The employees at Plum Moving Media, state-of-the-art business video communication company in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, wear many hats. Ultimately, a company’s employees are its first line of marketing, according to Plum partners Rich Schmig and Bruce Gibb.
“We’re a small business with 15 employees. We do not have a sales department. However we have 15 salespeople. We do not employ a single account executive, yet we have 15 AE’s. We have a simple business philosophy: encourage employee interaction with clients and empower them with your most sacred customers, then get out of their way.
Because we’re a small business we’re fortunate to ‘wear many hats.’ That puts the client in direct contact with many of our employees. From the bookkeeper who gets involved in the production process to the producer/writer who guides a project to completion, our customers get to know us.
We have a collective personality that’s fun, and we encourage it. Our clients both sense and appreciate the pleasurable working relationship.
How do we get the employees involved? Simple, really. We provide ample benefits and a generous profit sharing plan that promotes responsibility. Everyone here has a stake in this business that is measured not by the overtime that may be required, but the sense they are contributing to a viable and solvent company.
We certainly have not been immune from the recession. Gross sales are finally near our 2008 high, but we’ve collectively found ways to cut expenses. One goal was to maintain the yearly profit sharing percentage, and we have. These days, when internet marketing and social media receive much of our attention, it’s wise to remember your first-line of marketing and promotions – your employees.
The old axiom of hiring the best and brightest people and getting out of their way still holds true. With today’s indeterminate business cycles, it may be more than just a saying. It may be a business and economic necessity.”
Rich Schmig & Bruce Gibb
Partners
Plum Moving Media
Milwaukee
