Mail-ordering fruits was started by a few companies in the US market, among them being Harry & David Holdings. It commenced business operations after acquiring an enormous farmstead for growing fruit. The company started out strong, but it went downhill for some time until Steve Heyer CEO came in to help.

Heyer found a ton of things to do when he set to work reviving this concern. The business was not looking too good, barely keeping afloat in a rapidly declining market. As one of the first steps of the company to regain business dominance, Steve Heyer removed some executive vice president positions so that he could hire more outside sales managers.

Heyer’s unusual business decision was essentially a pruning of all those who could not deliver the right skills for their top-tier jobs. The result was that the company managed to save just $10M shy of $50M, and all without hurting the salaries of those in the lower ranks. At a time when most salaries are going down, this is significant.

„We have duplications and multiple systems that were very expensive,“ the CEO explained. „Nobody looked and nobody tried to find new ways to do old things.“ Heyer, however, happens to have no fears of change.

In 2003 when he was CEO of Coca Cola Ventures, he addressed 400 media and ad agency executives and challenged them to always try something new. According to him, companies had to be willing to make changes every now and then. Heyer thought that the coming years would see consumers demanding more and more customization.

Heyer advocated a change in culture in the way business should be done in the United States. An example of this sort of huge shift in methods is shown by Heyer himself in his Starwood Hotels marketing. Instead of trying to sell accommodations, he sold memories that could be had in them.

At some point, Heyer was working for Turner Broadcasting. At the same time, he was occupying a seat with AOL-Time’s operating committee. In the early 1990s, Heyer was also acting chief of an advertising firm.

According to Heyer, one of the biggest issues with Harry & David when he took it on was the business simply did not have any advertising or links with the ASI. The failure to advertise was simply crippling the firm, as was the lack of representation with the ASI. The best marketers understand the importance of ASI for its 10,000 distributors and annual sales amounting to $19 billion.

He appeared to have seen the issues straightaway. He said, „There was no communication between marketing and merchandising, no joint problem solving.“ The company, he said, had been mired in the same old techniques for too long.

Currently, the firm is no longer in the same disarray and is starting to repair itself. It has come out of the rut in which it was stuck, revamping both image and systems. This is due to the work of Steve Heyer CEO, when he took time to prune away the rotten branches and sowed fertilizer into this company’s soil.

Harry & David Holdings owes its fame to its status as one of the beginners of the provision of fruit to customers who would send in orders for them.