Core Customer

The Core Customer

/ caflynn / Leave a comment

You’ve shared that your 2016 business is strong.  As a result, we have made the strategic decision to suspend the addition of new WindsorONE dealers.

TY_VISUALIZATIONS-1

Our top priority is to assure that we remain equipped for the continued growth for those who have been our partners in establishing the WindsorONE (W1) brand. We will support, and grow, the win-win business relationships that W1 is fortunate to have built with each of you: our Core Customers. Investment into California, Virginia and Chilean manufacturing operations will continue, thereby ensuring a consistent supply of a consistent quality product, including capacity increases to sustain your W1 growth.

It has been a demanding 2016 for Windsor Mill as well – starting with a mild winter and greater than expected spring demand, which now continues into summer. Initially, we thought this was simply an acceleration of typical order patterns. However, it now appears overall demand will be greater than we all expected. The W1 order file is strong, and that is because of your growth (same store plus new yards) combined with our new customer growth that we have been targeting for years.

W1 has grown over the years because of your support, and we cannot thank you enough for your commitment. We will continue to build business relationships with our Core Customers that are Built to Last – (one of my favorite business books, e-mail me and I would be happy to send you a copy!).

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

Craig Flynn

craig@WindsorONE.com – 707-321-8889

Gotta Love It…

/ caflynn / Leave a comment

Ganahl Lumber, a WindsorONE Core Customer and stocking dealer down in Southern California, with nine locations…

… this particular yard is located on Ball Road in Anaheim, just 1/2 mile East of Disneyland… so this sign gets THOUSANDS of views a day!

Well played Ganahl, well played.

SOLID 4th of July Promo

/ caflynn

We’re proud that WindsorONE is manufactured in the USA, and that we have sustained over 100 manufacturing jobs in our Country; and the reason this has been possible is because of our Core Customers… that is, the long-standing, dedicated W1 Dealers that have helped build Windsor Mill into what it is today, supporting the quality of our products.

As a thank you, and to continue to build upon win-win business relationships with each of you, we’re offering the following 4th of July Core-Customer-Promotion:

E-mail me two thoughts, and we’ll send you a unit of WindsorONE.  It’s that simple.

  • Thought #1: What’s the best attribute of WindsorONE that you use to sell our products to your customer base, and/or what is it about doing business with Windsor Mill that gives you a strategic advantage?
  • Thought #2: What would you like to see MORE of from us, and/or, what would you like to see us improve upon?

That’s it, that’s all you need to do, and you’ll receive a credit for a unit of WindsorONE on your next purchase.

In addition, if a second person from your organization e-mails me their own Two Thoughts answering the aforementioned, we’ll pay to send someone from your sales staff through Conceptual Selling, Miller Heiman’s impactful customer interaction strategy for winning sales opportunities.

Finally, for each additional person thereafter that e-mails me their Two Thoughts, we’ll send you 25 WindsorONE t-shirts to hand out to your customers.

The purpose of this exercise is to ultimately provide your Company with a better experience from Windsor Mill.  Please send us your well thought-out feedback, we’re taking this very serious, and we’ll listen to and act upon everything you submit.

In Solidarity,

Craig (caflynn@WindsorONE.com)

[This core-customer-promotion is for stocking WindsorONE dealers only; good through the week of July 4th]

The Core Customer

/ caflynn / 1 Comment

We were fortunate through the Chile 8.8 quake; we didn’t lose a customer.

It’s a testament to the win-win business relationships our customers have enabled us to work towards strengthening with them over the years.

Too many organizations seem to forget that their most valuable asset is their core customer group; we understand it, very well, and will continue to be exceptionally committed to W1 Core Customers.

For that reason, we continue to utilize the majority of our resources into growing our current customers’ business.

Though I keep thinking to myself…

  • What if we just stopped looking for new customers all together?
  • What if we put 100% of our time and resources into growing our current customers’ business?
  • What if we ran customized word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for all dealers, in efforts to increase their W1 volume and margin?

Would our core customers then tell their colleagues, “You’re making a mistake not to do business with Windsor Mill.”

Certainly that type of referral would be an extremely effective way to build one’s business.

What say you?

[edit: unforunately, we did lose one customer, and we wish that former dealer a strong remainder of the 2010 business year]

Biggest Competition, Gone?

/ caflynn / Leave a comment

That’s correct, it’s gone… and for many of us.

There are four types of competition:

  1. Buying from a competitor
  2. Using internal resources (prospect does it himself)
  3. Budget used for something else
  4. Do Nothing

No question that post housing-crash our (the industry’s) biggest competition has been “Do Nothing.” 

Customers have been frozen for years; hesitant to stray from what’s worked for them in the past, and hesitant to try new things.  Too much risk, much safer to “Do Nothing,” specifically when it comes to a new product or service.

We won’t see any massive growth this year in the housing market, nor any time soon in my opinion.  It is what is, today, and at best with possible incremental growth in the following years.

However, the “Do Nothing” competition is gone; and it’s an opportunity for all of us.

[Disclaimer: My macro understanding of the housing market isn’t the strongest, so please take my opinions with a serious grain of salt, if not a truckload.  I focus on the micro – and in that regard, I see a wealth of opportunity to grow sales in partnership with our current customer base] 

Mention + WOMM Book = Friday Promo

/ caflynn / 2 Comments

We just got a mention on Andy Sernovitz’s Blog:

[click logo above to read blog mention]

Mr. Sernovitz is the author of the excellent “Word of Mouth Marketing Book” – and he’s one of the most well respected word-of-mouth marketers, consulting for big brands like Bosch, Hitachi, Dell and HP.

Great to read this morning that Andy feels we’re on the right path with “W1 Insights: The Flynn Report!”

Leave a comment below, or drop me an e-mail (craig@WindsorONE.com), and I’ll send you a copy of Andy’s Book; and past that, if you come up with a cool word-of-mouth marketing campaign, we’ll help you sponsor it! (fr W1 Dlrs)

Perhaps we’ll be able to work together to make up some lost sales?

Respectfully,

Craig