Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
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!
Lesson #1: Obsess About Your Customers, Not Your Competitors
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.”
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...
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...
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...
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.
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.
Jeff Bezos Newsletter
Get our free newsletter to learn more about Jeff Bezos and other famous entrepreneurs!
![[Get Copyright Permissions]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.gif){kind=small}
