As a newcomer to the copier and printer industry, it was important for me to benchmark Fisher's against the best copier companies in the country. I did this through our association in the Copier Dealer Association, through my position on Canon's Dealer Advisory Council, and through other industry relationships. While invaluable to our turnaround of Fisher's, benchmarking also has a major risk: Becoming limited in ideas, strategies, and expectations.
Fisher’s is entering a new fiscal year and we are going through our annual strategy development process. As I review the strategies and initiatives from last year, I realize these are “office technology company” oriented… they are strategies and initiatives you can read in any industry journal or hear from industry analysts and consultants.
Now that we are one of the best companies in the industry, my challenge to our senior team is to question how great that really is… is being a great copier company truly being a great company? I don’t think so.
We need to be looking at low-tech, highly service oriented industries like plumbing… how are they earning their business service call by service call? We need to be looking at high-tech industries like semiconductors to see how they are innovating with new technologies that are making a highly price competitive industry profitable. We should be looking at airlines, restaurants, ski resorts, golf courses, and real estate brokerages to see how they are differentiating with service in tough economic times.
We should not be benchmarking with the best companies in our industry… we should be looking for the best industries for our benchmarks. I can learn a lot from great copier companies, but if I stop there I will be significantly limiting my ability to build a world-class customer experience.