Crippled CEO Blog #129: We are Life Savers

Crippled CEO Blog #129:

We are Life Savers. 

The product that we manufacture and sell literally saves lives. That is its primary purpose.

When we bend over backwards to help a customer when they need us, in just the way they need us, when we go above and beyond, the response we are hoping for is either akin to or literally: “You’re such a Life Saver!”

When they tell their friends the story about how well they were treated, we hope they say, “They were a real Life Saver.”

This is why we are always available, why we answer the phone, why we are shockingly responsive. Life Savers are there when you need them. 

This is why we fix things at no charge and replace things for free even when they aren’t covered under warranty — because Life Savers help even when they don’t have to, even when the person doesn’t deserve it. 

And we aren’t just Life Savers to our end users. We strive to be Life Savers to our Life Saver dealers. Through remarkable customer service and exceptional quality, yes, but more importantly, by providing them with this business that really changes and saves their lives. There’s a reason Life Saver dealers and their employees leave whatever they were doing before and choose to keep being Life Saver Pool Fence dealers. The business allows them to provide security and prosperity for themselves and their family in a way that provides fulfillment and purpose. They have the opportunity to become pillars of support for their community, to reach out and help others who are struggling like they possibly struggled before — to save lives, to be Life Savers. To our dealers, we aren’t just a supplier they get their materials from. We are constantly doing everything we can to help them grow and be successful. To our dealers, we strive to be Life Savers. 

We apply the same idea to our employees. Right from the start, we often select good people who have had a rough time and need a second chance — good people who might be rejected by other employers or parts of society. Then we try to create a special kind of environment, so that regardless of what is happening everywhere else in their lives, when they come here, they are in a place with kind, happy people, that is filled with compassion, understanding, humor, and grace — a place where they’re not only safe, physically and emotionally, but where they have the opportunity to do great work that they can be proud of, to make a difference, to have a positive impact, and to challenge the ideas of what they thought they were capable of. We try to make their time at work as rewarding as possible, while paying them enough and giving them the resources to make their lives outside work better, as well. Through words, example, and action, we try to be Life Savers to the people we work with, encourage them to be Life Savers to each other, and hopefully carry that same mentality out into the world. 

When we answer the phone, send an email, tape up a box, stretch mesh over a section of fence, give an employee review, or anything else we do, we try to always ask the question, “Am I being a Life Saver?”

That’s the guiding light that governs our actions.

Not money, not profit — being a Life Saver. 

Not because those other things aren’t important, because they are, but because we know that if we are Life Savers first, the rest is guaranteed to come.

We aren’t just a company that sells pool fence. We save lives, in every way we can. 

What is the bigger thing that your company does? Whether you’re a restaurant or a software company, there has to be more you offer besides food and computer programs. Once you figure that out, the rest of your decisions become much easier. You put every choice up against the idea of who you really are and what your purpose is, and your options get fewer.

We are striving to be Life Savers. Who are you trying to be?

(Do you know who I was a real life saver to last night? Your mom. Your mom also gets a text from me every Sunday with a link to the latest blog post. Send a text to 561-726-1567 with the word CRIP as the message to get a link to the blog as soon as it’s up.)