nese product quality issues hitting the
news, like lead paint in children’s toys
and melamine in milk. It was at this
point we decided to change our ap-
proach and jump out in front. From
then on we
guaranteed our
customers that if
the material they
ordered from us
didn’t work, we
would give them
their money
back — the base
offering of the
RFSS. That significantly changed our
position in the market.
Craig Mottershead (CM):
In our
business, differentiating our offering
from our competitors can be a chal-
lenge. To help us deal with the market
changes and needs of our customers,
we adopted The D.O.S. Conversa-
tion™ from a company called The Stra-
tegic Coach®.
D.O.S. stands
for Dangers, Op-
portunities, and
Strengths, and
this is the central
idea: if we have
a clear under-
standing around
the strengths of our “ecosystem” (cus-
tomers and vendors), these can be
reinforced to continually eliminate
organizational dangers so we can col-
laboratively capture opportunities to
fuel long-term growth.
Therefore, as long as we can
understand and solve a customer’s
‘
danger’, or issue, we feel we have an
opportunity to create unique value for
the supply chain, which allows every-
one to win long-term.
What are the key elements that
set GCP apart from its competitors?
GM:
Firstly, everyone who works
here believes in what we do. We don’t
overpromise. We put our heads down
and work, telling our customers we’ll
do everything we can to meet their
objectives. We pride ourselves in doing
what we say we’re going to do.
We also listen to our custom-
ers and look at the strengths of those
within our ecosystem to ask, ‘How can
we fill in the gaps in order to strength-
en the supply chain and improve the
whole business?’
Another aspect that sets us apart
is our inventory. We do not carry in-
ventory; we are as lean as we can be
in the supply chain. We buy specifi-
cally what our customers are looking
for, and everything is custom made for
them and delivered by us. Our cus-
tomers know to expect this from us.
NP:
We’re also very clear about
our position in the global supply chain.
To be competitive it’s important we’re
not an added cost — we’re a moveable
cost. For our Approved Suppliers™
“
We have a unique approach to
handling issues in the company,
we use the phrase - Systemize
the predictable and humanize
the exceptional.”
GCP
