I’ve been thinking about relationships over the last month or so and had a number of thoughts come to mind regarding teamwork, cooperation and working with other companies.
2 Corinthians 6:14 says “Do not be unequally yoked”.
Unequally yoked
I believe Paul is talking here about interpersonal relationships and relationships between Christians and non-Christians, but I think it has some real application in the business world and how companies work together.
I have had an increasing number of situations that have arisen where I have felt that another company that we work with does not have the same level of commitment to customers and customer service that we have. It so happens that it is our goal to ship “every order, every day, out the door”. We are not always successful in achieving that goal and it is not always what the customer needs, but it continues to be our goal.
This goal gets increasing difficult to accomplish as you get later in the day. Orders received at 8:30AM are easy to ship, orders at 12:00 can be more complicated and orders received at 4:00PM can be downright challenging. It is almost impossible if your freight company is not on the same page with your goal and will not pick up after a certain time late in the day. I’m not trying to whine here, (ok, maybe a little), but it made me consider what it means to be “unequally yoked”.
To deliver a product or service to an end-user at the right place at the time at the right price, is an incredible venture. A cremation container, for example, starts as a tree in a forest. The tree is harvested, turned into paper and wood (plywood and lumber), milled, shipped, formed into cardboard box, assembled and shipped to a funeral home and offered to a family for use with a loved one. The chain of companies that touch the materials or assist the product in its journey are numerous. All of these companies are yoked together to deliver that product to that family in their time of need.
I would argue that that process is most effective and most efficient when those companies are “equally yoked”. That is, that the companies have the same goals of customer service at each step of the way. Anywhere that companies are not on the same page in terms of their goals (and service levels), there will be problems and disruptions.
So, what’s the lesson here? When choosing a company to work with, whether that is a supplier or a contractor or anyone to work with, consider who they are and how they fit with your goals, motivations and service expectations. Make sure that you “yoke” yourself to other companies that will pull in the same direction as you will.
In just a couple of words, 
“choose wisely“.
We, here at McDonald Containers, believe that we are a company that is on the same page as companies that are committed to customer service at the highest level. We would welcome an opportunity to talk to you about being “equally yoked” to provide the level of service and products that you need for the families that you serve.
Please contact us if you have any feedback or need further information. Comments are welcome on this blog, at our website http://www.mcdonaldcontainers.com or calling us at 800-888-0753.
Remember, “we must all hang together, or assuredly, we will all hang separately”. That one from Benjamin Franklin.
Hmmm, I need to still consider what to do about our freight company.
Thanks for reading,
Jim
