Timothy Straker: Customers might come to us for performance seating for an office complex, or dozens of chairs for a clinic, or a lounge chair for their living room. When they interact with Herman Miller, they all experience the same gracious hospitality, attention to detail, and inspiring collection of settings. We’re focused on the people who use our products: What do they need to get done? And how can we design to support their activities?
Then who is the Herman Miller customer?
Straker: On the surface, we have two very different kinds of customers. Our industry customers are often facilities directors for large companies. They need large-scale office solutions at a certain price point. They might not care all that much about the icons associated with the brand, at least not as a first consideration.
On the consumer side, we see people with a strong interest in design—they might be familiar with some of our legendary designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard and George Nelson, or one of today’s designers like Yves Behar and Studio 7.5. With the acquisitions of Maharam and Design Within Reach (DWR), we’re connecting directly with consumers at retail more than every before.
But on both sides of the business, what people want from Herman Miller are innovative products that help them do great things.
With a portfolio of iconic furniture, the Herman Miller portfolio is relentlessly knocked off by counterfeiters. How do you keep your focus on authenticity?
Straker: Productions like Mad Men have helped reintroduce the classics to a whole new generation—what was new is new again. But our core buyers have always been true design enthusiasts. It’s not just about aesthetics to them—they’re just as interested in the design itself. They view how they live and what they buy as an extension of their own brand, and wouldn’t compromise that with a fake.
What do the Herman Miller values mean to the customer experience?
Straker: Customers today have more information than ever about the companies they do business with. The terrific thing is that our values haven’t ever changed. Our policy on sustainability has been in place since before sustainability was a thing. Our values of curiosity and exploration are central to our strength in innovation. And our point of view in inclusiveness and diversity is how we earned a 100% score from the Human Rights campaign for eight years straight. Our values matter a lot to our employees too, which is important because we believe customer experience and employee experience are one and the same. When your employees live the brand, it’s easier for your customers to identify with the brand.
