A Conversation with Elden Smith by Don Magary  Simply saying Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc., is the marketshare leader in the RV industry, incredibly, might be an understatement. If the marketshare competition were a mile race, Fleetwood would be so far ahead that it could walk the last quarter mile and still win. Thor Industries, Inc., which promotes the fact that it is the second largest RV manufacturer, could double its marketshare and Fleetwood would still be number one by a wide margin. In every product category, if you added the number two and number three companies’ marketshare together, it would still fall short of Fleetwood’s dominate position. For example during the 1995 model year, Fleetwood sold more motorhomes than Winnebago and Coachmen combined; Fleetwood sold more travel trailers than Thor and Cobra combined; Fleetwood sold more folding trailers than Jayco and Thor combined; and in overall marketshare, Fleetwood sold more RVs than Thor and Jayco combined. Being on top has it’s advantages as well as its challenges. And the man who deals with those advantages and challenges on a daily basis is Fleetwood’s Elden Smith, senior vice president, RV Group. A few weeks ago, RV News traveled to Fleetwood’s corporate offices in Riverside, CA, to talk with Smith about where the company is today and where it plans to be in the future. Most company executives would be overjoyed with such market dominance; however, not Smith. He said, "There’s a lot of opportunity for us. While we recognize that we have between 25 to 30 percent of this market that means there’s another 70 to 75 percent we don’t have - so the potential is quite significant." Smith credits the foundations put down by Fleetwood’s founder, John C. Crean, as the most significant reason why Fleetwood has enjoyed the success that it has over the years. He said, "One of the greatest inhibitions to growth in our industry in the years that I’ve been involved has been where a strong entrepreneur has refused to let people make decisions. And he refuses to bring into his company people that can do nearly as well as he did in running it, and maybe in some ways, do better. I think that’s one of the tremendous attributes of Mr. Crean. In the fact that he recognized early that there was a point where he could do everything, and then there was a point where he needed to bring in strong, capable, loyal people who understood his basic philosophies on business and his principles and then turn them loose to do the job. That’s a rare characteristic to have." And that’s the opportunity Crean and Fleetwood gave a young man named Elden Smith nearly 30 years ago. Smith joined the company in 1968, as a sales manager trainee. In 1969 he was transferred to Hancock, MD, to start a new travel trailer plant and then run it as plant general manager. Smith recalled, "I was there 18 months and then in January 1971 I came here as the general manager for the RV Group." He smiled and added, "And I haven’t had a promotion since." Smith’s longevity in his position is typical at Fleetwood. There are not a lot of changes occurring and that’s another reason why he believes Fleetwood managed to grow, stay competitive and to have remained on top for so many years – consistency in the core management team. "It takes that and it takes a culture of promoting from within, of developing long term capabilities in relationships," Smith said. "When you look at the top level of Fleetwood management, you see a tremendous amount of experience and a history of working together for many, many years. I don’t need to talk to these guys every day. I don’t need to talk to them every week, and in many cases I don’t. We have a mission statement. We have specific objectives within that mission statement. We know what our basic principles are and we operate to those -- and we have operated to them for years. They are keys to success for our company. It’s a very comfortable, strong working relationship built on years of performance and mutual respect." Continued |
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