Answers by Mike Betts, president
WHY DID YOU START THE BUSINESS?
Our parent company, Betts Spring Company, is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, with uninterrupted family ownership and service to the transportation industry. Our founder, William Michael Betts, immigrated to the U.S. in 1865; he traveled west to San Francisco where in 1868 he opened his business, becoming the first spring manufacturing company west of the Mississippi River. His simple yet profound commitment to his customers – marked by the motto “Building Well, Serving Better” – remains our company’s cornerstone of commitment to quality and value.
We continued to serve the transportation industry through the 20th century, evolving along the way. In the early 1970s, our customers expressed interest in Betts providing installation and repair services for suspension applications. We therefore opened our first distribution branch operation in San Leandro, Calif., focusing exclusively on suspension products and services. It wasn’t long before customers encouraged us to expand our locations and product offerings so they could enjoy Betts’ attention to quality and customer service.
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR TOUGHEST BUSINESS DECISION?
We find that the toughest business decisions can be categorized in one phrase – “Firing Customers.” Earning customers is such a challenge in these competitive times that it is always difficult to accept when the goals or requirements of a customer just don’t fit with those core values that we believe are critical to success. When those rare situations present themselves, disciplined support of the customer’s transition to a supplier who is a better fit for them is always the right decision – but also the toughest.
WHAT WAS YOUR BEST BUSINESS DECISION?
In the 1980s, our company elected to diversify and expand our parts and service business from a single location in San Leandro to the nine locations we have today in California, Arizona and Oregon. Our expansion came at a time when more and more businesses, particularly manufacturers, were leaving California and the U.S. in general, due to the high cost of doing business. Betts believes in American business opportunities and our diversification helped assure that our family would continue to enjoy a leadership position in our chosen markets for many generations to come.
WHAT WAS YOUR WORST BUSINESS DECISION?
Globalization of the economy and markets has led to many interesting alliances and relationships to bring products of high value to our customers. While most of the relationships and alliances have been wonderful experiences, our initial exploration of global sourcing resulted in a couple of poor choices of partners in terms of their customer support and integrity. These poor decisions, while infrequent, were painful but valuable in teaching us the importance of due diligence in picking the right partners. Today we are proud of our ability to qualify both domestic and international alliances through comprehensive due diligence and alignment of goals.
WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO KEEP A COMPETITIVE EDGE?
We have found that the most important attribute to successful growth is the skill of listening. Listening to our customers as they tell us about their vision is the best way we have found to develop and invest in new products and services that are aligned. Listening to our supplier partners, most of whom have resources far greater than ours, is a means to stay strategically and tactically current with emerging trends in our industry. And, most importantly, we listen to our associates. Our team that serves our customers and partners with our preferred suppliers each day are so much more in tune with the needs and requirements of our business than senior management can ever be.
WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY?
“Building Well, Serving Better.” In today’s marketplace, “building” goes far beyond the direct, fully controlled manufacturing environment of our founder. “Building” requires forging alliances and supplier partnerships that allow for nimble investment to meet our customers’ needs and to earn their loyalty.
WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING THE AFTERMARKET?
Many feared globalization would create insurmountable difficulties for the supply chain, up and down. Now we are faced with a slow period and the higher costs of fuel, steel and food. Collectively, the transportation industry has been challenged. It is our company’s hope that the industry we all support always will maintain its core values by which it was founded. At Betts, we are proud to say that we still do business with a handshake! For the transportation industry to prosper and grow, integrity and trust must be at the forefront of all important relationships. Our hope is that the supply chain will not lose this important focus.
HOW DO YOU SEE THAT CHALLENEGE BEING RESOLVED?
Many companies wait to see what others will do in the marketplace and focus on raising prices based on what they learn. We have challenged our associates to address current market pressures by looking at all the opportunities available to us to reduce our costs and maintain our quality and service levels, all while keeping a competitive position. The three rules we have implemented are: learn to do more with less; always maintain our quality and service; and do the first two to the best of your ability with a smile and positive attitude.
DURING YOUR TIME IN THE INDUSTRY, WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE?
Without question, the most significant challenge we have faced in our thirty-plus years as a parts distributor and service business has been the need to continually redefine who we are as a result of rapidly changing customer requirements and competitive dynamics. Our industry has gone through substantial consolidation which has created fewer, but more formidable, competitors – while Betts has chosen to remain an independent, privately owned family business. We believe that the virtues of private, passionate ownership have enabled us to ethically and fairly compete with those companies that likely have greater financial resources.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A YOUNG PERSON CONSIDERING A CAREER IN THE AFTERMARKET?
The transportation industry generally, and the aftermarket distribution and service segment specifically, provides great opportunities for young people with a broad range of academic backgrounds and technical interests. Like many industries, our aggregate work force is approaching retirement age, creating more and more opportunities for young people to launch very positive careers. Our challenge as an industry is to be passionate about these opportunities and market ourselves aggressively to attract and retain the best and brightest of the next generation!
WHAT DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU KNEW WHEN YOU FIRST GOT INTO THIS BUSINESS?
The wide breadth of product needs our market demands, the market’s limitless growth opportunities, the importance for all associates to share the desire to learn and gain further knowledge through their own investment of time, passion and commitment, and the power of sharing ideas with our peers for even greater personal growth.
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU EVERY DAY?
We believe in the principle of continuous improvement. If you aren’t getting better you are getting worse – there is no option of standing still in today’s marketplace.
