When we describe our company, we often refer to ourselves as relationship-based in our approach to business.
Walker Manufacturing Factory in Fort Collins, Colorado.
We see relationships with people as an advantage over the sterile, transactional approach of buying and selling typically used in business. While larger corporate-sized companies have many advantages and tremendous resources, a balancing point is that smaller companies like us are more easily able to build relationships and have the advantage of being more personal in our dealings. So we pursue personal relationships in all sides of our business, and we especially treasure long-term relationships.
Relationships with our suppliers are a starting point. Even though we make our machines “under our roof”, we also purchase a lot of materials and components from suppliers. Supplier relationships are like life—you stick together in both good times and bad times. The Covid times and supply chain disruptions of a few years ago clearly illustrated the need to ask our suppliers to help us in a bad time and the benefit of calling upon our relationship with them.
Relationships with a little over 200 factory employees are a strong point in working together for a long time. We operate our factory on a “level manufacturing” schedule so that our employees have full-time, steady, dependable jobs. As a result, we have an average length of employment in the company of 10 years.
Annual Thanksgiving Turkey delivery to Walker employees given on behalf of Walker Manufacturing.
Next is our relationship with the delivery channel of our product to the market. We are connected to a network of 42 distributors worldwide and 1,200 sales and service dealers. We know many of our sales and service team members personally, having worked with a good number of them 25-35 years. Now, we have sons and daughters who have taken over family businesses whose parents first signed up to be a Walker Dealer years ago. We have traveled around the world to visit many of our dealers at their places of business and many of the dealers have visited the factory—relationships are built this way.
Finally, there is the end-customer; we count it a real privilege to have contact with and to meet many of the people who purchase our mowers and put them to work. Sometimes we are contacted by customers who need help, and we always see these contacts as an opportunity to try to improve the customer’s experience with our equipment and to have a relationship with them.
As I read the Bible, it turns out the actions of God are all about having a personal relationship with us. Jesus announced, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” (Revelation 3:20 NIV). It seems perfectly fitting to me that we seek relationships in business following the example of our Creator with us.
Sincerely,
Bob Walker
Chairman
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