November 2009

This Month's Features

FMI's Executive Coaching

Just as the best athletes have coaches, strong leaders often have coaches as well. In tough times, the need for coaching is even greater. Our FMI coaches bring more than 100 years of combined coaching experience, coupled with specialized industry knowledge, that can help you through these turbulent times.

Click here to learn more about FMI's Executive Coaching.

What FMI Executive Coaching clients are saying:

• "When you have the ability to make change and improvement to someone who affects your business, affects the growth of team members and affects your image – can you afford not to complete something like this? My answer is no!"

• "I already have made a greater contribution to this company as a result of coaching – both from a performance and a supervisory standpoint. In working with my group of a dozen people, they have their subordinates as well; I think it’s important how the impact transcends my group."

The "Practical Tools for Exceptional Leaders" booklet series is designed to help you learn and apply best-of-class leadership principles in your life and within your organization.
Click here to purchase

A Letter From Ron Magnus, Managing Director

You have probably heard the infamous "tire refund" story that has made Nordstrom renowned for customer service. A man walks into a Nordstrom store in Fairbanks, Alaska with two snow tires and asks for his money back. Even though Nordstrom sells upscale clothing and not tires, the clerk sees the price on the side of the tires, reaches into the register and refunds the customer $145.00. Apparently, the store had at one time been a tire store before being converted into a Nordstrom store. Whether or not this folklore is true (and John Nordstrom claims that it is), does not diminish the reality that Nordstrom has differentiated itself from others through their focus and attention to serving their customers.

Today as firms scramble to secure work against increased competition, often with lower margins, it is tempting to fixate on managing costs without the same energy directed toward exceeding customer expectations. If you are in business in the long run, you cannot afford to lose sight of who you are providing services for and making sure they are so pleased with your work they would eagerly seek you out again in the future. This issue of the Leadership e-News focuses on keeping your eye on your customer and separating yourself from the pack through great customer focus.

Ron Magnus

Incorporating Customer Perceptions in Strategy Development

Jay Bowman, Chuck Jones and Kevin Haynes

A successful competitive strategy includes a plan to increase the number of satisfied and loyal customers in your company’s portfolio.

Let’s face it, for many of us the outlook for the U.S. construction industry is just “plain ugly.” Across the nation, the number of project cancellations and delays continues to creep upward. Nonresidential construction spending will continue its downward slide this year that will likely be followed by at least a three-year protraction. An abundant supply of existing buildings, coupled with rising vacancy rates and tight lending markets, further compounds the issue. As a result, competition for available work has and will continue to intensify.

Read on to learn how previously sound business strategies may no longer be appropriate when game-changing events such as these occur.

Quarterly Interview - Exceeding Expectations: Suffolk Construction

Cynthia Paul

As the construction industry grows increasingly competitive, its services become gradually commoditized. So it is no longer enough to simply say your company is “better” than the competition. Contractors need a more visionary and comprehensive strategy. Many companies are learning that they need to stand out by implementing infrastructures that allow them to consistently provide better, faster services to their clients.

So how can construction companies carve out their own niche and differentiate themselves from other contractors competing for the same business? How can these firms attract and retain the best talent while delivering the kind of quality service that results in repeat clients?

Read on to learn how Suffolk Construction Company differentiates itself through identification of basic company values, development of a clear strategy and vision, integration into the community and reinforcement of a strong, national brand.