It’s already August! The month in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Let’s each one of us figure out one way we will honor her this month. A novena. An extra rosary each day. A mini-pilgrimage. Some extra masses. Whatever is on your heart.
Welcome back to The Saintly CEO. Every Monday, while you sip your coffee, get some tactical advice to run your business fully in union with your Catholic faith.
In Today’s Email:
CF Role Model: This 3rd Generation Cement Company Employs Nearly 100 Families
+ 5 more Catholic entrepreneurs (Heavenly Hustlers)
Feature Content: Are Standard Operating Procedures Killing Your Customer Experience?
Miscellaneous Resources
[read time: ~8 min | word count 1,730]
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Heavenly Hustlers
Looking to meet other ambitious Catholic business owners? You’re in the right place.
Meet today’s Heavenly Hustlers.
🚧 The Zignego Family runs a group of companies in the cement industry. They have Ready Mix, Z Mix USA, and Paving divisions.
I’ve had the chance to meet some of them, but not to interview them yet, so this is only very partial info.
They are currently a 3rd-generation company. The founder had something like 12 children. Which led to over 100 grandchildren (and who knows how many great-grandchildren). But today, the company is still run by the family and it employs a large number of the family.
They are also very generous to both the general Catholic scene in Milwaukee and the pro-life cause in the state of Wisconsin.
All of us can look up to them for the family business they have built that employs many members of the family and the community. But also produced enough revenue to allow them to support their community in a meaningful way.
⚙️ Christina Rossini is launching Floreat Consulting. A fractional COO firm. If you want your operations streamlined so you can focus on revenue-generating activities, reach out to her.
🍻 Gabe Ross is solving the loneliness epidemic with Sort. In so doing, he’s also apartment complex owners improve their properties’ ROI through community building. Check out what he’s doing—especially if you own real estate OR host events.
💸 Matthew Mohlman is building Monument Advisers offers various financial consulting to Founders and Investors. This includes wealth management, tax management, growth strategy, and funding.
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Are Standard Operating Procedures Killing Your Customer Experience?
We’ve all been there—that moment when a rigid policy crashes headfirst into a perfectly reasonable human need. Maybe it’s the restaurant rule decreeing one check only for parties over eight, leaving someone holding the bag (and playing Venmo banker for a week—no thanks, unless those credit card points are really tempting).
Or perhaps it’s being told “no tickets sold after X time,” even with empty seats staring you in the face. These aren’t malicious rules; they’re born from a desire for efficiency. The restaurant wants to avoid splitting checks chaos; the ticket seller has a system. I get it. Streamlining is the name of the game.
Strict Systems = Short-Sighted
When systems are rigid, they negatively impact the human experience.
That restaurant policy, designed to make the waiter's life easier, breeds frustration and resentment among your customers. That “no ticket sales after” rule, intended to create order, turns away a paying customer for an arbitrary reason.
It's a short-sighted victory for process, but a loss in the long run.
Nowadays, the relentless pursuit of operational efficiency is praised. After all, it’s what those private equity guys do.
Shaving seconds here, pinching pennies there—anything to increase that ROI by a few points.
But at what cost?
Sure, short-term profits might be up. But what is the long-term impact on your customers?
Maybe you can justify a few lost customers per year for greater short-term returns overall. If you’re lucky, maybe they don’t even spread the word about poor customer treatment.
Everything appears good on the surface.
Empowered Employees
What is the inverse of this?
Some companies have standard operating procedures, but also understand that rigid rule following doesn’t empower their employees. Sometimes, breaking the rules is the best way to serve your customer.
Imagine a scenario where a staff member says, “You know, usually we can’t do this, but let me see what I can do for you.” That’s not just good service; it’s a memorable human connection.
The person on the other side feels seen, understood, and valued. Think about the word-of-mouth marketing that kind of interaction generates. And what was the real cost? Likely not much.
But these little things actually have a great impact because customers who are well-taken care of become your biggest fans.
Building a Culture of Customer Love
When you're building a family-owned business, focused on longevity and generational success, those genuine customer connections are the compounding interest you truly want to see. If you commit to them, they will commit to you. And that relationship will get stronger every time it goes around. All you have to do is maintain that commitment.
Think how powerful that advantage is compared to a private equity-backed competitor laser-focused on a 3-5 year exit strategy.
They play for a few years. You’re playing for decades.
Who do you think is going to win?
This approach isn’t just good for customers; it’s good for your employees too. They're no longer cogs in a machine, robotically following protocols. They learn to think critically, to take ownership of situations, and to find creative solutions.
Imagine a crisis situation—which team will perform better? The one that has been beaten into following the rules. Or the one who has been empowered to make decisions on the go?
Love Your Customer: Christian Charity
Ultimately, it all boils down to loving your customer. As Tim Connors said in last week’s episode, the companies with the highest Net Promoter Scores (NPS) are the ones that love their customers the most.
That sounds a lot like the core idea of Christianity: Charity. Desiring your brother’s good.
Of course, empowering employees to bend the rules isn't without its challenges. It requires trust, a different kind of training, and a commitment to clear communication about when and how to make those judgment calls.
But don’t forget. As they learn, they will become more valuable to you and to the world. Perhaps it prepares them for an elevated role. Either way, it’s also loving your employees to help them level up. And you have even more responsibility to your employees than to your customers.
The reward for all this: fiercely loyal customers and engaged employees.
You Choose
The choice is yours: will you build your company on the foundation of rigid rules aimed at maximizing short-term profits, or will you cultivate a customer-centered culture of trust and service that builds something meant to last the test of time?
Join We Are Catholic on Vinly — It’s free and there are a ton of great folks there. (People like Tim Connors are on there and much more accessible than other platforms).
Don’t worry, the piece is only a tad longer than the title.
Thanks to the Instagram algorithm, I just found this new music single from Franciscan Rapper, Father Manuel, called Carlo Acutis Pray for Us. And wow — it goes pretty hard.
Services:
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