all escalated conflict. It would bring...
Peace.
Cool story, and great reminder- I just hope CEO's and other leaders don't figure out it REALLY is as simple as listening to your customers to succeed or I'll have to shut down my new company before we get started ;)