How important is a coin dealer's Mission Statement to you?

Longacre

As I write these words, gentle readers, I am in the office on Saturday, toiling away for The Man. I just finished a delightful lunch of spicy tuna sushi, along with a side of edamame. An extra helping of wasabi was also in the offing. While waiting for The Man to darken my office door frame for a meeting, I perused the website of a well known dealer.

I was taken aback by the Mission Statement of this firm, listed so prominently on the site. It is as follows:

"Our Mission Statement
From Irvine, California, we provide rare coins to collectors, dealers, and museums in all parts of the world. Our motto is, "Your friends in the rare coin business." We are passionate about rare coins and would like to share our enthusiasm with you. By treating our clients as we ourselves would like to be treated, we have built what is one the most successful rare coin dealership in America today."


For those of you into the softer side of collecting, and the personal warmth that comes along with closely working with your preferred coin dealer, how important is a dealer's mission statement to you? Do you make your collecting decisions, or which dealer you choose to work with, based on their mission statement?

RYK

I would say that from my perspective Mission Statements are a corporate tool that is more about focusing the people who work in the business than they are about public perception. Either, I think that they are generally a lot of baloney.

For once, I would like to see a real Mission Statement that reads...

"Company XXX is in the YYY business, and our mission is to make as much money as possible, and we do not care who we have to trample or what rules will need to be bent or broken to do so."

LindeDad

Filler on the web page that they could not find anything better to do with. In most cases a picture would of been better filler.

BillJones

For most part mission statements are business school jargon and mostly developed for public consumption. They might have some relevance for the employees of a company from the aspect of developing and maintaining a corporate culture, but the customers, I think it’s mostly public relations.

CoinJunkie

The mission statement you reference is generic enough to be filed under "gratuitous public relations".
I think more specific mission statements can be useful to a prospective customer, as long as they are
aligned with the reality of the business.

DaveG

Longacre,

Frankly, I can't believe you were eating spicy tuna sushi - I thought you were smarter than that!

mrpotatoheadd

- If you need a mission statement to tell you what to do, you don't know enough about your job to carry out the mission.
- If your workers need a mission statement to clarify their objectives, you're too disorganized to survive.
- If you need a mission statement to understand what somebody else does, you don't know enough about them to make use of their services.

From here...

TexasNationals

I prefer vision statements, all dealers mission statements are to make the most money and provide the best quality service they can, give or take. A vision statement tells me so much more.

MrEureka

I think that if virtually all coin dealers were not doing essentially the same things as virtually all other coin dealers, their mission statements would make for more interesting reading.

MidLifeCrisis

It's not.

TwoSides2aCoin

"If your coins aren't becoming to you, they ought to be coming to me."
You looking for mission statements or sales pitches ?

BAJJERFAN

We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.In fact we have done so much with so little for so long, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

stman

It's most important to me. The more stories I can gather up, the better informed decision I can make.

secondrepublic

On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a negative number.

WoodenJefferson

For what it's worth department, Mission Statements are concieved perceptions of how your supposed to convey your standard of ethics, but in most cases go unheeded.

This comes from me, a trained Facilitator who assembled and published a combined mission statement for a major company.

themaster

My statement: Cows may come and cows may go, but the bull in here will go on forever.


Have a Great Day!
Louis

ctf_error_coins

Buy the coin, not the mission statement

Coinosaurus

<< <i>
"Our Mission Statement
From Irvine, California, we provide rare coins to collectors, dealers, and museums in all parts of the world. Our motto is, "Your friends in the rare coin business." We are passionate about rare coins and would like to share our enthusiasm with you. By treating our clients as we ourselves would like to be treated, we have built what is one the most successful rare coin dealership in America today."
>>



That mission statement sounds suspiciously similar to that of a predecessor firm. Do you think when they wrote the transfer agreement, that said mission statement was listed in the assets

Swampboy

<< <i>"If your coins aren't becoming to you, they ought to be coming to me." >>





I need a new keyboard.

19Lyds

Coin Dealer "Mission Statements"?

You've got to be kidding.

pennyannie

My personal mission statement trumps any company mission statement.

Justlooking

Making money is the mission of any business. How they treat you personally ... that's where you really learn what they're all about.

greghansen

I'm with the majority that don't make choices about who to deal with based on mission statements.

OzzyAndy

I think one thing it does say is that they're large and established enough to even think of having a mission statement, so they must have something going for them. Don't think a fly-by-night company would have a mission statement.

Of course, it also says they've got enough money and time to go to the effort of developing a mission statement (which is usually done in conjunction with highly paid consultants).

PerryHall

<< <i>Coin Dealer "Mission Statements"?

You've got to be kidding. >>



Agree. A good coin dealer don't need no stinkin mission statement.

Tiny

It's Not.

Words are words but actions speak for the dealer.

Price & Selection do too

Longacre

<< <i>We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. In fact we have done so much with so little for so long, we are now qualified to do anything with nothing. >>




This sounds like Longacre's plight on a daily basis. Outstanding.

Bear

I am not collecting Mission Statements. I am collecting coins.

TheCoinGeezer

<< <i>For those of you into the softer side of collecting, and the personal warmth that comes along with closely working with your preferred coin dealer, how important is a dealer's mission statement to you? Do you make your collecting decisions, or which dealer you choose to work with, based on their mission statement? >>


If my favorite dealers have a mission statement, it's news to me.
Lofty idealistic claptrap does not persuade me to buy coins from any dealer, quality coins at fair prices does.

rawmorgan

The Mission Statement of the B&M I frequent.

"No credit cards with bullion purchases."

tincup

I tend to wince when I see a 'mission statement' ... to me they are of limited value. Even more so when it is for a coin dealer.

Just show me the money, er, I mean the coins.....!

relicsncoins

We don't have a lot of time on this earth. We weren't meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little coin shops staring at coins all day, filling out useless submission forms and listening to eight different dealers drone about mission statements.

epcjimi1

Mission statements are only for those who don't understand why they are there in the first place.

Useless drivel.

lordmarcovan

Mission statements always ring rather phony with me.

BryceM

Service -- true customer service -- trumps a mission statement every time.

Oh, and they gots to have nice, shiny coins too.