Catch the TradeWinds

Give Our Customers Added Value

jsewall14 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:32:59 +0000

I have been reading in my favorite magazine The Hub, a marketing magazine with the tagline “an exchange of ideas”. The talk this month is on building brand loyalty and how it has never been more dicfficult. One point they make is Let’s Give Shoppers more value than they pay for. At Twinds, we don’t sell a product, and we don’t have shoppers but we do sell service, so how can we give our customers more value? Which in turn brings Brand Loyalty.

Our Vision

jsewall14 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:10:35 +0000

I’ve always loved the Gettysburg address; it is so beatifully written. . . “people will little note nor long remember what we say here, but never can they forget what we did here.” what alliteration, what emotion! Yesterday was the anniversary of the Gettyburg address; Lincoln was asked to speak as an afterthought. The great orator of the day, Edward Everett, was the keynote speaker. He went on 2 hours, describing in detail the blood and gore, the sacrifice, the reason they were dedicating Gettysburg. Lincoln then spoke, It consisted of 10 sentences, a total of 272 words. Lincoln did not mention any of the specifics of the war or any of the details of the battle of Gettysburg. He did not mention the North or the South. He did not mention slavery. Instead, he explained, in ordinary language, that our nation was founded on the idea that all men are created equal, and that we must continue to fight for that principle, in honor of those who have died fighting for it.

Now that’s a vision or a mission statement, something that will hold you together in tough times. I think we need to redo Mission statement and leave the core values as they are. People are starting to use them and I would hate to make drastic change. But our Mission does not really tell our purpose, it tells what we believe in and what is important but we have to state in clear, succinct language what our purpose is: What do we do: the business, how we do it: the purpose, and what we believe in. Here’s my new thoughts on a vision:

TradeWinds mission is to provide stellar HVAC/R service to multi-sight commercial properties over a large geographic area. A commitment to being Above the Rest in our industry is what sustains TradeWinds. A belief of listening, communicating and exceeding our customer’s best interests is our cornerstone. We service equipment with our own technicians; we embrace new technologies and strive for continuous improvement in all we do.

it’s a start. . .

After Lincoln had finished speaking, Edward Everett told the president, “I wish that I could flatter myself that I had come as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes.”,

Core Values and Zappos

jsewall14 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:29:27 +0000

As Doug, Steve and I continue to talk about our Core Values, I welcome you all to join and blog on. Take a look at inside Zappos blog for some good blogging and the use of video with the flip video. As always this bog is only a test. http://blogs.zappos.com/blogs/inside-zappos

Core Values

jsewall14 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:31:57 +0000

This blog is an attempt at testing this medium as a means to engage employees, and ultimately others, in discussions relevant to our business. For starters, I’am asking all of you to review our core values and mission statement

After our gathering in Rhode Island, and discussing our core values, it became clear that they need to be simplified / shortened to make them more clear.

Our current Mission Statement is proposed to be shortened as:

Customer service is the cornerstone of our success; it is upon this that we base our philosophy, stake our reputation and earn our customers’ trust. By providing seamless HVAC/R maintenance for multi-site commercial, we become an indispensable tool and an integral part of our customers’ success.

Our Core Values show TradeWinds CARES:

Customer Driven: We operate in our customers’ best interest.
Action: We take action without fear, seize the moment, and learn from our mistakes.
Reliable: We are open and honest with everyone.
Employee Growth: We encourage and provide continual development for our employees.
Successful: Customers, community, stockholders and employees all profit from TradeWinds’
success.

*one thought is to change reliable to responsible