Inside Archery Cover Story-final

43InsideArchery • March 201542 InsideArchery • March 2015
S
hultz, 60, even resembles Lombardi in dress. Unlike
today’s NFL coaches, Lombardi paced the sidelines
in a suit and tie. Shultz dresses similarly for work,
whether directing boardrooms or working trade shows.
But his attire is not about Lombardi. No, it’s a tribute
to his predecessor, company founder Bill Robinson, who
launched Robinson Laboratories in 1978. Robinson al-
ways wore a suit and tie when representing his company,
and Shultz respects that heritage.
Some might say Shultz is the ultimate competitor, but
he doesn’t talk about winning or losing. He talks about
leading from a position of truth and ethics. His relent-
less chase for innovation and perfection demands the
best of himself and his team. As long as they’re united
in their efforts, beating the competition will take care
of itself.
Leadership also means appreciating good fortune, and
respecting, helping, and seeking inspiration from a much
larger team: your customers. Shultz puts it this way:

“We’re working in an industry that’s built
on our favorite hobbies and passions. At the
same time, our customers are working some-
where and dreaming about being in their tree
stands early Saturday morning. Our job is to
make products that make their hunts a little
safer, enjoyable, and successful. That’s a fun
thought. We want to help our customers en-
joy their passion and have a more satisfying
experience. How many jobs let you do that?”
Team Harmony
Shultz’s management team—Keith Edberg,
operations manager; Todd Leidall, vice
president of sales; and Michael Swan, mar-
keting director—buy into that approach.
Unprompted in separate interviews, they
echoed Shultz’s business philosophies. In so
many words they said: “Don’t worry what
your competitors make, claim, advertise, or
say about your products. Pour your thoughts,
efforts and integrity into what we make, advertise,
and say about our products.”
In other words: Take the lead, stay in front, and
don’t waste time and energy looking back at who’s
chasing you. Focus on satisfying today’s customers
while attracting tomorrow’s customers. Consider
these insights from...
Edberg: “We all started small, but now we’re
managing iconic brands with great engineering. We
still need to be pushed, but we don’t use our compe-
tition as a benchmark or incentive. We’re motivated
by Scott, our customers and ourselves. We work
for the bowhunter, especially the elite, most serious
bowhunters.They push us to improve our products,
and we listen to what they say.”
Swan: “We’re very much aware of what our com-
petitors do and say, but the way we market our in-
novations, technologies, and garment features keeps
us plenty busy. When you’re leading, you expect ar-
rows in your back. It doesn’t matter who shot them.
Our job is to keep innovating and creating things
that make us the best. Year after year, our innova-
tions set us apart.”
Leidall: “The key to our success is leadership. I
joined Robinson in 2011 because of Scott Shultz.
He’s what appealed to me most. His heart, his be-
liefs, his strong faith, and the extreme passion he
has for what he does; it never ends for him. But he
isn’t an ego-driven leader. He’s humble. He realizes
we can’t achieve greatness through the power of one.
He’s a visionary and big-picture guy, and he won’t
take any glory for himself. He shares it with the
entire room.”
Shultz, meanwhile, remains confident in the
company’s approach because it’s consistent and in-
telligent. “We know who we are and why we come

46 InsideArchery • March 2015 47InsideArchery • March 2015
to work, and we know what we’re expect-
ed to do,” he said. “Other people’s per-
ceptions about us might change, but we’re
tenacious and determined about our posi-
tion in the industry; and our culture and
our business philosophy do not change.”
Core Values
In other words, Robinson Outdoor Prod-
ucts has a foundation built on core values
like honesty, ethical business practices,
and a shared faith-based focus. Shultz
said the company considers their work-
place their “mission field.” In addition,
they consider the John 3:16 Biblical in-
scription on their products to be part
of their outreach efforts. The company’s
website also includes a weekly “But God”
message fromThomas Paige, a pastor and
spiritual counselor.
“We care about our employees, our fel-
low man, and everyone’s quality of life,”
Shultz said. “Those values are based on
our belief in God. They impact how we
run our business and treat our employ-
ees. Our company culture resembles a
family’s more than a business’s. We’re in-
volved with our employees. I’ve been to
weddings, counseling sessions and police
stations. We try to go beyond team spir-
it, and work hard together like a family.
When we go home at night, we’re still
joking and talking and feeling like we
contributed to the company’s success.We
still have some kick in our step.”
The Robinson company has
been based in Cannon Falls,
Minnesota, since moving from
St. Paul in 1998 when the origi-
nal building no longer met its
needs. Three years after Shultz
joined the company in April

