September 30, 2011
Q3 2011 Close: Vision | Rationale | Pride
As we come to a close on Q3 2011, I thought I'd send out another Company Communication.
Vision | Rationale | Pride
The three things a company needs to have to survive and thrive.
- Vision is a "love affair with an idea". Crown's vision is to "Help Growth-Oriented companies achieve a competitive advantage, digitally."
- Lots of great things have been happening in this area. Longstanding clients like, MRM, Fifth Third, LexisNexis, MEP, and WinWholesale are relying on Crown to build their digital platforms for the future. New and former clients like Standard Register, Inches A Weigh, ExxonMobil, Direct General, and FirstGroup are selecting Crown for the same. We are in an exciting, once in a life, time where our vision maps up perfectly to the market needs and wants. At this intersection, mountains are moved. We crossed $20m in sales today, right at the end of Q3. This is the highest watermark the company has ever had at this point in time and it is validation we are providing the solutions our customers desire.
- Rationale: Acting towards your survival and not your destruction
- Strategy: A collection of ideas about how we are going to win. Lots of work is going into this every 90 days through our McFarland RED program. We've recently moved from corporate initiatives to Practice initiatives and are becoming really good at setting up and knocking down our tasks/initiatives each quarter. The momentum we are building as a result is enabling us to move farther, faster than ever before -- with much more focus.
- Execution: Delivering customer value. This is an area that we're marginal by our own standards. We have recently kicked off a Customer Experience initiative and will move this forward just as fast as the other initiatives for the company. At the end of the day, EVERYTHING we do should be to deliver dazzling customer experiences. For it is this and this alone that makes us a great (not good) company.
- Pride: Comes from doing something that matters
- We continue to seek out and attract the best of the best. Recent new hires include Al Shah, Sam Labib, Ryan Street, Tim Chapin, Rob Franks and soon to start Chad Childress and Tom Blackburn.
- We also understand that an individual superstar does not a team make (or else the Cincinnati Bengals would win the Superbowl every year)! You've probably heard a little about our Football "Game Plan". Stay tuned for more on this as we seek to replicate the ease of execution the best NFL teams replicate in a complex system (Go Steelers!)
- Something that matters: we have something special in the combination of our EPM, WCM, ECM and eBusiness Practices. The combination of these offerings happens to be at the forefront of the needs of our customers to transform their businesses, digitally. We are helping 100 year old companies look differently at the market and their channels AND are enabling them to make the necessary changes to survive for the next 100 years.
All in all, I couldn't be happier and prouder of all of you. We have a great team and are well positioned for the future. Please take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments in 2011 and savor the moment. We are about to extend our winning streak right into the playoffs!
"The principle is competing against yourself. It's about self-improvement, about being better than you were the day before". -- Steve Young
Until next time…
Richard Hearn
Chief Executive Officer