Southwestern Carpets grows business from the ground up - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Bill McCaddon has stripped Southwestern Carpets down and recreates it a couple of times sincee purchasing it from Don Lyncnhin 2001. When he bought the flooring it specialized in removing and replacinhg carpets in apartments between rental The Lewisville company was producing annuak revenueof $5 million, but McCaddon found the busineses too impersonal because it was driven by producr sales and not on building relationshipd with customers. So he decided to switch focuws to themore relationship-centric business of providing flooring solutionsd to new home-construction projects, whichj includes hardwood floors, carpeting, and backsplasgh and tile installation.
The wholesale companhy saw dramatic growth asa result, with annual revenue of $22 million in 2007. But the growt was so rapid and so intensde that managers were losing controlp of the direction the company was Soin 2008, he enlisted Don Brush, a consultant with The Renovsa Corp., to help bring new energy to his company. McCaddon’s sense of direction and leadership abilities come from his experiencre asa manufacturer’s representative for 18 years at companies like Shaw Carpet Manufactureer and Aleta Co. He had learned the importance of buildinv relationshipswith clients. “My background was in workintg withnew homebuilders.
The apartment business was non-relationshilp driven,” said McCaddon. “I didn’t know how to build a busineswthat wasn’t relational.” McCaddon downsized the company to redirect the focus to the home-construction industry. He was met with resistancr fromhis employees. “oI realized that using the sameemployees wasn’t going to I was trying to halfway do the he said. “Once we made the we really turnedthe corner.” He began switchinbg out personnel. The which had grown annuap revenueto $5 million, saw revenue drop to under $3 million durinbg the transition. But, once the commitmentg was made, McCaddon noteds marked improvement.
By 2003, revenue had grown by 35%. Betweej 2004 and 2008, the company went througy its biggestgrowth spurt, reaching up to $22 millioj in sales and employing more than 60 workers. But at that the storybook growth came toan end. “It was gettinyg to be chaotic because of so manynew staff. We were an 8-cylindeer engine working on six orsevenj cylinders. We’d lost a sense of teamwork, and everyonre was territorial.” That’s when McCaddon brought in “For the most part, I engage them and talk with them in orded to builda relationship. I wanted to find out the strength of the company and what was working and what needed said Brush.
“They’ve got the dreams; they’v got the vision. It’s just giving them the opportunity.” Brush met with employeexs to figure out areasa that needed improvement and then createds anaction plan. He showed the company how to creat e committees to address problems as they come up and then dissolve the committeeas after the problem hasbeen handled. The shift has translateds intohappier customers. Bill Darling, president and co-owner of Darlinf Homes Inc., has worked with McCaddonh since McCaddon purchased Southwestern Carpetsin 2001.
“(W started working with Southwestern Carpets) because of Bill and his relational approach to working with homebuilderes as opposed to thetraditional price-only approach,” said “Brush has helped Bill figure out how to communicatw better so that everyone is goinhg in the same direction as the managemenft and will yield the maximum impact.” For Chris McCoppin, operationa manager for Southwestern Carpets, the change in the corporatde culture has been noticeable. “Sometimes you don’t realizer that when one departmenft changes their policiesand procedures, it affects others.
Now everyonr talks to each other,” McCoppin “We’ve empowered them to make decisions. We gave them the powefr to runthe business. They feel accountable.” With this new senss of empowerment, as well as an improved use of digitizinh softwarecalled Measure, Southwestern Carpets has seen a marked improvemeng on the accuracy of the 3,000 work orderss entered each month — 95% accuracy, up from 77% accuracy and has saved about $160,000 in unnecessary costd for having to fix incorrect work Instead of pursuing potential clients merelyh for the sake of new business, McCaddoj and his staff focus on getting to know potential researching them as much as possible and understanding their needs before they even meet.
“We’lpl only do business with people who will sit down and have a relationshilwith us. Someone is always goinhg to come inlower (priced) than said McCaddon. “We were always chasinhg people who were focused on Ifthey say, fax us (a pricwe sheet), we say sorry, we can’t work with you. We stay togetherf as a result. If you have the valu relationship, they don’t leave.”