After the second-longest tenure for a Beretta USA General Manager-CEO, we've learned that Christopher Merritt has been asked to step down from the GM/CEO position he's held for more than seven years. The Beretta family, according to Merritt, has "decided to go in a new direction". Merritt's last day as General Manager/CEO will be December 31, 2010.
During his tenure at Beretta USA, Merritt took market share by building Beretta, Sako, and Tikka brand awareness. Using what he calls a quality value statement, Merritt took a business model based on firearm categories (pistols, shotguns, rifles) and broke the business down into lifestyle segments. Upland Hunter, American Big Game, and the American Waterfowler were a few of the segments he created.
Merritt also worked to re-invigorate the brand by working with youth groups like the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP), Boy Scouts of America, Little Jakes and Green wings. Using Beretta-sponsored exhibition shooter Scotty Robertson, Merritt enabled young shooters to see- and want- Beretta guns. The same formula worked for adults, too. The National Rifle Association, Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Grand National Quail Hunt, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Quail Unlimited, and others have all benefitted by his donations and drive to get Beretta guns into the hands of the shooters.
"I encouraged the staff to take brand reach," Merritt told me, "and make it brand stretch."
When the Beretta family wanted an Olympic shooter from the United States to round out the European and Asian teams, Merritt found Vincent Hancock. Hancock went on to win a Gold medal at the last Olympics.
Merritt also helped "stretch the brand" by going direct via internet and mail order catalog. This direct approach, Merritt says, allowed the readers to better understand the product categories and the products that supported their activities. He also moved Beretta into a significant media presence in personal defense, big game hunting, waterfowl and upland bird hunting as well as competitive shooting.
The largest challenge facing Merritt at Beretta USA in 2003 was customer service. At that time, delays in Beretta's gunsmithing were legendary. Customers who bought Beretta products couldn't get in touch with service personnel. Anyone writing favorably about Beretta products today knows that resentment is still out there.
Today, however, customers can speak directly to a service agent, go though the Beretta US web site, or talk to a gunsmith at Brownell's (Brownell's handles the spare parts business for Beretta US). Customers can also talk directly to one of 6 service centers around the country working on Beretta, Sako or Tikka firearms. Wait times to get a gun out of a service center today averages three to four weeks, all with a staff that's been reduced forty-plus percent. Before Merritt's arrival, the "average" wait was 5-6 months.
As Merritt stressed during our conversation, none of the changes could have happened without great people. "The people at Beretta have been great," he told me, "we've also been fortunate to get great partners to help grow the business."
