In 1999 the New England Patriots were considered by some as one of the most laughable franchises in the NFL history. Decades of struggle on the field, internal uneasiness and below average results were the norm. In 2000 the Patriots hired Bill Belichick as General Manager/Head Coach and have since won 17 division titles, nine AFC Championships and have won six Super Bowl titles. Under Belichick’s direction, the Patriots have become of the most successful franchises in NFL history.
The dramatic change in direction for the Patriots is due to numerous factors- people behind the scenes, hard work, players, stable ownership, just to name a few. One of Bill Belichick’s most notable characteristics though is his attention to detail. It is something that everyone that comes in contact with him marvels about. Hall of Fame quarterback Phil Simms, who played for Belichick when the two were with the New York Giants together is noted as saying, ‘his dedication and attention to detail are unbelievable.’ Belichick himself famously answered when asked about preparing his team, ‘More important than the will to win is the will to prepare to win.’
At Huston Patterson we are always looking for ways to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Today’s large format package print industry is very competitive. As we have evolved over the years there are numerous factors that have contributed to our success- stable/committed ownership, skilled employees and hard work just to name a few. If you look deeper though, one characteristic has stood out as a key contributor to the growth of Huston Patterson- attention to detail.
In 2007 we established the Robert G. Kowa Theatre as the centerpiece of our training academy. It is here that we host ongoing seminars for our employees on not just their specific department within the company, but in other departments as well. Along with the continuing education on the print industry, we also bring in speakers from the corrugated industry to give our employees a big picture idea of what happens to our product after it leaves our facility. We believe strongly that by giving our employees this platform to succeed will ultimately impact the overall quality of craftsmanship in our shop in a positive way.
We established Team Hpx, which works together with our partners to establish best practices of doing business together as a team. Our goal in these visits is to go over every detail of our work together, to make sure we are establishing the best possible platform for us to succeed.
Within our sales team we place a huge emphasis on the preparation it takes to increase sales or grow our book of business. Gone are the days of walking cold into a perspective client’s office and hoping to get a meeting. The martini lunch culture is gone and a much more analytic and quite frankly, challenging approach to sales is upon us. Researching, pre-qualifying and ultimately providing an avenue for success for our client base are daily expectations for our Client Services Managers. Together we set specific goals for them to succeed at Huston Patterson and furthermore discuss how to make the goals a reality. I heard a quote a number of years ago that I have repeated numerous times around our office, which I think is very true when approaching sales growth- ‘A goal without a plan is a wish.’
I frequently get asked when in the field how Huston Patterson distinguishes itself from our competitors. The cliché answer is with our service. It is true, but if you peel back the layers to the word ‘service’ at Huston Patterson there is much more. The attention to detail to the service, the preparation that has gone into the service is what makes us stand out. We are committed to succeed at Huston Patterson, but more importantly as Bill Belechick is so famously quoted as saying- “we are committed to the preparation it takes to succeed”.
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