CUSTOMER FOCUS
1. We Are a Sales Company 

We survive and thrive by providing a better customer experience. We sell service.  Act like you care about customer service.  Provide it.  Or go out of business.

CUSTOMER FOCUS
​2. Work on the Big Stuff First

What do I do first?  Who is #1?  The Customer.  Period.  Learn their vocabulary and figure out what is important to them.  Our customers are our customers today, and we are not guaranteed that they will be our customer tomorrow.  We must earn their business constantly.

CUSTOMER FOCUS
​3. Get Stuff Done (GSD)

Getting 10 things halfway done is the same thing as getting zero things all the way done.  Results matter.  We do not micro-manage; our most valuable players do not have to be asked the same question multiple times just to make sure a task is complete.  Customers have expectations.  They will go somewhere else if we do not supply what they want and need.

CUSTOMER FOCUS
​4. Urgency

GSD with energy and enthusiasm.  Enjoy your work and have fun!  Getting something done quickly and correctly is good customer service.

CUSTOMER FOCUS
​5. "Quick and Wrong" is Wrong

Quality is more important than speed.  ‘Quick and right’ is good customer service, and customers expect both.  People understand if we are a little late; they do not accept poor quality.  Operational excellence (‘Quick and Right’) is an important aspect of great customer service.

CUSTOMER FOCUS
​6. Over-Deliver

Over-promising and under-delivering is not where we want to be.  Exceed expectations.  

HOW WE WORK
​7. Mistakes

It is easier to tame a lion than to breathe life into a corpse.  If you are here, you will make mistakes.  Mistakes of effort are better than mistakes of inaction.  It is OK.  Own them.  Fix them.  Figure out how to prevent the same mistake from happening again.  

HOW WE WORK
8. Integrity + Time = Trust

Trust takes a long time to earn, but it can be lost in seconds.  So we believe in work, hard work; it is the only way to earn trust.  There is no shortcut to experience.  Get to it.
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"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." -Vince Lombardi

HOW WE WORK
9. Play to Win

​USF college professor Paul Givens used to say, ‘If you don’t know where you are going, then any road will get you there!’  It’s true.  How will you know when and if you succeed?  Follow-through is as important as good decision making.  When you set out to do something, include a feedback loop as part of the process.  What are the quantifiable objectives so that you know the benefit was achieved?  
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Once that objective is determined, do the math.  Winning starts with counting.  If you count, you can measure.  If you measure, you can compare.  If you compare, you can compete.  If you compete, you can win.  Winning starts with counting!  Start counting.  Where’s the data?  Without data, you are a loudmouth with an opinion.  If you don’t know where you are going…

HOW WE WORK
​10. Praise Is Heard More Quietly Than Criticism

Ten praises only weigh as much as one criticism, so get busy praising others. Give sincere and meaningful praise to someone…every day.

HOW WE WORK
​11. Say What You Mean; Mean What You Say

Clear. Accurate. Precise. If possible, be concise. There is a reason that an ‘Elevator Speech’ is a thing. Take personal responsibility for your words and commitments. Own them. Your credibility depends on it.

HOW WE WORK
​12. There Is No "Try"

You will or you will not. There is no trying to get it done. Saying, ‘I will try’ gives you a built-in excuse. Live up to your word. Honor your commitments.

HOW WE WORK
​13. Check Your Bags

Leave them at the door. Your work family takes things personally too. Do not bring your frustration with someone else and pay it forward to someone who does not deserve it.

HOW WE WORK
​14. A Little Bit of Gratitude and a Little Bit of Enthusiasm Go a Long Way

You already knew this.

HOW WE WORK
​15. Assume Positive Intent

Give people the benefit of the doubt.  Assume that people are acting fairly, honestly, and are trying to make things better.  Isn’t that the way that you want to be treated?  It is so easy for our minds to assume the worst.  Fight that urge.

HOW WE WORK
​16. Fun and Boring

People like drama in the movies, not in real life.  People want a solid, strong, safe, and drama-free (in other words, boring) foundation from which to live.  The things we work on and the people whom we serve should be (and are) fun.  Make it fun.  Smile.  Laugh.  People will enjoy you more.

HOW WE WORK
​17. Sharpen the Saw

We want you to grow personally and professionally. Making yourself better makes the team better. Seek out training (internal and external). Barney's Pumps cannot guarantee employment, but we want you here and will help you to remain employable. We are in this together.

WHAT WE EXPECT
18. People Matter

​Relationships matter. We choose to believe in people. If you want anyone to come to your funeral, then you better start investing in people sooner rather than later.

WHAT WE EXPECT
​19. Listen

How can we possibly understand if we are unwilling to even listen?  Active listening shows people that you care.  If I am looking at my cell phone, I am saying that someone else is more important than you are.  You have permission to tell me that I am being rude.

WHAT WE EXPECT
​20. Straight Talk

You will never get stabbed in the back at Barney's Pumps. You may get stabbed in the front, but you will see it coming! We believe in honesty and candor with kindness and positivity. People will listen and accept straight talk IF they believe you care first. Start caring for and about the people in your life. 

WHAT WE EXPECT
​21. Complaints Go Up - Never Sideways or Down

If something is not right, if we are not living out these words, if something needs to be improved, then tell someone who can actually do something about it. Complaints only go up within the organization. Your words and actions affect our collective reputation. Grumbling and complaining tear down. Get in the habit of building each other up.

WHAT WE EXPECT
​22. Forward-Looking

People do not really care about how it used to be.  They do not care that ‘I had to walk uphill to school both ways in the snow, against the wind’.  They care about the future, about where we are headed now and next.

We all know that things are not what they could or should be, so let’s stand and work together, shoulder-to-shoulder to get to that better, future state without letting the knowledge that today isn’t perfect rob today of its hope and joy. Do not let ‘Perfect’ be the enemy of "Good".

WHAT WE EXPECT
​23. Confident Humility

If you are not the best but want to be, where do you start?

Do what the best do. Copy. Emulate. Learn. Train. Work hard.  And when you get to be really good, then try your own way.  But before then, admit to yourself that you do not know how to be #1… yet!

WHAT WE EXPECT
​24. Find the Missing Piece

It is easy to see what is there.  It is hard to see what it not there.  Look for what is missing – the pros and the cons.  The ability to do this is rare and underdeveloped.  Find it!

WHAT WE EXPECT
​25. Quality is a Journey, Not a Doorway

It might not seem like much is happening at the time, but when you make something better every day, you accomplish a lot.  It is pretty neat to look back on the 365 little things you accomplished over the past year.  We will get better.  We will raise the bar!  The people at Barney's Pumps are hard-wired that way.  Welcome to the TEAM!

WHAT WE EXPECT
​26. Leadership

It begins and ends with Leadership.  Command-and-Control Leadership works in a crisis; if we are not in a crisis, forget it.  If not Command-and-Control, then what?  Servant Leadership.  In an environment of Knowledge Workers (workers who probably know more about their individual subject matter than the boss does), the best results (and truthfully the only acceptable results) are obtained by Servant Leaders.
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Servant Leaders race to the back of the line because it is not about them.  How can we help someone else succeed?  True joy is found in that answer.  Each of us is already a role model to someone.  Embrace that fact.  Leaders hold themselves to a high standard.  You are a leader; act like it.