INTERVIEW
increase our reach and our number of customers to grow revenue to expand product and service offering.”
For decades, the company has brought a
limited range of highly effective products to the market, and customer satisfaction has remained consistently high. The conservative approach that his parents adopted has left Davis in charge of a well-regarded and efficiently run business, but he feels it is time for the next step in its evolution. “Dad did not trust advertising or marketing, he only mailed customers and prospects an ad card twice a year, which was probably effective,” he remarks. “And he did not take credit card payments, as he did not trust credit card companies. If he didn’t understand it, he would not do it, very conservative. I have some things in the works that will significantly diversify our range and we are now looking to find new market segments.”
A vision of the future
Being in a niche has certainly helped the business to survive over the years. In effect, it has relatively few direct competitors, but it is certainly not the case that its customers come to SteelGlide because it is the only option. They come because the main product lines meet their needs, and they stay because customer service is high on the agenda, and this still drives the vision that Davis has for the future.
“First, and above all else, we treat people
like we would treat our neighbours, the way we would like to be treated,” he explains. “That’s a simple rule, but it’s our standard whether we’re talking about employees, customers, suppliers or services. Second, we’re family-owned and operated in the USA. That’s not as common as it used to be.” “Third, our parts and ingredients are locally
sourced,” he stresses. “That is also not so common anymore. And finally, we serve and support a global market. Most of our market is in the US, but we have customers in dozens of countries, such as Brazil, Mexico, India, Germany, Spain, Canada and Italy. It’s exciting to meet so many interesting people from so many interesting places.” It is from this platform that Davis hopes to leverage the company’s continuing interest in serving customers well in order to launch new products. He insists the business continues to value the right things – customer satisfaction being high on the list but, interestingly, second to the needs of employees. If one were to sum up his business philosophy, it would be that employees come first, customers come second and community comes third. The reason he places the highest value on employees is that they are the heart and soul of the company. Although customers are also important, and he would do just about
anything to make them happy, he does not put them at the top of the list. “If it comes down to customer versus employee, I’m going to stand by my employee ten times out of ten, while still trying to satisfy the customer,” he says. “One rule, therefore, is to hire attitude, not aptitude. Get the right person for the job and give them the training they need to succeed. Then know and be known. Get out there and meet new people in new industries and different walks of life. People were made to live in community, and we work best when we work for each other rather than just ourselves.”
In the past, change has not always gone as
planned, but Davis is not ashamed of failure – at least, not enough to put him off trying to innovate in the future. He sees failure as a powerful teacher. He freely admits to failing not once but twice in trying to introduce automation software to the company, though he does feel some embarrassment about it because his experience in the technology industry should mean he has the right know-how to do it properly. He learned the hard way that the needs of a small-to-medium business are not the same as those of a large corporation, not even close. “The product mismatch would have been
apparent if I hadn’t assumed that my large-scale experience was relevant,” he admits. “And our
At SteelGlide, customer service is high on the agenda and has clients always coming back for repeat business. 30 Fall 2025 |
ochmagazine.com
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