Harry & David Holdings is best known as the first mail-order and direct-market company of fruits. Its first fruit-growing areas were for pears, and it got its start in the early 1900s. It was fairly strong at some points in its history, but also experienced weak points that ended only when Steve Heyer CEO took the helm.
Heyer found a ton of things to do when he set to work reviving this concern. The business was not looking too good, barely keeping afloat in a rapidly declining market. To start his recovery plan, Heyer started getting rid of executive VPs in favor of hiring more sales managers.
It was a bold move, as the new CEO let go of “underperformers … in the senior executive ranks," as Heyer called them. The beauty of Heyer's gambit was that it let the business save huge amounts of money without having to cut back on wages. One can see the value of Heyer's remedy given the awful state of paychecks at the moment.
The inefficient state of the system was responsible for most of the money drain, said Heyer. The organization was suffering from a crippling unwillingness to go out of the old box and think outside of it. Fortunately for the business, the new CEO happened to be known for his bold approaches.
He once delivered a speech that highlighted the need for innovative thinking in business. He was always pushing his fellows to go against the grain. He predicted a market with empowered consumers who personalized and customized products.
Essentially, he was telling others in the industry that it was high time for a paradigm shift. When he took on the role of the chief executive officer for Starwood, Heyer demonstrated how to change approaches radically. He shift the point of emphasis in his marketing from the quarters in the hotels to the entertainments and experiences to be had in the hotels.
Heyer has worked for other companies, including Turner Broadcasting. He also held a position of power with AOL Time Warner then. Other media and advertising experience comes from having led an international advertising company in the 1990s.
According to Heyer, one of the biggest issues with Harry & David when he took it on was the business simply did not have any advertising or links with the ASI. The lack of advertisement was hurting the company. The considerable perks of having representation in the Advertising Specialty Institute were lost opportunities for Harry & David.
The company's latest chief executive officer understood from where the problems came. There was little interaction between various departments of the company, according to Heyer. Because of that, Harry & David simply could not produce current solutions for current issues.
The business has fortunately started to find its legs again. Fresh ways of approaching problems are taking the stage, and fresh approaches too are starting to be used. Steve Heyer CEO has referred to this change as the revitalization of a garden that had been dying out.
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