Dal 1979 in poi le cose vanno sempre più
velocemente. Angelo Luraghi, un altro
venditore da subito coinvolto nel progetto Flou,
parla così di quel periodo: «Il fatturato cresceva
del 30%, 40% l’anno. E una parte importante
del fatturato, circa il 10%, veniva reinvestita in
comunicazione arrivando così direttamente al
pubblico, scavalcando il distributore.
Questo magari toglieva risorse all’azienda ma
per Messina era una strategia importante».
Messina è spesso in viaggio, a vedere di persona
come procedono le vendite. Parte la domenica
sera, rientra il sabato mattina. Sa tutto del
settore, conosce tutti.
E questo costituisce una forza.
Quando è in azienda è infaticabile: sprona i
dipendenti, li coinvolge, li fa sentire parte della
sua avventura. Un capitano che crea entusiasmo
nella squadra, con polso e ironia. Appena arriva
in ufficio, al mattino, scherza con impiegati e
operai. Chiede pareri sui tessuti da utilizzare.
Ogni tanto fa un gioco: chiede di indovinare
quanti letti saranno ordinati quel giorno, ognuno
scrive un numero su un foglio che viene chiuso
in un cassetto. A sera si controlla, e chi si è
avvicinato di più ha vinto.
From 1979 onwards, things moved along at a
much greater speed. Angelo Luraghi, another
of the sales team who was involved in the Flou
project from the start, spoke about those
exciting times: «The annual turnover was up
30%, 40%. And a large portion of the income -
in the region of 10% - was reinvested in
communication to target the consumer directly
and bypass the distributor. This possibly subtrac-
ted resources from the company but Messina
viewed this as an extremely important strategy».
Messina was frequently away from the office,
travelling to see for himself how sales were
doing. He would leave home on Sunday evening
and return on the following Saturday morning.
He knew everything there was to know about the
sector, and he knew everyone working in it. This
was a powerful tool. When he was in the office
he worked tirelessly: he motivated his staff, he
got them involved and allowed them to be part of
his adventurous journey. He was an Admiral who
created enthusiasm in the team, with authority
and irony. As soon as he arrived in the office in
the morning, he would joke with the staff on the
shop floor and in the offices. He would ask their
opinions on which textiles to use. Every-so-often
he would play a game with them by asking them
to guess how many beds would be ordered that
particular day; each employee would write a
number on a piece of paper that was then locked
in a drawer. The numbers were checked at the end
of business that day and the employee who was
closest would be declared the winner.
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