Bleeding Orange
During employee orientation for The Home Depot, in the mid 1980’s and early 1990’s, prospective employees were shown a video of founder Bernie Marcus explaining the philosophy behind The Home Depot’s commitment to excellent customer service. Many of the new-hires barely paid attention as he passionately illustrated how The Home Depot grows”one customer at a time”. After the video and one by one each of the store management team would introduce themselves and reiterate, in their own words, the philosophy and importance of great customer service. When the new-hires hit the floor some would have gotten the message and some would not. Those who got it had a career. Those who didn’t were not there for long. Bernie Marcus’s vision, the store management team, and the dedicated sales associates were the backbone and catalyst to the meteoric success of The Home Depot.
There are two original founding fathers of The Home Depot. Businessman Arthur Blank (present owner of the NFL Atlanta Falcons) and customer service Guru, Bernie Marcus. These two gentlemen took a business plan from concept to reality forming the first and largest “big box” home improvement retailer in history. There is no denying Mr. Blanks business savvy as an integral part the company’s success, but the true leader of The Home Depot’s stores was Bernie Marcus. Marcus’ infectious passion for building the company “one customer at a time” was where the ground swell of customer loyalty began. Marcus inspired his associates through a variety of means: training videos, simulcast of all store meetings (where he would broadcast from a different store one Sunday a month), personal letters of recognition to associates, customer service badges and store visitations. His rallying cries for excellent customer service were legendary: “Make love to the customer”, “Welcome each customer as if they were a guest in your home”, “Treat every customer as if they were your Grandmother”, “If they didn’t like the product; give them their money back, period. No questions asked.”
When Marcus said “do whatever it takes to make the customer happy” he meant it. In 1989, at a store in Fort Lauderdale, a customer tried to return a set of automobile snow tires. Against all explanations of how Home Depot never sold automobile tires, especially snow tires in South Florida, the customer adamantly insisted he bought them at the store and demanded a refund. Eventually the customer called The Home Depot home office in Atlanta and through much determination spoke directly to Marcus. The store manager received a call minutes later from Marcus telling him to give the man two hundred twenty dollars and take the tires. Marcus explained his decision as “the right thing to do because now we have a customer for life”. “For two hundred twenty dollars this customer will spend ten thousand dollars with us during his lifetime. He will tell at least two friends of his experience, who will in turn tell two friends and if they tell two friends we have the potential of gaining one hundred fifty thousand dollars in sales off this two hundred twenty dollar investment.”
Marcus insisted that his customer satisfaction dynamic was the path to success. He empowered his store management team to “do the right thing” and lead their associates by becoming the company’s ambassadors of good will. Many of the store management team were experienced retailers who enjoyed the freedom of making decisions without the usual corporate regulations. The entire company began to grow stronger, led by a new entrepreneurial spirit. The merchandising responsibilities were left to the individual store management team and innovative sales success stories thrived under this loose corporate structure.
As more stores opened, in both new and established markets, the hiring of dedicated sales associates became crucial. Management looked for individuals who would embrace the culture of the company. The management potential of the applicant was not nearly as important as finding “people oriented” individuals who enjoyed helping and nurturing the customer base. They looked for associates that could inspire customers to tackle do-it-yourself projects. The pay scale was not solely based upon experience but upon a “pay them what they are worth” philosophy. It was not uncommon for sales associates to receive three or four dollar an hour increases in pay after proving their worth to management. The management team knew that the success of the company was in the hiring and retention of good associates.
The sales associates were the company’s greatest asset. Bernie Marcus once said “anyone can open a big box (store) and fill it with merchandise; the difference is you, the sales associate; without you we would be just another retailer. The associates worked very hard and their hours were less than relationship or family friendly. It was not uncommon to work ten or twenty hours overtime because the “do what’s right” philosophy included having the store ready for the customer. When the rest of society was off on weekends Home Depot associates were working their hardest, because the stores were jammed with do-it-yourselfers. The stores were open every day including all holidays except Christmas.
The competitive nature of the associates was evident in many ways; the associates challenged each other’s customer service abilities. They wore their customer service recognition badges and awards on their aprons with pride and never hesitated to point out the quantity they had earned to fellow associates. The dedication shown to the company was called “bleeding orange” (in reference to working hard and the color of the logo and aprons that they wore). These were the people in the trenches, who devoted their lives to a company on a mission.
Bernie Marcus had a vision that The Home Depot could grow “one customer at a time” into the largest home improvement retailer in the world. He instilled his customer service philosophy to all of his associates. The store management team understood his vision and the sales associates put it into play. The vision of Bernie Marcus, the store management team and the dedicated sales associates were the backbone and catalyst to the meteoric success of The Home Depot.
