Tag: Customer Success

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

On Monday I attended a lecture put on by the Horological Society of New York.  The lecture was delivered by independent watchmakers Richard (formerly of IWC) and Maria Habring who traveled from Austria to share their perspective on creating a fully integrated supply chain to develop an inhouse watch movement. 

Problem:

  • Originally they used movements (the guts/heartbeat of a watch) from Swatch owned ETA.
  • In 2012, ETA cut them off from all movements and even the components to fix their prior models.
  • They had two choices, give up on their business or find a way to make their own movements. If they gave up, they would never be able to service prior customers.

Action:

  • Developed a new movement and all components to not only to service prior models but also build new models.

Result:

  • Intended: Saved business, serviced prior movements and built brand and credibility.
  • Unintended: Created a separate business to sell components to small watchmakers.

Lessons:

  • Back to basics as Richard said with a “keep it simple stupid” approach.
  • They stayed humble and consider themselves lucky that they were in the right place at the right time.
  • This is a four person company, so if you call them you have a 50% chance of speaking with somebody who has the same name as the company (Habring).
  • When asked about Marketing budgets, they said their plan to serve customers which is the best way to develop a strong brand.

This post went a little over 200 words but had to do the Habring’s story justice. 

Customer Success Lessons from Holmes on Homes

From the archive:

This weekend I sat inside my well-constructed sunroom protected by the winter elements by a fire burning in the hearth below a securely mounted television. Speaking with friends and family in the Northeast who have been bombarded by countless feet of snow, quality of construction against the elements is not lost on me. Fittingly, HGTV’s Holmes Making it Right (previously called Holmes on Homes) television show was playing in the background and summoned simple customer success principles that every SaaS company needs to cherish.

HGTV’s description of the Holmes Making It Right TV show reads as follows:
Mike Holmes can fix just about everything. His motto reads: “If you’re going to do something, do it right the first time.” And that definitely applies to his home renovation work, which is featured in this series as he and his crew rescue homeowners victimized by shoddy contractors.

Any entrepreneur understands the need to move quickly, generate volume of business and have teams who are self-reliant to get their jobs done…

Read full article on Linked In Here.