Spring is in full bloom as you read this (and as I write it, with 65 degree temperatures in February). Hopefully, the phones are starting to ring and work is beginning to pick up for us all. If you recall my last letter, you know I will be elaborating on the second leg of our mission statement at Cornerstone Foundations… serving and bringing lasting benefit…

“To our customers… Exceeding expectations through quality workmanship and service.”

The message rings loud and clear across the business landscape… the customer is king. Marketing experts quote Ralph Waldo Emerson as saying, ”the customer is the immediate jewel of our souls.” And most are familiar with Sam Walton’s premise, “There is only one boss. The customer.” All expressions of capitalism exist to meet the needs of the customer. The construction industry is surely not exempt from this driving force. But wait a minute; could there be more?

One cannot escape the enviable success of Apple, Inc. these days. Jockeying with Exxon-Mobil as the most valuable corporation, being a darling of design and product performance and achieving record sales during such tough economic times; we assume they must know a thing or two about what the customer wants. For example, the recently deceased CEO, Steve Jobs, was willing to respond to emails from complaining customers, (equally willing to provide frank responses). At product launches, he was a hybrid of super salesman, company evangelist and enthusiastic user of the newest products. While he clearly connected with his customer, his underlying premise is immensely intriguing. He said, “A lot of times people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

Understanding our need to be led and be popular, he capitalized on it to build, and profit from, a great line of products. But his biography shows a different, and simpler, motivation. That of a man wanting to build a product that he would enjoy using himself. He said, “ We didn’t build the Mac for anybody else. We built it for ourselves… We just wanted to build the best thing we could build.” So, while Apple offers simple yet innovative products that are reliable and intuitive to use (even if you are over 50…), there is an underlying motivation that sounds very much like the “Golden Rule”. If they designed a product that they loved; then there was a good chance their customers would feel the same.

From our early days as a company, the Apple approach of serving the customer through innovative and useful products has been our hallmark. As a mason, I used to think out loud that there had to be a better product to build a basement with. I discovered solid concrete walls and a business was born. Yet it was more than a great, well built, product; I was driven to offer services that made the builders’ life easier. Like offering a complete foundation package (new to our area), or just being willing to clean up our own trash. Or becoming a local expert in using insulating systems for removable forms. These things were possible thanks to bright and talented employees as well as CFA membership, which gave us access to industry leaders and the latest innovative tools and equipment.

There is another side to this story of course. No matter how much you try, some customers just cannot be pleased. At what point do you have to stop “giving in” to unreasonable demands and just walk away? Early in business, I was inclined to fight for what I saw was right, and I burned a number of bridges in the process. Somewhere along the way, I realized that King Solomon was right when he wrote,

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches; and loving favor rather gold.” (Proverbs 22:1). Even Jobs understood this perspective of success. He said, “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed saying we’ve done something wonderful… that matters to me.”

We are talking about more than just offering great service; but rather, treating the customer the way you would want to be treated. It takes great wisdom and patience knowing how and when to apply these principles.

In closing, I’d like to offer a clarification as well as a caution. Emerson’s quote above was part of an 1844 address commemorating the emancipation of slaves in the British West Indies. The context reveals his view that a misplaced emphasis on the customer being first had led to the justification and continuation of slavery. While he was advocating for a change of perspective, the quote originated almost two centuries earlier and leaves us with a different understanding of where to place our focus.