In August 1988 Techsonic replaced its LCR product line with a TCR product line. TCRs operate at 455 kilohertz, instead of the standard 200, and offer better resolution. They're also menu driven, hence easier to use. And the TCR snaps into its mounting like a rechargeable razor, with buttons that are easier to hit. "It's not as big a step as some of our other products were," Huey notes. The company revamped its trade-show booth once again, making it sleeker, with softer colors and a wall covered with 16 televisions. Huey outdid himself by purchasing pop-up ads, at about $75,000 for two pops, in the major trade magazines.
"Frankly," Symons adds, "we found that there weren't a lot of problems left to solve." A fact best symbolized, perhaps, by noting that the T in TCR stands for absolutely nothing. "We had to differentiate ourselves," Balkcom says.
Consumers, it seemed, had taken Techsonic about as far as it could go.
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As military men -- they both served in Vietnam after West Point -- Balkcom and Dyer tend to identify with their bosses. These days that boss is the consumer. And their allegiance isn't going to change, no matter what the competition does. "This is our mind-set," says Balkcom. "It's our culture."
Word in the industry has it that some of Techsonic's competitors are starting to use focus groups, too. "We want to get more in touch with who our end users are," Computrol's Bill Bogan confirms. "We think their input will help us."
Indeed it will, if Balkcom's experience is any indication. Thanks to consumer input, Techsonic's executives drive around in Porsches and BMWs. If Barry Huey is down from Birmingham, you can find his black Jaguar at the local Wendy's, with a license plate that reads HUMMIN. Since he started working with Techsonic, his agency has grown from $2 million to $16 million.
Nobody expects the fish-finder market to triple again, as it has in the past five years. Techsonic, which only grew about 15% to more than $70 million last year, has been looking for other businesses to expand into. How will it decide? "We're asking fish-finder buyers about what else they buy," Balkcom says. At one point, Symons asked about cellular phones on boats. Her conclusion: no big problem with what's already on the market, thus no great opportunity. Later she zeroed in on marine radios. Turned out there were complaints about durability, security, and antenna operations. Techsonic introduced a radio, its first non-depth-sounder product, in August. Balkcom is also casting about for acquisitions. "Our value added is the ability to listen," he says, estimating that the company has spent nearly $1 million on market research over the past four years.
Future research on fish finders may take place more in the lab than in the market, because "we are trying to make a quantum leap in ease of use or ease of interpretation," Balkcom says. "We're still focusing right in on what the consumer said." Balkcom has doubled R&D spending in the past few years. Last year, to make Techsonic harder for competitors to touch, he tightened the guaranteed repair policy to just 24 hours.
"Staying number one is a lot tougher than getting there," he says. "If our competitors start using focus groups, they are going to get smarter.
"I've seen plenty of giants fall in my time," he adds. "There's nothing guaranteed about this. We listen to what people tell us. We never know what they are going to say. One of these days they may tell us they are taking up golf instead of fishing. There is no magic to this. None."
ALL EARS
If listening to customers works, why not listen to suppliers and employees, too?
Since listening to consumers has worked so well, the folks at Techsonic Industries Inc. have opened their ears to others as well. "We don't think we have all the answers," says Tom Dyer, president and chief executive officer. "So we are very willing to listen." In addition to launching customer focus groups, the company has put in place formal programs for getting feedback from suppliers and employees as well.
In 1985, while coping with runaway demand for its new line of depth sounders, Techsonic decided to start holding annual meetings with its biggest supplier, Hitachi Ltd. "Our volumes were exploding," says Al Nunley, vice-president of marketing. "They needed more information to plan better." Techsonic talked about sales, profits, and marketing plans. The two companies discussed such questions as: where do we go from here? What technologies does Hitachi have under development that Techsonic might use? How can we drive costs down to keep our prices low and protect our market share?
The strategy worked so well that Techsonic soon started holding miniconferences with other groups of suppliers, such as plastics vendors or connector suppliers. Consumers are complaining about the feel of our buttons -- do any of you have any ideas? they'll ask. For the first time this year the company went further by inviting about 70 suppliers to Eufaula for a couple of days. "The more they know about our thoughts and feelings, the more they can help us," chairman Jim Balkcom says. "They get emotionally involved."
So do the associates at Techsonic. Employees are heard from through forums such as the Error Cause Removal Committee, which makes wide-ranging recommendations, and the Clean Team, which monitors neatness. Once a month all 400 employees get together to give out awards and hear management's responses to their written suggestions. "It's an open atmosphere of discussion," Balkcom says. "It makes us vulnerable. You've got to dignify every individual. We do that by listening."
