Past Winner Stories
Echo Engineering & Production Supplies
www.echosupply.com
Driven by the manufacturing downturn, the company once recognized as one of Silicone Valley’s top-100 fastest-growing firms watched its sales shrink by nearly 50 percent. Far from what he expected when he moved his company from California to Indianapolis in 1999 to be closer to its major manufacturing customers, Echo President and CEO Kingdon Offenbacker’s troubles were then discovered to be internal as well as customer-based.
Hundreds of Echo’s customers had gone bankrupt or changed business focus when the economy began to flounder. The effects of that already impacting the company, Offenbacker suffered insult on top of injury when he received an anonymous note which, for the first time in company history, pointed directly at the CEO as the source of additional conflict. The note complained that “all decisions came out from the CEO’s closed office.” As a result, trust levels among the managers were low, and the staff complained about poor teamwork.
During the same period, several key salespeople and engineers left the company, reducing the already low morale and leaving the company’s most valuable assets – its customers – unattended. Hundreds of customers were not contacted for some time, and many of them switched to competitors as their relationships with Echo disintegrated.
The situation for active customers was not much better. “For a period of time,” Offenbacker explains, “the most frequent response a customer heard when calling Echo was ‘He/she is no longer with the company. How can I help you?’”
Offenbacker repeated a question again and again to himself: How can the company survive all this and turn back onto the highway? The finishing industry was struggling and Echo was facing cutthroat competition in a commodity marketplace. Half its customers were gone, and Offenbacker knew Echo had only a short period to turn things around or competition would force the company out for good.
The answer lay in a Chinese proverb. Where there is danger, there is also opportunity. “We were at a major crossroads at that time,” recalls Offenbacker. Knowing he needed to pool resources and rally his staff, he assembled a team to research the market and plan for not only rebound, but also growth.
The company recognized that its current market would only limit opportunity. The team developed an expansion plan into the engineered component market, based on its size, growth and the synergy Echo could leverage with its masking business. The company brought in experienced talent and designed highly structured sales processes for both the existing and developing markets. Investments in marketing, infrastructure and staff training supported the plan.
“Getting our people rallied together under one goal was a critical part of our growth strategy,” says Offenbacker. All employees were involved in vision meetings to communicate the growth plan and strategies. Newsletters were created to regularly update the staff on important issues and events.
In addition, Offenbacker instituted an open-door policy to encourage two-way communication. “The note criticizing my closed office was a good one,” he says. “Immediately, I had my office open to anyone.”
Steady increase in the number of accounts, orders and shipments proves Echo’s success. The company has experienced nearly 35-percent increase in sales and is optimistic of achieving its sales goal for 2004.
“We have more aggressive goals for the next five years and we are right on track. The organization is stronger and better than ever before,” Offenbacker states.
Hundreds of Echo’s customers had gone bankrupt or changed business focus when the economy began to flounder. The effects of that already impacting the company, Offenbacker suffered insult on top of injury when he received an anonymous note which, for the first time in company history, pointed directly at the CEO as the source of additional conflict. The note complained that “all decisions came out from the CEO’s closed office.” As a result, trust levels among the managers were low, and the staff complained about poor teamwork.
During the same period, several key salespeople and engineers left the company, reducing the already low morale and leaving the company’s most valuable assets – its customers – unattended. Hundreds of customers were not contacted for some time, and many of them switched to competitors as their relationships with Echo disintegrated.
The situation for active customers was not much better. “For a period of time,” Offenbacker explains, “the most frequent response a customer heard when calling Echo was ‘He/she is no longer with the company. How can I help you?’”
Offenbacker repeated a question again and again to himself: How can the company survive all this and turn back onto the highway? The finishing industry was struggling and Echo was facing cutthroat competition in a commodity marketplace. Half its customers were gone, and Offenbacker knew Echo had only a short period to turn things around or competition would force the company out for good.
The answer lay in a Chinese proverb. Where there is danger, there is also opportunity. “We were at a major crossroads at that time,” recalls Offenbacker. Knowing he needed to pool resources and rally his staff, he assembled a team to research the market and plan for not only rebound, but also growth.
The company recognized that its current market would only limit opportunity. The team developed an expansion plan into the engineered component market, based on its size, growth and the synergy Echo could leverage with its masking business. The company brought in experienced talent and designed highly structured sales processes for both the existing and developing markets. Investments in marketing, infrastructure and staff training supported the plan.
“Getting our people rallied together under one goal was a critical part of our growth strategy,” says Offenbacker. All employees were involved in vision meetings to communicate the growth plan and strategies. Newsletters were created to regularly update the staff on important issues and events.
In addition, Offenbacker instituted an open-door policy to encourage two-way communication. “The note criticizing my closed office was a good one,” he says. “Immediately, I had my office open to anyone.”
Steady increase in the number of accounts, orders and shipments proves Echo’s success. The company has experienced nearly 35-percent increase in sales and is optimistic of achieving its sales goal for 2004.
“We have more aggressive goals for the next five years and we are right on track. The organization is stronger and better than ever before,” Offenbacker states.