Bill Jackson, CEO and President of Rockford Corp. told the audience at the recent MasterTech Expo what it took for a corporation such as Rockford to enter a completely new market—motorcycle audio– and the resistance it had to overcome.
He cited this as an example for retailers, to be ready to change when the market shifts. And that change will involve push back. In Rockford’s case, it came from an unlikely source…its employees.
Jackson, who worked his way up from retail to become President of Rockford in 2006, said the company has been through many changes including going public, but it took a major risk about six years ago, after noticing a trend in its customer data.
“We follow our customers very closely…where they spend their money and time…you could see audio becoming more and more important” for outdoor vehicles such as motorcycles and UTVs. “First we tried to apply our car audio products into those applications….It didn’t work. So we realized we had to use something that was purpose-built and designed to fit in those applications,” Jackson said.
The biggest push back to that idea was Rockford employees themselves. “I had people walk into my office and say ‘You’re crazy. That’s not our business. We’re a car audio company. We need 10,000 watt amplifiers and 24 inch subwoofers. We shouldn’t be going down that path.’ ”
“But, yet our customers were going down this path,” he said.
“We kept pushing. We built a business plan and become very committed to it. We spent the money. A seven figure sum…we developed the product and we went to our reps and our reps said, “’You guys are crazy. I don’t know anything about Harley, CanAm or Polaris.’” Many of the dealers said the same thing. “But we kept pushing and all of a sudden, this thing started to work,” Jackson said.
As a result, Rockford business has doubled since 2019.
Jackson said what he’s learned in his many years in business is one of the most important things a business can do is change. To retailers he suggested taking an honest look at one’s business—what’s good, what’s not working—and set about changing what doesn’t work.
Change means resistance, so change has to be backed by a commitment. “It’s easy to go to work and do the same thing,” he said, but to be successful, change has to be part of your strategy. The worst situation is if a business gets behind the curve.
If you don’t have the time to research something new, appoint someone to do it. That can apply to learning better techniques, better production, getting better as craftsmen.
“I just turned 61 on Monday,” said Jackson. “I’ve been in this business since 1980. I started out in The Audio Room [a former Iowa retailer]. My parents kept looking for me to get a real job, but I stayed in retail in electronics for 12 years.” He then became a rep for three years. Rockford recruited him in 1995.
“Make change part of your business you will kick you competition’s ass,” he concluded.
I once heard there are three types in business. 1. Those that watch things happen. 2. Those that make things happen! 3. Those that say WHAT JUST HAPPEND? Good article.
Good one Mike!