A Craftsman Of Customer Centricity

By Matt Pillar, chief editor

Whether in a stream or a store, Orvis Customer Experience Officer Dave Finnegan seeks a religious experience.

If there’s anything that’s driven from the top down in Orvis company culture, it’s that moments matter. At a recent meeting with his executive team, company CEO Leigh “Perk” Perkins Jr. couldn’t have made that point any clearer. Perkins is a man who spent two years during his 20s circumnavigating the globe in a Jeep (transoceanic portions via hitched rides on oil tankers). More recently, he spent a year’s sabbatical solo-sailing the Caribbean. He’s hiked the Andes. He’s survived malaria. Legend has it, he’s been shot at by militants. And yet in a room full of his peer executives, well-traveled outdoorsmen and adventurists themselves, it’s a salamander that’s captured Perk’s — and the rest of the room’s — attention. As he details the joy of spotting a tiny, albeit beautiful salamander while turkey hunting in a Vermont forest the prior weekend, the “moments” message is crystal clear; it’s the moment you’re in that matters most.