As Managing Director for Benco Dental Company, a third-generation family business, Chuck Cohen has learned what it takes to maintain loyal and happy customers: always think of them first.
Because this dental distributor is privately held, Cohen doesn’t have to worry about Wall Street, the stock market or investors. He, along with the rest of the Benco team, can truly focus on customers by listening to feedback and going out of the way to meet their needs.
“Not every company has the luxury of being able to focus on the customer,” Cohen said. “That’s what makes Benco different. When it all starts with the customer, it changes your calculus. It changes your perception. It changes everything.”
Unlike leadership at a publicly traded company, Cohen can think in decades rather than quarters, he said. Metrics like revenue and profitability, while important, aren’t the top priority. Customer satisfaction is—whether that means giving dentists access to the latest technologies that will help them grow their practices or offering them guidance on purchasing decisions.
“Our goal is to exceed 20 percent of sales from products introduced in the last three years. Last year we were over 22 percent,” Cohen said. “That’s a very important number. There are all kinds of new products and technologies in dentistry, and as a distributor we must make sure we tell our customers about the newest, latest and greatest and encourage them to upgrade the level of care they provide their patients.”