Smile After Smile
From peddler to business owner to family legacy, one distributor proves a small start can lead to great success.
Laura Thill
In 1924, when a young Benjamin Cohen was contemplating his future, he was certain of one thing: He wanted to be his own boss. But, he thought, why wait for customers to find him, when he could actively pursue his customers? After talking with a relative who worked at Premier Dental (Plymouth Meeting, Pa.), Cohen "settled on the idea of selling dental instruments, because he could go out and find customers instead of [opening a store] and waiting for them to find [him]," says his son, Larry, who later joined his father in his mission to "deliver success, smile after smile." Armed with a $300 loan and a 100-pound case of Premier Dental instruments, Cohen peddled his goods from Philadelphia, Pa., to Buffalo, N.Y.
In 1930, he moved to northeastern Pennsylvania, opened Benco Dental (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) and married his Philadelphia sweetheart, Kitty. It was a big year for Cohen, and one that would lead to bigger things in generations to come. Since then, the business, which continues to sell Premier Dental products, has persevered and grown multifold, but it hasn’t left the Cohen family, nor has it strayed from its original mission.
"I was motivated to take over the business [in 1959] for the same reason my sons decided to take a leadership role," says Larry. "It’s our family business and legacy. I believe that what we do is important, and I know our customers appreciate us. It has always been satisfying in that respect. And, I think there [has been] the motivation to build on what the previous generation has accomplished."
Today, Larry, chairman of Benco Dental, works alongside his sons, Chuck, president, and Rick, senior vice president - as well as 400 field sales reps and nearly 1,100 employees. Indeed, the company has grown from a suitcase of dental instruments into four fulfillment centers (in the Northeast, Midwest, South and Southwest) and over 45 equipment showrooms across the country. And, by no means is it ready to slow down.
Same mission, evolving goals
Much of Benco’s success may be attributed to its owners’ ability to change with the times. "Benco Dental was one kind of company when my father started it," explains Larry. "When I took over in 1959, we needed to become more than a small regional supplier in order to stay competitive, so that’s what we did. The generation my sons belong to exists in the digital age. Their challenge will be to keep Benco Dental one step ahead in the technology revolution that’s sweeping dentistry."
In some ways, Benco Dental is still very much the same company it was at its inception, notes Chuck Cohen. "Our role has expanded in step with our customers’ needs, but in a sense, we’re the same company we were in 1930," he says. "We’re still fiercely independent, family-owned and customer-focused." Benco Dental continues to manifest its original mission in four ways, he says: by growing customer earnings, maintaining company accountability, creating an ever-expanding base of loyal customers, and nurturing a culture of continual improvement. "This is what we’ve been doing since the beginning, and we think these values will continue to serve us well for many, many years to come."
As an independent company, Benco Dental has experienced the freedom to grow at a comfortable rate, Chuck points out. Without pressure from shareholders, "we can focus on growing at a pace that allows us to become better as well as bigger," he says. "[In fact], I believe we’re the first company of our kind to establish a full-time, in-house team of systems analysts who apply the Japanese Kaizen principles of continuous improvement to everything we do."
"Our culture isn’t tied to growth for growth’s sake," adds Rick Cohen. "We evaluate every opportunity based on whether or not it will help us become a better company for our customers and associates, not just a bigger one. [We may be] America’s fastest growing dental
distributor, and I believe that’s because we [think] delivering success to our customers is the best way to ensure our prosperity."
The Cohen family’s desire to pace their company’s growth in no way has tempered its drive. In fact, since 2000, Benco Dental has entered about 21 new markets, says Rick. In part, this has been in response to the dental industry’s "demand for an independent, customer-focused dental supplier," he explains. This year alone, Benco Dental sustained two mergers (first with Reinholds, Pa.-based KernCo Dental Supply Inc., and then with Minneapolis, Minn.-based Marcus Dental Supply Co.).
"When I first started with the company, [it seems] we used to push into new territories," he continues. "Now it’s more like we’re being pulled into new areas. Dentists tell their colleagues about their experience with us, and that creates demand. When we expand into new areas, we go where the demand exists." Such demand currently is pulling the company westward, and it anticipates expanding its business from 34 states to another five or six. "We probably could move into those areas now, but we want to grow organically," says Rick. Rather than push, Benco Dental is waiting to be pulled "by dentists who want to become Benco customers."
