« Previous Story |
The Industry Report Home Page
| Next Story »
An IR Exclusive, Part Two: Customer Credo Defines Who You Are L.L. Bean Exec Tells CNL Resort GMs
By Craig Altschul
October 18, 2007
Leon Leonwood Bean (L.L. to all of us) believed so strongly in the Golden Rule and his interpretation of it that he made it the foundation of his business. The ski industry can learn much from this extraordinary lifestyle retailer.
General managers of CNL's recently acquired mountain resorts did just that as they gathered together last month on an island off the Maine shore for the first time. (Part one of this Industry Report exclusive appeared in our Oct. 8 issue. It is available at http://industryreport.mountainnews.com.)
L.L.'s Golden Rule: "Sell good merchandise at a reasonable profit, treat your customers like human beings, and they will always come back for more."
Bob Peixotto, L.L. Bean's Chief Operating Officer, told a now legendary story of how the company's product guarantee became the norm. "The Maine Hunting Shoe that L.L. created was the company's first product. It turned out that 90 of the first 100 sold were defective. He instantly fixed the defect and made good on the orders. That started our guarantee program.
"Our guarantee is simple and clear. Our products are guaranteed to give 100 percent satisfaction in every way. Customers may return anything purchased from us at any time if it proves otherwise. We do not want anyone to have anything from L.L.Bean that is not completely satisfactory," he said. Most everyone in the room had an L.L. Bean story to tell during the evening.
Lots of mission and vision statements and company pronouncements are filled with great sounding philosophies and promises, but there are few companies with the longevity of leadership buying so heavily into a trusted, proven philosophy like Bean's.
The company's credo when it comes to its customers is well worth looking at for its implications to the mountain resort world. That definition of a customer notes that "a customer is the most important person ever in this company - in person or by mail; a customer is not dependent on us, we are dependent on him; a customer is not an interruption of our work, he is the purpose of it; we are not doing a favor by serving him, he is doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do so; a customer is not someone to argue or match wits with -- nobody ever won an argument with a customer; and, finally, a customer is a person who brings us his wants. It is our job to handle them profitably to him, and to ourselves."
Bean's efforts to get its customers involved in outdoor activities have been a centerpiece of the company's game plan for many years. Get them in the gear and get them to use it. L.L. Bean offers Outdoor Discovery Schools in paddling, sporting clays, bike tours, family adventures, outdoor leadership, women's courses, adventure vacations, and more. Peixotto said Bean's door was open to ideas for possible collaborations with the CNL resorts. That did not go unnoticed.
He said Bean is heavily involved in the State of Maine's "Take A Child Outside" program that is closely linked to the philosophy that there is a "nature deficit disorder." Support is given to Maine's "Winter Kids" program that gets children out on snow.
Peixotto is personally leading the effort to establish a "new generation of outdoor entertainment" with a hut-to-hut trail that will run from Sunday River to Sugarloaf. The trail will be low-lying (not at the tops of peaks like others) and will be groomed the entire distance for cross-country skiing. He sees this as fitting into a trend of "comfort camping" that will meet little resistance from "mom." Fund raising for the project is well underway.
Peixotto is convinced that the present and the future offer plenty of opportunity for Bean to stay in the forefront. He suggested the same for the mountain resort industry. He said that Bean did no business at all through the Internet 12 years ago. Online ordering is now their largest single source of business.
"We think the future lies in the synergy of multiple channels of access that all work together," he said, including continued growth of online and wireless communication, retail stores (the company has nine now, plans 11 more over the next two years), outlet stores, the catalogs (there are more than 60 produced each year), and sales at the Freeport, Maine, store (which continues to be a destination experience).
Have there been missteps along the way? Of course, but not very many. Peixotto candidly discussed what it learned from some of those and how the company quickly got back on course.
He believes the reason for success at Bean is because of the long-term leadership and stability, the same subjects discussed later at the meeting by CNL executives emphasizing its "we're in it for the long-term" game plan.
Oh, yes, there was Peixotto's telling closing comment about the family market that both L.L. Bean and the ski industry covet that made the GMs wince:
"There is so much right about what you are doing in the ski industry, but I'm wondering what message you are sending to the family customer with giant, inflated tequila bottles at your events?"
« Previous Story |
The Industry Report Home Page
| Next Story » |
Email To A Friend
|
