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ICM January-February 2017

the right attitude, in the right environment in order to achieve our goal,” expressed Snyder. Any business will experience troubles, including generating capital, changing infrastructures and repositioning the brand, but he believes that culture and personnel are what really drive the transition’s success and failure. Its strategy was to create a culture that includes team players who will embrace change and take risks. Further, Wesson makes sure to reassess everything periodically, even after the new businesses are up and running, and adjusts when necessary. Throughout the intense planning, countless trials and tribulations and many changes, Snyder stated that “the outcome is in direct proportion to the effort.” Since beginning the diversification of its business in 2008, its profit margin has been significant. In 2008, its oil-based margin, which was weather dependent, was 61% of its total. In 2016, the company projects its oil-based margin will be 35%, a three percent decrease since 2008. In the last eight years, its diversified business margin has increased by 146%, growing the business overall by 55%. In terms of cross-selling, Wesson focused on selling its other offerings to its existing customers by making them aware of the variety it can now bring to homeowners. “Believe it or not, the best way to convey our message was through the most trusted people in our company—the technicians,” Snyder pointed out. Technicians are viewed by homeowners as the experts. They also have an understanding of the customer’s home and can offer, or point out, new services Wesson provides to keep customers’ homes comfortable, efficient and safe at a good value. In 2016, tech-originated leads produced 45% of Wesson’s non-fuel HVAC revenue. Again, it was paramount that the culture changed in order to open up opportunities for Wesson. No longer are technicians just delivering oil but are now assessing the situation of homes and providing various alternatives to servicing home comfort. Wesson was lucky to have employees who embraced their vision and were willing to adapt to help the business grow with new ventures. In order to keep employees up to date and help them advance, the company launched Wesson University in 2014, a formal training program facilitating operational, industry and market education to drive their personal growth. Wesson employees are required to take 15 credited hours each year, with a curriculum of 48 approved courses. Marketing for Wesson has shifted over the years. For nearly 50 years, it placed billboard and Yellow Pages ads. With today’s consumer more dependent on social media and mobile devices, Wesson is developing its marketing strategies to meet customers’ evolving technical needs. “Start with a clear vision. We can’t stress this enough. Your vision will be used to develop your plan, complete with objectives and goals,” concludes Snyder. Throughout the process of diversification, Wesson has stuck to its vision of making the customer’s home comfortable, efficient and safe. He recommends establishing benchmarks and time frames to gauge progress and success but also make required changes. His final advice is to base goals and objectives off the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timebound) model. Robison Elmsford, NY Daniel Singer, Co-President Robison, previously known as Robison Oil, is a thirdgeneration, family-owned business in existence for over 80 years. Starting out as a coal and ice provider, it had to transition to oil in the 1930s and 1940s. Since its inception, the company had been open to diversification. In fact, the company has also been selling other lubricants and solvents aside from oil in the beginning. Combining all offered services—oil, natural gas, HVAC, energy efficiency, remediation work for mold, fire and water, air quality products, duct and carpet cleaning, etc.—Robison touches somewhere close to 22,000 homes. For Robison, the main factor in business direction comes from the needs of the customer. “Rather than expanding our footprint, we made a strategic decision back in the late 90s to deepen our footprint—leverage the trust that we have from our customers and ask them what they want us to do,” said Daniel Singer, Co-President of Robison. “If we get four or five referral requests from customers, we start exploring going into that business ourselves. They’re calling us because they trust us.” Singer believes that if the customer is asking for recommendations, listening to them will benefit the growth and profitability of the company regarding what directions it should explore. ICM/January/February 2017 7


ICM January-February 2017
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