My family’s customer-friendly business

The need for customer-friendly organizations exists across industries. But how do businesses develop a customer-friendly reputation? Does it happen by accident or by design?

As a management professor, I have been able to reflect on how customer-friendliness was encouraged at my family’s business, Bonekemper Typesetting in Hatfield, Pa.

If I were to ask family members how we became customer-friendly, some would say our reputation grew out of the quality of our work. Others would say it was because of the sense of teamwork, while others would cite the tone set by the leader. Is one answer correct? My sense is that all parts of the business contribute.

My grandfather Harold Bonekemper founded a printing and publishing company in 1924. When he passed away, my uncle Edward Bonekemper II was already managing the operation and continued to do so for more than four decades. Three brothers set type while five sisters proofread. My parents and I, along with aunts, uncles and cousins, all worked in the business at one time or another.

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To get an understanding of how customers’ images of a business are created, we can think of business organizations as networks of five systems: technical work, structure, interpersonal and psychological climate, leadership/management and company culture. Consider the atmosphere at Bonekemper Typesetting:

In its technical work, there was careful attention to quality. No complaint was too small to address. My uncle recognized deadlines as important and met them.

The business structure was mostly informal. Family members could be pressed into service to meet deadlines. Financial rewards were limited, but compliments were generous.

The company’s interpersonal and psychological climate created a strong sense of teamwork. Communications with customers were courteous.

As a leader, my uncle was friendly and outgoing. He had infinite patience and a mentorship orientation toward employees.

The culture was based on viewing the community as a source of sustenance, with attention to long-term relationships. My uncle contributed to the community through the church, the chamber of commerce and many other organizations.

A customer-friendly business satisfies customers on all five dimensions. High-quality printing alone would not be enough to generate an overall image of care and friendliness.

Academics and practicing managers know that organizational design affects behavior. The perception of customer-friendliness comes from the interconnected workings of the system as a whole.

What can we expect from improving customer-friendliness? What every business wants—to win new customers, to retain existing customers and to receive referrals.

The business was sold in the 1990s but continued under the Bonekemper Typesetting name. It was later acquired by Printworks & Company, which for several years used the name and reaped the goodwill. My uncle watched from the sidelines but could see the heritage passed on.

Printworks’ mission statement and philosophy are posted on its website: “Everything we do and every decision we make will be for the purpose of improving service for our customers…. Our primary objective is to make you happy. We earn our customers’ trust by providing exceptional value with every purchase.” I am sure my uncle would agree with these sentiments.

James T. Ziegenfuss Jr., Ph.D., is a management professor at Penn State University. He is the author of Customer Friendly: The Organizational Architecture of Service (www.univpress.com).

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