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by Darcy DeVictor, |
Perception change takes time
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The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one. That’s the positive step Jacobsen has made in recent years as it’s refocused its business — namely, its product support systems.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based company admitted the problem last fall during a media day and tour of its newly consolidated manufacturing facility.
When asked about the company’s past difficulties getting replacement parts into the hands of its customers, company president Dan Wilkinson said candidly, “We let customers down.”
Several changes at Jake in the last year appear to have been made with the intent on turning that past failure around — and that includes a perception of customer service and support that doesn’t necessarily reflect reality.
In one of Jacobsen’s recent endeavors, the company launched a pick-and-pack study to examine how frequently each part in its storage facility was retrieved, and reorganized product placement and inventory accordingly to maximize efficiency of the company’s picking operations. As a result, the company reduced minute-per-pick by 39 percent. It also implemented a full bar-coding system, helping to get products on the shelf faster and further cutting down on wasted time in those operations. Emergency orders are run continuously.
Now the company boasts a fill rate of 97 percent and says its fulfillment rates are consistently high. But Wilkinson knows this doesn’t equate instantaneously to the aforementioned turnaround.
“Until (customers) feel that,” he said, “it doesn’t matter. Customers’ word of mouth is important. We have a lot of money invested, and we’ve spent a lot of time.”
Joe Cunningham, the company’s vice president of marketing, added, “Parts have been running good for at least two years, but perception lingers. It’ll take a little while to get over the perception.”
And while Jacobsen is realistic in admitting it can’t control that perception and how long it might last, it’s pursuing plenty of avenues to hasten that shift through what it can control — its own business practices and models.
The company has invested heavily in product support systems over the past several years, changing its overall system to meet customer needs, Cunningham said. It conducted a survey to find out how best to serve superintendents. It molded its training to suit superintendents by being convenient, experiential and focused on simpler maintenance. The company works around the concept that superintendents have to do more with less on the golf course, he added. Repairs are designed to be quick and done right the first time.
Jacobsen now employs a product support manager in every territory, offers certification for golf course technicians and factory-trained dealer technicians and provides phone support, online technical manuals and technical DVDs online in its customer support department.
In short, Jake is doing a lot of things right to try to change a negative perception. Honestly confronting that reality is the only way to start turning things around.
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