Hello, and welcome to the first issue of The CEO Corner.
Drummond is now in its 78th year of serving the graphic communications needs of our customers, and I am blessed to have the opportunity to lead the company forward into the next phase in the evolution of our business. In this post, I want to share a little about our strategy. Our future success depends on our ability to develop mutually beneficial relationships with our customers, and strategically we are focused on three areas that help us stay focused on the customer:
- Culture. We are continuing to build a culture focused on serving the needs of our customers. Your business means everything to us, and we want to ensure that we are meeting your expectations and earning your loyalty every day.
- Innovation. By focusing on specific industries and market segments, we gain insight into the trends and market environments our customers face, and we bring the skills and experience of our team members together to develop innovative solutions that help our customers succeed.
- Strategic investment. Where we see market opportunities that can be replicated and scaled, we will make investments to continue adding value to specific customers and capture more market share.
Of these three areas, I believe the Drummond culture is the most important, because our culture is what determines the day-to-day mindset and behaviors of our employees. Companies can have the greatest quality, the best product or the most innovative solutions in the world, but if company culture isn’t focused on customer loyalty, then none of these things really matter.
So how does culture impact the rest of our strategy? It fosters an environment where the other two legs of the stool can come to life. Our innovation approach is boosted by the willingness of our employees to take risks on behalf of the customer. We constantly ask ourselves questions such as: how can I improve the experience of the customer? If we changed this process, how would we improve the quality of the customer’s outcomes?
This company-wide approach to innovation drives our strategic investment plan
In the past 12 months, we have made investments in our customer service training, production workflows, new product capabilities, our knowledge of our customers and their markets, and the positioning of our company. And we have hired new executives to add the leadership skills that will take us forward into the future.
So the culture we are building ensures that we are focused on the customer, delivering innovative solutions, and making investments that enable us to continue delivering exceptional value to the companies who choose to do business with Drummond.
A word about our core values
Supporting our strategy is a set of principles by which we guide our interactions with our internal teams and with our customers.
- Integrity. We don’t make commitments we can’t keep, and we always communicate with candid transparency.
- Respect. We value diversity of opinion and perspective, believing that every conversation has two sides that are equally important.
- Fiscal conservatism. We treat our customers’ money as if it were our own, and are dedicated to being good stewards of the dollars with which they entrust us.
- Dedication to quality. We actively manage and constantly innovate with the purpose of improving the quality of the products and services we deliver to our customers.
- Accountability. We take responsibility for our actions and strive to exceed customer expectations every day.
To our customers, thank you for allowing us to serve you. To our potential customers, we would welcome the opportunity to show you what we can do. And to individuals looking for a great work environment, come check out Drummond — it’s a company on the move.
About the author
John Falconetti is a native of Jacksonville, FL and received a BA from The University of the South in Sewanee, TN. He became President of Drummond in 2005, after working with the company since 1989. Mr. Falconetti is the third generation to run this family business, and grew up working summers in most every department throughout the operation. This experience, and the fiscally conservative business practices first introduced by his grandparents, have helped define his management philosophy today.
