News & Events

MINDING YOUR BUSINESS

Owners allow their clients to lead the way to success

Focusing on customers' ideas lets small firms preserve their limited resources and build close relationships, which can result in more business

By Ann Meyer
Special to the Tribune
Published September 6, 2004

As an inventor-type, Gordon Kapes thinks of product ideas all day.

But the concepts he takes to market are largely the ones his customers dream up, in one form or another.

"If it's not needed, I'm not doing it," said Kapes, who is president and owner of Studio Technologies Inc., a Skokie-based manufacturer of television and radio broadcasting equipment, with 16 employees.

Although other companies may take a "build it and they will come" approach to drive growth, Kapes is among the small-business owners who prefer to take their lead from their customers. The reason is partly economic. Most small businesses can't afford to take a big financial risk on an idea that might flop.

On the other hand, zeroing in on a need the competition hasn't met can put a small business out in front.

"It gives me an edge if I pick the right product," Kapes said. "We simply don't have the capital—people and money—to take on some of the big projects. But if we look at an area that's correct for us, we can move really fast and we can make changes."

It's the "try harder" approach to managing resources.

Kapes makes trips to the field at least once a month, checking out his products in action and looking for ways to improve broadcasters' jobs. His company's newest product line, a series of announcer's consoles for sports broadcasters, started with months of interviews and observations to find out what announcers would like to see in an upgraded product.

But it's not always easy. In November, for example, he flew down to the Orange Bowl in Florida with an early version of the console. Kapes hooked up the console and accompanying power-supply interface at a demonstration for broadcasters. The equipment seemed to work until disaster struck.

"Someone said, 'What smells?' And I said, 'Oh, no,'" he recalled.

The interface unit, which provided power and audio to the console, failed that test, but because Kapes was there to witness the problem, he was better able to fix it.

This summer, Kapes provided the latest console to CBS television and spent a day with more than 150 broadcast technicians at the PGA Championship, watching them use it successfully, before he was satisfied the equipment was ready to roll out.

Cindy Simes, co-owner with her husband, Jorge, of Simes Studios, a high-end, decorative painting company in Chicago that employs six full-time artists, also has made customer satisfaction a priority. Before every job, Simes spends time educating clients on various options available in murals, faux finishes, stenciling and gilding walls, ceilings and furniture.

Sometimes, that means encouraging clients to scale back the decorative painting planned, even though it may result in a smaller job.

"There are times I have to say, 'It's too much decorative painting. You really don't appreciate it as much,'" she said.

But ultimately, Simes said, she defers to the customer, even if the artist inside her is cringing.

Although Simes isn't afraid to voice her opinion, in the end the customer, who may be paying from $3,000 for a trump d'oeil window to $20,000 for an entire room decorated with panoramic murals, decides.

One of the most important parts of the job for Simes is the preliminary consultation, in which she meets with clients to elicit their ideas and explore their tastes in home decorating. The more she discovers about them, the more personal the paint job can be, she said.

The approach can be time-consuming, but it pays off in satisfied customers and, ultimately, referrals for new business, Simes said. The 16-year-old company, which also has painted commercial buildings such as Cafe Spiaggia, Trattoria No. 10 and the new Bentley Gold Coast Showroom, rarely advertises and often is scheduled for months in advance, she said.

But seeking customer input can yield unexpected results. For example, Penzeys Spices, a Brookfield, Wis.-based specialty retailer with 18 stores, including those in Oak Park and Naperville, decided to ask customers this year to help select the site of a future Penzeys store. It launched a "Bring a Penzeys to Your Town" contest in January and encouraged customers to send a postcard by July 31 naming their suggested city.

Although the contest was intended partly to generate interest in the store, it had the added benefit of opening the company's eyes to a place it had purposely avoided.

In the past, said owner Bill Penzey, "We sort of feared Boston. It's one of those spots we've stayed away from because it's not an easy city to get around."

But after customers picked Boston more than any other town, Penzey said, "Now I really am excited about it." The company also is discussing building a store in Phoenix, which was the runner-up.

What's more, Penzey said, he is learning about the subtle differences among various geographic regions from the many customer suggestions included among thousands of responses.