Smart Business Magazine, Oct 2012

22 Smart Business Indianapolis October 2012 nature of your customer service people he says You want to be helpful you dont want to be overbearing Customer service is where the core values of your company are on stage Show them you offer the best customer service in the industry Word of mouth is by far the best marketing tool you have and your goal is to maximize that to its fullest Take for example phone orders You can even hear somebody smile on the other end of the phone You know when they are in a good mood or not in a good mood he says Another key to staying on top of your niche is investing in technology In todays economy not investing in technology can bring about serious setbacks Were investing a lot of money in not only technology for our e commerce system which is the fastest growing part of our business but for how we transact sales faster inside a stadium how we do things better on mobile applications how we take orders on tablets and iPhones all the things that continue to change in the world have a very strong application to our business Moroknek says You need to have a very strong technology group a very strong e commerce group thats challenged every day to find out what is the next thing and make sure you are ahead of the curve and not behind it Develop your leaders of tomorrow If you are a niche business its not like you can go to any street corner and find a great candidate to be one of your managers Youre looking for specialized skills A better source is to look internally find the talent and develop its leadership qualities Part of your business strategy and planning is to make sure you have succession and growth plans where your people can step up Moroknek says One of the great things about our base of 242 employees is we are constantly filling leadership positions showing them growth as we grow and that they have a chance to step up We spend a great deal of time with our middle management team training and developing them so when a new piece of business comes on board they are really ready and trained to step up to that management role One of the more effective methods is to choose a select group of middle managers and train them in all areas of the company so that they will get a comprehensive background We have a corporate trainer who handles the majority of the training but then we have special disciplines he says Theres a person appointed in each area of expertise to assist those individuals and help them grow into the roles and have the experience we want them to have to be wellrounded managers Its the role of the executive leadership to make sure the managers are on the same page We are very hands on with our directors and meet with them on a weekly basis not only from an operational standpoint but also as to how are they fitting in what challenges are they seeing he says We really try to create a mentoring and coaching program for those business leaders One caveat however your managers may feel they are being overwhelmed by such a comprehensive training program What you have to do is instill a culture that makes them feel their work right now will pay off in the long run and that they are getting more opportunities to do more things early in their career than they would have with most companies because you are growing so rapidly Moroknek says You see the cream rise to the top in a lot of those situations Its easy to pick out who are your future leaders You have to be very cognizant of not making it an unreasonable workload The thing I was always taught was that you always tend to rely on the people who you think of as stars and you wind up letting the nonstars get away with more So you have to make sure everybody is an equal playing field and feels just as important What may be the toughest challenge to leveling the playing field as you are growing is to enlist your managers as agents of change Youve got to be flexible and teach your people not to be afraid of change he says So many people are afraid of change and growth is scary because it is ever changing and evolving Adapting to a culture that change is good that we are going to make mistakes but we are going to learn from them along the way being flexible making the best decisions possible and sticking to your long term strategy of knowing where you want to be thats how things are going to turn out OK So absolutely not only do you not want them to be afraid of change you want your people to be change agents HOW TO REACH MainGate Inc 317 243 2000 or www maingateinc com Find what fits best TAKEAWAYS Stay a niche leader Develop your next managers Cover Story MainGate Inc Youve got to be flexible and teach your people not to be afraid of change Dave Moroknek president and CEO MainGate Inc