Reaching out
Working with customers has, and has not, changed over the last eight decades, according to the Cohens. Selling to customers is much the same as it has always been, they point out. "But, reaching out to customers today means educating them on what’s different about Benco Dental," says Larry.
"Today, it’s very easy for someone to build a Web site with an efficient warehousing and order fulfillment system, and do an OK job of selling supplies at good prices and shipping them quickly," says Rick. "We fully recognize that our customers have more choices [than ever before] of where to buy their supplies - which is why we wake up every day and ask ourselves, ‘If I were a dentist, why would I choose Benco Dental rather than go online and place an order?’"
Today’s savvy dental customers might choose Benco Dental for the comprehensive purchasing strategies it offers to help dentists achieve their vision for their practice. "If someone is willing to spend all day scanning different Web sites, [he or she] can probably find slightly lower prices on some products," Larry concurs. But, Benco Dental offers tools and technologies to help customers "reduce supply overhead, analyze their costs on an ongoing basis and more," he says. "When we explain this, customers realize we want to do more than just sell them dental supplies. We want to deliver success, as our mission dictates."
Competing with the best
The Cohen family prides itself as having a full-service distributorship, coupled with the ability to provide the personal attention of a family-run business. "We can react to our customers’ changing need," says Rick. Adds Chuck, "We also go the extra mile in cultivating partnerships with our vendors. Our relationship is a two-way street. We survey [them] annually to find out what we’re doing right and if there is anything we can do better." Beyond that, the Cohens know it’s the smaller, day-to-day things that can largely determine how well a distributor fares. "For instance, if we see a noteworthy product that’s under the radar, we take it upon ourselves to bring it to our customers’ attention," says Chuck. "That’s the difference between being a dealer and being a partner."
And, it all starts at home, so to speak. "The best way to ensure that customers are happy is to have happy motivated employees who are empowered to do whatever [is necessary]," says Rick. "We empower our associates (employees) to submit what we call brainstorming ideas whenever they recognize an opportunity for improvement, and this year we’ve implemented nearly 300 of those." In addition, the company adds to its profit sharing pool whenever an idea is successful. Everyone at Benco Dental is encouraged to do their part to make the company a little bit better, which may contribute to the distributorship having been named one of the "Best Places to Work" in Pennsylvania for the fifth consecutive year.
Looking ahead
As dental customers continue to look to distributors for more than just supplies, Benco Dental plans to evolve to meet these needs. "Dentists [are looking] to partner with a full-service company that can handle all of their needs for the lives of their practices," says Rick. This does - and will - include helping customers with their dental office design, technology integration, practice development, continuing education and more.
The Cohens expect technology to play an increasingly greater role in helping dental customers shape their practices, and they hope to help fill this need through such programs and tools as Earnings Accelerator Scorecard, an earnings analysis tool, and a sophisticated electronic ordering system designed to anticipate when customers need to re-order supplies, and then automatically do so. In order to accommodate these and other developments, the Cohens plan to build a new distribution center and a new corporate headquarters located in the Northeast.
"I wonder, would it even be possible to start a company like Benco Dental from scratch today?" muses Larry. "Dentists expect a company like ours to meet all of their needs. That means, at a minimum, [providing them with] the capability to design a dental office, equip it, service the equipment and technology on an ongoing basis and, of course, sell everyday supplies at competitive prices. It would be a daunting, capital-intensive proposition to say the least, and not one that pays off in the short-term, either." With that in mind, he advises new independent distributors "to focus on your customers and make them the center of your universe."
"I know this is good advice, because it has served us well for over 75 years," he adds. [FI]
Sidebar:
Growing Business
- Upgrade: Keep your company one step ahead in the technology revolution.
- Evaluate every opportunity: will it make you a better company or just be growth for growth’s sake?
- Motivate: Benco empowers employees to brainstorm ideas to help improve the company. In 2007 they implemented nearly 300 of those ideas.
|
|
|
