The need for speed - reflections

I recently finished reading Bill Gates' book titled Business @ The Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System. If the '80s were all about building quality back into products, and the '90s were all about building better products, he says the current decade is all about VELOCITY.

What does this have to do with the pool and spa industry? Everything.

Because what Gates is actually saying is that what today's customers want more than anything else is fast service. In today's supercomputing, hyperjumping, downloading-it-now world, no one wants to hear a part won't be available until next week, or that a pool can't break ground until next month.

This hurried-up attitude puts more pressure than ever on the industry's retailers, builders, manufacturers and service technicians.

But, as Gates points out, you can use the same technology that's helped create this consumer attitude to your advantage. Indeed, Gates predicts that successful companies of the future will be the ones that use modern digital tools to reinvent the way they work.

For instance, switching to a computerized point-of-sale system helps ensure that you've always got products on hand--and helps you get the best price for those products. Using a high-tech scheduling program helps keep your construction jobs on track--and improve your customer service. Offering virtual tools to help shoppers shape the backyard of their dreams encourages consumers to come to your store to make them come true.

As your business evolves, you can be assured that Pool & Spa News will be right there with you, showing you the latest trends, offering tips and advice about how to make technology work for you, and providing insight into the marketplace, such as this issue's Quarterly Market Report on finishing materials.

It's our hope that with such information, you can embrace the future and speed on your way to better customer service, better management--and better profits.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Hanley-Wood, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group