In this episode, we are chatting with Trent Guyer, VP of Marketing and Digital Strategy at Grasshopper Mowers in Moundridge, KS—a small town in the heart of the United States. Theirs is a third-generation family business that has embarked on an exciting journey from old-school manufacturing to cutting-edge product and market innovation.
Trent takes us on a fascinating tour of the company's history, which began with his grandfather Elbert Guyer as a custom harvester who developed a groundbreaking solution that found its way into farms across the country. In the 1970’s their head engineer invented the iconic lever-operated steering system for zero-turn mowers, and Grasshopper mowers have become an iconic product.
Other innovation and manufacturing advancements followed and Trent provides valuable insights into the journey from product and manufacturing innovations to thrive driven by digital transformation.
5:36 - “We’re in a really tight labor market… our factory is located (in a county that) is usually an entire percent lower than all the surrounding counties in unemployment. So we had to find ways to be incredibly efficient.”
10:42 - “Are there cultural barriers to overcome to drive a digital strategy? - There have been some because when we build a product, we generally look at it ‘as is’, it's in finality…When it comes to… digital things… it's harder to get people on board because they figure well we've already developed our marketing. So why should we need to change it if we think like we do with our product?”
11:38 - “Marketing is evolving at an exponential pace these days. We need to not only be the easiest to work with, be that company that is easiest to do business with… how a dealer might submit something to us instead of faxing in a paper sales order or a claim or whatever, all that's become digital. If we don't, somebody else will do that.”
22:57 - “Approach everything you do Digital First, your source of truth should be digital.”
25:19 - “It's a mindset change. Take it one day at a time, take it one interaction at a time, and never stop digitizing.”