The “Secret” to A Successful Business

06 Nov The “Secret” to A Successful Business

The secret to success is not really that big of a secret…It’s really that old golden rule that your mom or grandmother told you: “Treat others as you would like to be treated” and if you are really good at that you will take it to the next level and treat them so well that they feel special…so special that they become loyal customers or employees. Feeling important, appreciated or special is an underlying desire for all people. The better you make them feel the more loyal they will be to you. Here are a few quotes about customer service and my thoughts about them.

 “The Customer Comes Second: Put Your People First and Watch ’em Kick Butt.” -Hal Rosenbluth, Rosenbluth International

I have always been a firm believer that happy employees are the heart and soul of a successful business. If you hire the right people, who are loyal and motivated, you can watch your company grow. You can teach people about your product, how to sell it but if their heart is not in the right place and they do not feel that customer’s needs come first then how can your company be successful? If it does any growth, I would consider that pure luck.

 “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” – Sam Walton, Walmart

When I started in business back in late 1980’s the old saying “The customer is always right” was the rule for the day. That was true whether I worked at the local Shoney’s restaurant or at my first job out of college with Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical company.  I think businesses that still believe in putting the needs of their customers first will continue to be relevant in today’s market.

“The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important – and then get out of their way while they do it.” – Jack Welch, General Electric

Isn’t this quote all about empowering our employees to be all that they can be? It frees their creative juices and lets them problem solve on a micro or macro level. It’s one of the keys to the Japanese success in the automotive industry. They put great emphasis on the line workers as they were the ones to FIRST see a problem. They were rewarded for seeing a problem and then rewarded again for creating a solution. The reward was often simple public praise. Praise does not cost a company anything but it certainly does impact their bottom line by adding to their employees’ job satisfaction and happiness.

“Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.” – Walt Disney, The Walt Disney Company

Wasn’t Walt Disney a master of this concept? I think about how much money my family spent in order to give my daughter the Disney experience. It is so universal that as a parent you feel like you HAVE to give your child a trip there or you are not a good parent. That somehow your child’s childhood will be lacking if they don’t visit Disney World. Our family went, spent loads of money only to find out my daughter hates rides and amusement parks. Go figure!

In business you get what you want by giving other people what they want.” – Alice MacDougal

What a great reminder that by serving others we ourselves get served. If you love what you do then your never feel like you are working. If your customers love you then you will have more than enough work to keep you busy, happy and financially stable.

 “Employees will only complain or make suggestions three times on the average without a response. After that they conclude that if they don’t keep quiet they will be thought to be troublemakers or that management doesn’t care.” – Peter Drucker, Business Guru, Author, Professor of Business

If you have worked in the business world for any length of time you have probably seen this in action. How many times have you thought of a way to make a business better but were afraid to speak up for fear of losing your job? We have all been there. As a result, when you are in that sort of situation you ultimately end up looking for another job as soon as possible taking with you all those good ideas. Who knows, your new employer might appreciate them even if your old employer did not.

Quote were taken from the following website

http://www.quantisoft.com/Articles/Quotes.htm