48 InsideArchery • March 2015 49InsideArchery • March 2015
1995, it introduced ScentBlocker clothing after building itself
through scent-killing and animal-scent products, and then Shultz
bought out Bill Robinson in February 2002. He changed the compa-
ny’s name from Robinson Laboratories to Robinson Outdoor Prod-
ucts in 2003, the same year he acquired the Whitewater Outdoors
clothing company in Hingham,Wisconsin.
The company’s current building, which Shultz now owns, covers
86,000 square feet.The company employs 43 people between Cannon
Falls and Hingham, and Shultz considers everyone vital to the team.
“Great teams have great players, and my people are my greatest as-
sets,” Shultz said. “I’ve been here almost 20 years, and many members
of my team have been here a long time, as well. My job is to lead them
from an ethical, truthful, trustworthy position. They must believe in
me. I’m not into leadership that’s all enthusiasm and pep rallies, and
shouting ‘Let’s get the job done.’ That leadership style can run its
course and end up sounding hollow.Yes, we have terrific brands, awe-
some products, and a logo—that yellow shield—with good market
recognition. But all those things are secondary to my people.”
People Power
New hires don’t become valuable employees by accident, of course.
“We believe in leading, innovating and introducing new, never-before-
seen products,” Shultz said. “You don’t
get there with inbred thinking, and by
smelling your own exhaust and believing
your own press clippings. That dooms
you. To get out-of-the-box thinking, we
try to capture our new hires’ initial reac-
tions, their first responses.
“We invite them to see things and
notice things,” Shultz continued. “We
want to hear what catches their inter-
est, raises their eyebrows, or makes them
think, ‘I haven’t seen anything like that
before.’ When we talk about a prod-
uct, our marketing ideas, or how we do
business, I want to know what they’re
thinking and how it impacts them. I go
to lengths to get that from them right
away, because in a month they’ll adapt
to us and see everything here as normal.”
Shultz also believes in the “power of
participation,” which means bowhunt-
ing passions run rampant at Robin-
son. He said about 40 percent of his
employees are male, and all of them
bowhunt. Of his female employees, he
estimates one-third are bowhunters.
“We encourage archery and bowhunt-
ing, and we have an indoor range so we
can shoot during winter,” he said. “We
celebrate whenever someone shoots a
deer.When we have someone who’s just
learning to bowhunt, I’ll take them
out to my land and help where I
can. They get to try out our gar-
ments and learn how they work.”
Familiarity with bowhunting
helps with product development,
but Shultz believes skilled clothing

designers can contribute without being bow-
hunters. Even so, he regularly dresses them up
in Robinson apparel, sends them up a ladder
stand in cold weather, and puts them through
bowhunting simulations so they grasp the
purpose of various designs.
Advantage of Intelligence
By infusing and meshing such talent, Shultz
maximizes the potential of the company’s
three major brands: ScentBlocker, Tree Spi-
der, and Whitewater Outdoors. It also helps
that he brings 50 years of hunting experience
to his lead role in new-product development,
as well as his previous 21-year career in wa-
ter treatment, where he learned the secrets of
odor adsorption.
ADIn fact, the company’s new positioning
statement, “The Advantage of Intelligence,”
expresses Shultz’s confidence that his com-
pany, its products and its future have never
been stronger. “This is the most creative time
in the company’s history,” Shultz said. “Our
new technologies are driving a revolution in
hunting gear.”
Again, though, he credits his staff of de-
sign engineers who work year-round on the
“concepting” and innovating of exploratory
R&D (research and development). “I don’t
want to sound arrogant, but we can direct
incredible intelligence into our products be-
cause of our experience, our expertise, and the
insights we get from the best hunters in the
Continued on page 52

world,” Shultz said. “Continuous improvement
drives us. We’re never satisfied. Not everyone is
built to work here, because some people are sat-
isfied to reach a place and stay there. They lose
their desire.They quit wanting to drive forward.
When they lose that drive, they can’t work here.”
Perhaps no Robinson product embodies that
drive as much as ScentBlocker’s Apex jacket and
pants.This soft, quiet, wind- and weather-proof
system is versatile enough to hunt anywhere
from Alabama to Alaska while still featuring the
superior scent control of ScentBlocker’s Trinity
Technology.
Shultz said scent control remains vital to
hunting, and Trinity deliv-
ers unprecedented versatil-
ity because it can be applied
to everything from T-shirts
to stretch-pants and athletic
wear. Even so, Robinson
also prides itself on making
versatile garments that keep
hunters afield in all types
of weather, and stays quiet
enough to draw a bow unde-
tected at close range.
Going Beyond Carbon
“When we introducedTrin-
ity in 2013, it was 10 years
AD
in coming because we realized a long time ago
that carbon technology could only take scent
control so far,” Shultz said. “Carbon must be
sandwiched and glued between inner and outer
fabrics, so it gets heavy and stiff. That drove us
to developTrinity, a technology that yields a sin-
gle layer that’s extremely lightweight and many
more times effective pound-for-pound for scent
adsorption than carbon.
“With Trinity, we recognize the future in
hunting clothes isn’t just scent control,” Shultz
continued. “Serious hunters, elite hunters, don’t
want to wear something that’s hot, stiff and
heavy just for its scent-control technology.They
want it all.They’re demanding lightweight cloth-
ing that wicks moisture and
keeps them dry, keeps them
cool, keeps them warm, and
controls scent. So that’s
where we are. We keep our
customers in the woods
and on the mountain. It’s
an evolution in the right
direction.”
Meanwhile, Robinson
employs high-tech engi-
neering to deliver unpar-
alleled convenience in its
newest brand, the Tree Spi-
der lineup of lightweight
Continued from page 50

safety gear, which launched in 2011.
The SpiderWeb full-body harness is
built into three varieties of ScentBlocker
hunting pants, while the Speed, Micro
and Venom are safe, comfortable, light-
weight full-body fall restraints.
“We find ways to build value into all
of our products,” Shultz said. “Most of
our competitors use a heavy steel cara-
biner to secure the harness’s tether to the
tree. It’s rated at 3,600 pounds of tensile
strength. We use a technical carabiner
that weighs a fraction of steel. Its finish
looks very techy, and it’s rated at 5,400
pounds of tensile strength.”
Robinson also offers the Live Wire,
the industry’s only hands-free automat-
ic-descent device. If a hunter suffers
a heart attack or gets knocked uncon-
scious when falling, he won’t be left
hanging far up the tree to risk suspen-
sion trauma. “That’s fatal,” Shultz said.
“If you fall while attached to the Live
Wire, it engages by itself and slowly
lowers you to the ground.”
It’s All About Technology
Whitewater Outdoors also receives
regular injections of Robinson’s high-
tech expertise. The venerable Whitewa-
ter brand has been around 60 years. It’s
known for basic high-quality hunting
gear, rainwear, and blaze-orange cloth-
ing, but most of all, for gloves and ac-
cessories.
“We’re taking a lot of the bestWhite-
water products and folding in some of
the best ScentBlocker technologies,”
Shultz said. “We’re seeing a resurgence
in Whitewater products as we take the
basic lines and spike them with technol-
ogy, whether it’s scent-control or anti-
microbial. We also sell a lot of White-
water gear, like our shooting gloves, to
the U.S. military, so that’s an important
part of our business, too.”
Robinson’s emphasis on leading tech-
nology doesn’t stop with its products.
Its sales and marketing experts have long
been leaders in inspiring and educating
consumers through rapidly evolving
technologies in print, Internet, televi-
sion, and other electronic mediums.
Reaching consumers, however, has
never been easier; nor so challenging.
“Staying relevant to consumers is a more
dynamic process than ever,” Swan said.
“We have so many new ways to market
products, and we’re diversifying our two-
way dialogue with consumers. Effective
marketing requires not only a website,
but print, TV, sponsorships, you name
it.This is a time of transition.We’re be-
coming more of a content creator.We’re
all about strong digital programs with
YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest,
Instagram, success photos, and photos
in the fields. All those things keep the
brands in mind.”
Shultz agrees. “We no longer
have just those giant print or TV
mediums anymore,” he said. “It’s
become so fractured and scat-
tered. There’s 480 shows out
there now just in outdoorTV.
Everyone is scrambling to
find the best ways to reach
consumers.”
One constant remains,
however: Smart, honest mar-
keting is more vital than ever.
“Truth always sells, no mat-
ter which way you reach your

consumers,” Swan said. “Hunting is a passion
sport. Hunters like to learn how to use unique
products, and we can show how their proper use
improves success. They buy our branded products
because they want the best gear they can buy.That
yellow shield on our apparel is recognized around
the world. It represents the best in class, and builds
our credibility.”
In a recent video prepared for Robinson’s sales
staff, Shultz put it this way: “We need … honesty
in our advertising and honesty in our claims.When
we tell customers that something works, it needs to
work. When he goes out for his cherished time in
the tree, up the mountain or down in the bottom-
lands, our products must work. When they work,
we have a customer forever. But when we fail them,
they’re gone and they won’t come back. That’s the
value of our brands and that’s what we stand for.”
Restructuring, Rejuvenating Sales
Shultz and his team also recommitted themselves
recently to restructuring and rejuvenating their
sales strategies. Leidall said they’re now work-
ing with six sales-rep groups and 43 individual
salesmen within those groups to reach consum-
ers more effectively. They’re also re-engaging with
the independent dealers that helped Bill Robinson
build his company 30 years ago.
“While our new sales reps allow us to focus on
new markets, emerging markets, and market segments
that our products have never been in before, we also
need to go back and rebuild the core grassroots part
of our business,” Leidall said. “It’s been forsaken in
recent years. Our new rep groups can help us restore
the philosophies that built this company.”
Shultz agrees. “We’ve completely changed our
entire sales staff, internally and externally and
while focused on market expansion,” he said. “No
one was more important to Bill Robinson than
our grassroots dealers. It broke my heart to watch
that business slowly erode away the past few years.”
Part of that plan includes a new “MAP”
(minimum advertised pricing) policy to ensure
brick-and-mortar retailers, independent deal-
ers, and e-retailers all sell at the same, consistent
price. “I want them to know we appreciate them,
that we’re building specific programs for them,
and that we will meet their needs for signage and
AD

AD
merchandising,” Shultz said. “Our dealers will be protected in our
pricing. Our MAP programs are working as planned.”
What’s Next?
Meanwhile, Robinson’s emphasis on innovation and technology in
the hunting market is leading to opportunities elsewhere.
“Our Trinity technology has incredible potential,” Shultz said.
“Imagine if people could wear jerseys, golf shirts, tennis shorts,
stretch pants, running wear, hockey equipment and workout clothes,
and not worry about smelling as they perspire,” he said. “Trinity can
do that. Because we can applyTrinity to so many kinds of fabrics, its
possibilities are endless.”
Shultz also sees more potential for theTree Spider safety harnesses.
Whether it’s roofers, window-washers, construction workers or “tree
surgeons,”most such workers dislike the heavy, cumbersome full-body
harnesses now available.
“Imagine the dotted line that goes from Tree Spider to industrial
and commercial uses,” Shultz said. “Anyone who’s been up in a bucket
truck, or on a roof or scaffolding, knows the limitations of bulky,
heavy safety harnesses.”
That doesn’t mean, however, that the Robinson team will take
hunters for granted. Far from it. Shultz said they’re close to unleash-
ing a new technology that will rival its scent-control technology for
improving concealment. He declined to offer specifics, but he expects
it to be ready in time for the 2016 sales season.
“We have many big opportunities ahead in our existing markets
and new markets,” he said. “That’s why I’ve never been more confident
in Robinson’s future than I am today.There’s so much in front of us.
Our future is very exciting.”
And to ensure they achieve it, Shultz reminds his team of the lead-
ership credo of an American industrial giant, Henry Ford: “Com-
ing together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working
together is success.”

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