With more than 50 years’ experience in the retail industry, Win Weber, Chairman & CEO at Winston Weber & Associates, knows that the current retail environment is the most challenging, but also the most exciting the world has known.
Winston Weber & Associates (WWA) was founded in 1985. The goal has always been to have a global perspective and provide leadership thinking with practical, implementable solutions. The firm is known for providing more value and client return on investment than very large consulting firms staffed mostly by junior consultants with minimal business experience and those loose consortium consultancies, staffed by independent contractors, who typically experience inconsistent quality control.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Tell us about yourself and your story before joining the company.
After my graduation from Syracuse University in 1962, I spent 23 years working with consumer product companies, followed by 36+ years in the consulting business. I spent my first ten years with Colgate Palmolive and then General Foods, moving up quickly from retail salesman to sales supervisor, district manager, and regional manager positions. These were excellent corporate experiences that taught me a lot, but I wanted more. I felt too limited, by the corporate culture in driving change designed to improve the work environment and performance.
I then left General Foods for Beechnut Baby Food as Vice President of Sales. I quickly learned that baby food sales representatives not only sold but also stocked the shelves of all supermarkets; a very expensive responsibility. I tested no shelf stocking in a small market. Competiton followed immediately. This led to our decision to expand nationally. We eliminated 1500 sales/shelf stocking positions and considerable expense. I was then invited by Sunshine Biscuits to be their Vice President of Sales. At that time, they were losing money. My responsibility was to fix the problem. I designed the strategy and plan to move Sunshine from direct store to warehouse delivery. This immediately moved the company from a several million dollar loss to a several million dollar profit. This move also helped us gain market share. I was then asked to join the Drackett Company (Windex) as Regional Vice President, followed by a promotion to President of Sales in my first year. At Drackett, I made a number of organizational changes, including moving women and black Americans into management positions for the first time. Considering this was 40+ years ago, this was well ahead of when most companies made similar moves. While Drackett was an excellent experience, and I would have stayed longer, I was approached by Atari with an employment package I could not resist. As Senior Vice President Sales, I was hired to bring in consumer product retail channel experience and to make major changes to the sales organization structure and business processes. This was accomplished. My final corporate experience was as President of the Schering Plough Sales Corporation, where similar changes were made.
What are your responsibilities as the CEO of the company?
My responsibilities as the CEO of WWA are to have my finger on the pulse of the industry, have WWA’s role and responsibilities in the industry clearly defined, be the key marketer for WWA, help secure new clients, guide the preparation of client initiatives and sell clients on our solutions. It is extremely important for me to have a tight grasp on major industry issues and trends. For example, I have spent a lot of time this year determining the post-COVID-19 new norm for both retailers and CPG companies. This has led to an adjustment in several of our capabilities, with new leading initiatives planned as well as a major upgrading of our website.
If I define myself in one word, it is “positive.” Whether it is business or personal, I do not know how to think negatively. If a negative situation is occurring, my mind immediately focuses on possible solutions.
What have you failed at and how do you overcome challenges?
I evaluate my day at the end of every day. What did I do well and what could I have done better? Every day is a learning experience. I have been fortunate not to have experienced a major failure during my business career. The biggest challenge we faced in our early years, and still face today, is how to differentiate from the few large and many medium-sized consulting firms. This is compounded today by the continued consolidation throughout the industry. Simply stated, medium and small-sized consulting firms will not survive the long term without a clearly defined value proposition and a key point of differentiation.
Kindly describe how you will specifically know what success looks like for you. And what has been the best recognition that you have received as a professional?
Success for me is determined by how well our clients implement our recommendations and how the industry responds to our leading-edge thinking. For example, in 1990 I introduced the concept of Category Management to the grocery industry, a concept that today is practiced worldwide.
What advice would you give to the next generation leaders?
My message to all aspiring business minds is to never let your mind age beyond 45 years old. Stay focused on innovation, the future and how you can contribute to your business, your family and your life for years to come. This will enable you to stay mentally young and active for years to come.
What are your future plans to sustain the company’s and your success?
Looking ahead, our goal will be to continue to provide leadership thinking with practical, implementable solutions. When considering the current hyper-evolving marketplace, I feel we are ideally positioned to continue to be a key resource for both retailers and consumer product companies. We are very prepared to deal with the post-Covid 19 “New Norm” in key areas that will need to be addressed by both retailers and consumer products companies. Our geographic focus will be the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and South America.
My personal business goals are to stay mentally young and continue to be a key resource to both retailers and consumer product companies for years to come. I am now only in my 60th year in the industry, and during this time there have been many new and challenging experiences. When considering the current hyper-evolving marketplace, I feel we are ideally positioned to be a key resource to both retailers and consumer products companies by continuing to offer leading edge thinking and practical, implementable solutions. I am excited to continue to be actively involved in helping companies maintain and grow their competitive position in the marketplace.
Website: winstonweber.com
