Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Videos About Advertise Blog Network Contact
   

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

Featured Ebook


ebook Famous Entrepreneurs - Modern Empire Builders


Featured Ebook

More Evan Carmichael
Have A Suggestion?

Sales Lessons From Starbucks And Dell

Lesson #1: Obsess About Your Customers, Not Your Competitors



  Articles
Lesson #1: Obsess About Your Customers, Not Your Competitors
   

“There are multiple ways to be externally focused that are very successful,” says Bezos. “You can be customer-focused or competitor-focused. Some people are internally focused, and if they reach critical mass, they can tip the whole company.”

Amazon’s early growth was driven almost completely by word of mouth. This was not a strategy on Bezos’ part; he had no money to spend on advertising and thus had little other choice. But, from that early experience, Bezos would take away one of the most important lessons he has ever learned in his business career: provide excellent customer service and satisfaction and the results will speak for themselves. Your company will be rewarded with the fact that they keep coming back for more – and they bring their friends with them.

“If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that,” says Bezos. “Word of mouth is very powerful.” No one understood this power better than Bezos; in Amazon’s first month of operation, the company had already done business in almost 50 countries around the world. It was a lesson that Bezos would keep with him for the rest of his career.

“We have so many customers who treat us so well, and we have the right kind of culture that obsesses over the customer,” Bezos says. “If there’s one reason we have done better than of our peers in the Internet space over the last six years, it is because we have focused like a laser on customer experience, and that really does matter, I think, in any business. It certainly matters online, where word of mouth is so very, very powerful.”

It is to this end that Bezos has often gone against conventional wisdom if it meant improving his customers’ experiences. For instance, where a new online tool might not have seemed profitable in the short term, and industry insiders doubted its necessity, Bezos did what he thought was best for the customer. “You have to use your judgment,” he says. “In cases like that, we say, ‘Let’s be simpleminded. We know this is a feature that’s good for customers. Let’s do it.’”

That was always the bottom line for Bezos: what was good for the customer was good for the company. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts,” he says. “It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”

Bezos’ wife is a writer. She spends her days working on a novel with nobody on her back to pressure her except herself; that is something Bezos considers stressful. Unlike his wife, Bezos likes the pressure of trying to create a unique and satisfying customer experience for millions of people. “I love people counting on me, and so, you know, today it’s so easy to be motivated, because we have millions of customers counting on us at Amazon.com,” says Bezos. “That’s fun.”



Lesson #1: Obsess About Your Customers, Not Your Competitors

Like this article? Share it with your friends
[Get Copyright Permissions] E-Mail | Print | Post | Republish | More  


Related Articles Related Articles
There is NO Competition
  What’s the competition doing? Who cares! The important thing is what you’re doing, right here and right now.
Thank God for Competitors and Market Research
  I learned to live with the fact a long time ago that I couldn't think of everything. I can't predict what is the best approach to take with customers. I don't always know what products are best to sell. So, whenever...
Stress-Free Selling® - How to Talk About Competition
  Before I answer this, let’s look at the alternative… If you approach this by talking about what your competitors are or are not, you are spending time talking about your competitors! Now you've got your custome...
"The Profitable Retailer" by Doug Fleener
  The business book that asks: Retail, is it in you? Rating: 5/5
When to Develop Custom Software or Websites: Hire's Innovation test
  How do you decide when to develop a custom software and when to buy software? Like everything else in business, it's all about being unique... One question and a bit of thinking time is all you need...

Related Forum Posts Related Forum Posts
Re: Congress To Make eBay A Rat  -- Good Idea or Bad Idea?? Re: Congress To Make eBay A Rat -- Good Idea or Bad Idea??
Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT Re: Two Useful Books To Help You Focus On The CLIENT
Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods
Re: Women entrepreneur millionaires Re: Women entrepreneur millionaires
Re: Are Business Owners too Old School to be Sold by a blog Re: Are Business Owners too Old School to be Sold by a blog
Re: Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods Re: Dan Kennedy Marketing Methods
Re: Are Business Owners too Old School to be Sold by a blog Re: Are Business Owners too Old School to be Sold by a blog
20% increase 20% increase

Related Forum Posts Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors
Leanne Hoagland Smith
Are your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales success or one of the many who have failed to change? So what are you doing to change those results? Let’s be honest, with companies moving globally and at lightening speeds, the traditional business solutions are outdated and dead. My approach moves your business out of its comfort zone and secures your competitive advantage now. If you are seeking to increase sales, build customer loyalty, create a culture of great attitudes or just achieve some sleep filled nights, then we should talk because my clients have experienced exactly those types of results. Learn more about customer loyalty at http://www.processspecialist.com/customer-loyalty.htm Give me a call at 219.759.5601 for a free strategy session. P.S. If you are seeking a motivational speaker, sales trainer or small business expert that will leave your audience smiling and remembering, please feel free to contact me at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland Smith's Website

The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.


 
Famous Entrepreneur Video
Jeff Bezos Video - The dot-com boom-and-bust is often compared to the 1849 Gold Rush, and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos offers historical evidence showing how similar they were: from the riches made by pioneers to the media hype that attracted luckless speculators. But a better analogy can be found in the early days of the electric industry, he says. In the late 1800s, the U.S. was first wired to support lightbulbs; the following century saw a long procession of new appliances, life-changing advances, and of course some amusing failures.
Become An Author

Jeff Bezos Picture Jeff Bezos Newsletter
Get our free newsletter to learn more about Jeff Bezos and other famous entrepreneurs!

Email:
Name: