Supplier Funded Benchmark Study

Revitalizing an industry with a first of its kind, supplier funded benchmarking study.

Reviving an industry pinched by the recession would require a serious look at how businesses were being managed. It would require moving beyond benchmarking hours, wages and equipment and instead drilling down to specifics, to such things as unit productivity of specific pieces of equipment and what business practices actually drive profits and cash flow, and those that do not. Interestingly, two major industry suppliers stepped up to fund and sponsor the benchmarking project. This allowed the association to provide their membership with a necessary and invaluable tool – an overall assessment of the industry and a confidential assessment of each participant’s business and impetus to do things differently to build the value of their individual operations.

CHALLENGE: To provide association members with a low-cost or no-cost first time opportunity to participate in a benchmarking project to examine industry practices and assess their own businesses. To create meaningful benchmarks for improving performance, restoring stability and debunk the practice of reducing prices to maintain marketshare.

SOLUTION: To ensure member participation in this first ever industry study, it was important to launch the project at their annual conference with a message creating optimism about the future (what’s possible) and identifying their role in it. We added some tools for immediate application to their own businesses and championed their involvement to transform the industry and their business lives. In concert with the association’s leadership team, we developed a survey asking questions that drilled right to the heart of their industry – measure what matters. The executive summary of the study results would be published in a two-part article for their monthly publication. One hour coaching sessions were made available to all study participants.

IMPACT: Our members were thrilled and overwhelmed with just the “sneak preview” of the study results. This [financial benchmarking] survey will open a lot more doors of good solid educational programs we can offer our members. Christi Collins, Executive Director, ACPA

Before we had the study to compare to, we had a hunch things weren’t right. Now we can confirm we are on the right track with some things we had already implemented, and the study gave us some real targets to shoot for. Pat Inglese, President and Founder of Pioneer Concrete Pumping