Going the Extra Mile

Michael Johnson, CEO Cox Industries

I remember my first career as a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley as an invaluable learning experience. While the career was lucrative, I remember often thinking to myself if it were not for the people; I would not enjoy this career. What I liked about serving customers as a financial advisor was giving them peace of mind each night that I had diversified their life’s savings and more importantly they had entrusted me to do so. As a 21-year-old, I remember a 78 year-old Jack Smith handing me a check for over $4,000,000! This was Jack’s life savings and he entrusted it to me! I remember asking Jack why he had chosen me to manage his life savings. Jack simply responded, "Mikee, I trust you as a person." However, Jack did go on to say, "... but you are going to have to show me what you can do now that you have the money."

At Cox, we have subscribed to a regiment of after-sales-services that our customer feedback shows adds real long-term value. While I cannot mention all of our programs in this article, I can highlight a few. Internally, this after-sales-service effort is known as going the extra mile.

• AIA Continuing Education (for all spec writers)
• Safety Training Courses (for Utility Pole customers)
• Networking and Participation in Industry Associations (for all customers)
• Field Support and Rapid Response Time (for all customers)
• Web Page Leads (for residential and commercial customers)
• National Marketing Opportunities (for all customers)
• Dealer/Sales "Edutainment" (for all customers)
• Hunts and BBQs for our Customers’ Customers (for all customers)

Our Cox Family enjoys our customer relationships today in much the same way as my friend Jack. Like many others in our commodity related field of pressure treated lumber, we scour the market searching for new customers using words, like "quality, service and value." Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with these three words, but it seems as if everyone uses them as a component of their opening salvo or as the headline on their website. One of our five Cox Core Values is "Unsurpassed services and processes that deliver real value." While I believe we focus on this mandate daily, it is important to note, as one of over 400 wood treaters in our great Nation, many of our friendly competitors can buy lumber from the same sawmills we buy from and their chemicals from the same chemical manufacturer. So, in choosing a strategic business partner, what else are all businesses seeking? Well, like my customer and friend Mr. Jack Smith said, "Show me what you can do now that you have the business!"