Excitement is Key to Success: Interview with Scott Williams, CEO of Batteries Plus

I recently went one on one with Scott Williams, CEO of Batteries Plus.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Scott: My story starts out in Kansas, which is where I grew up and also attended college, eventually graduating from the University of Kansas. After receiving my undergraduate degree, I pursued my MBA at Northwestern University in Illinois. Following that, I served in a number of companies, including PepsiCo, OfficeMax, and Sam’s Club, before ending up at Cabela’s where I worked my way up from Chief Marketing Officer to President of Cabela’s Inc. I spent 6 years there before taking over as CEO of Batteries Plus in 2019.

Regarding challenges, I might be dating myself a little here, but during my MBA days, there wasn’t much being said about e-commerce and omnichannel, so my experiences in that arena were kind of limited. When I got to Office Max, that all changed in a hurry. Suddenly, I was in charge of the marketing messaging for a Top 6 e-commerce site. I was definitely thrown into the deep end and had to do a lot of in-the-moment learning. It was a little scary at the time, but I grew immensely from the experience. 

Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?

Scott: Step one is to identify what your business offers that no one else can, then come up with ways to protect that offering from other competitors. For Batteries Plus, our niche is being essential, while offering expertise. The world of batteries can be pretty confusing. When a consumer comes to us to replace the battery in their car, or boat or some other application, they often have questions. We are equipped to answer those questions in a way that large online retailers like Amazon are not. 

Additionally, many of the products that we sell require an additional service element. Here’s one small example; we sell auto batteries, which can’t be shipped to individual homes because they contain lead. We’re able to circumvent this through our Buy Online, Pick Up In-store option. Our brand is also able to go one step further by offering battery installation service, which is something an e-commerce-only company can’t replicate 

Step two is to make sure your marketing efforts fully capture the story of everything your business does. When I joined Batteries Plus, sales were a bit sluggish. As I dug into the company’s specifics, I realized we had all of the fundamentals in place to be more successful, but we weren’t telling the right story in our marketing. During the height of the COVID pandemic, we implemented the acronym SALE to help focus our marketing. 

SALE breaks down like this:

S - Small box (limited crowds, personal service)

A - Assorted (not relying on just one category)

L - Local (growing call to support small business owners and communities during this time)

E - Essential (never closed, and resilient through all challenging times)

Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?

Scott: As a leader, I believe there’s three essential qualities you need to develop. 

1. Have Integrity. Corporate culture starts from the top. That means that the traits you model will be picked up by the rest of the team. If you want your team members to operate aboveboard, you have to start by making the right choices yourself. 

2. Be Inspirational. Excitement is key to success. When people are fired up about something, they’ll always put forth their best effort. At Batteries Plus, we take a lot of inspiration from our franchisees, many of whom have relocated cross-country to open their stores in a new market. You can’t help but feel inspired when you hear stories like that. 

3. Tell an Inclusive Story. Sharing credit is incredibly important. Throughout my career, I have tried to emphasize the team as a whole, rather than just myself. No company succeeds on the efforts of one person alone, and it’s important to remember the contributions everyone brings to the team and share that success with them. 

Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Scott: As a leader, I think it’s very important to treat each member of your team as an individual. Many people believe that if an employee isn’t succeeding immediately, it’s best to cut ties sooner rather than later. Oftentimes though, when an individual is struggling, it’s because you haven’t given them what they need. Nine times out of ten, if you’re willing to invest a little bit of time in training them, that investment pays off with an employee who’s not only productive but loyal to the company too.  

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?

Scott: Tip #1: Be flexible. The biggest mistake you can make as a leader is ignoring market forces and refusing to adjust your business model. Change is a constant and you’ll never remain relevant by staying static or assuming consumer behavior will remain the same. 

A big part of that is realizing that not all solutions come from a textbook. When faced with a new situation, take a moment to leverage what you do know. This will enable you to ask the right questions and lead you to the right solution. 

Tip #2 Be Willing to Make the Difficult Decision. No one enjoys having to make the tough calls, but that’s the price of being a leader. The best choice may not always be the popular choice, but it’s important to make the right call, rather than the easy one.  

Tip #3 Surround Yourself with the Right Team. If you put the right people together in the same room, incredible things will happen. Building a team goes far beyond just hiring successful people though. You have to put in the hard work of creating a culture where everyone feels empowered to share their ideas and work together. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Scott: To circle back on something I mentioned earlier, I would stress the importance of seeing your team as a group of individuals, rather than some singular entity. Different people bring different offerings to the table and when putting a team together, it is important to match strengths and weaknesses. If someone excels in one area and struggles in another, that can be balanced out by the contributions of a different team member. 

It is also very important to address concerns and feedback. If there is a conflict within the team or something about the dynamic is off, it is your job to address those issues ASAP so that the group can move forward. 

Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing, and branding?

Scott: I think the most important thing a company can do is to fully understand the industry they operate in and identify who their direct competitors are. Once you have that established, you need to work on making yourself as unique as possible within that market. Ask yourself, “What does my company offer that no other business can?” Once you have the answer to that, you can start building a marketing strategy that reflects that. It sounds very simple, but you’d be surprised how many companies don’t ask those simple questions.  

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Scott: Always try to operate with integrity, even when no one is watching. Early in my career, there was a situation where I had to confront someone who had cheated on their expense account. It had been for some small amount, maybe $100 - $150. When I brought it up with them, the individual asked me, “What is the amount that’s okay to fudge?” That had a big impact on me. If you want the people around you to be open and honest, you need to model that with your own behavior first. 

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Scott: As a leader, it’s easy to get lost in the big picture things, but oftentimes it’s the little things that make or break a customer experience. You can have the best executive team in the world, but if your individual locations don't run well and don’t provide consumers with what they need, all of your big ideas are useless. It's important to stay connected to the people who operate in the trenches. Get into your stores, see how things are running, and talk to the people who work there. They have a unique perspective and can often provide you with insights you can’t get anywhere else.

Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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