Used GE's own management expertise to help its customers better run their businesses.
One thing Jack Welch implemented at General Electric (GE) during his tenure there, was the creation of a state-of-the-art training center.
There were two key reasons for doing it. One, it was another great revenue generator, as the educational programming developed could command fees of between $3,000 to $20,000 when ordering live broadcasts, of say, medical techniques people can use, which aired in hospitals. That was a great addition and consumer-friendly product the hospitals could use for their patients.
Second, they could use the training center as a reward for their best customers, as they would offer free management training to customers that ordered a certain amount of equipment. Some of the consulting, which could be for half of a day, was valued at $100,000 to $200,000 worth of consulting fees that would have been otherwise charged.
This is another one of those insights that great managers see ahead of their time. It's not that training or helping our customers was new, it's that training was and is one of the great differentiators in today's business climate, and is vastly underappreciated in the power entailed through its expertise.
Companies that are able to effectively train, are a far rarer breed than may commonly be known, and the value in the decades ahead is going to be immeasurable. Welch again saw this for GE, and implemented it far ahead of the time when people began to understand its value, if they even do now.
I'm talking here of going beyond general training sessions for our people now, into highly targeted areas we may not even compete in as far as products go. Welch and General Electric had training and service contracts in place outside of their own product venue.
Think of the data out there today that is close to impossible to aggregate and make sense out of. Those that can become experts at doing this will be in a position of demand possibly forever. The sheer amount of data makes this a reality.
Again, those able to make sense out of what's happening, and then put that together into a relevant training program, may be so far ahead of their competitors that there really are very few competitors. Welch saw this far ahead of others, and many others don't understand this to this day.
Welch and General Electric, in certain businesses and industries, knew more about their customers businesses and how to run them, than their customers did themselves. I hope you understand the power and value of what that means.
Other Jack Welch Resources:
Jack Welch's advice to MIT Sloan students
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