“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”-Aristotle
How does one company stand out from the rest? How do individuals shine? What makes a person “excellent”? Some judge excellence based on awards, some judge it based on income, and some base it on growth. I judge excellence based on reputation. You can’t buy a good reputation with a million bucks, but you sure can lose it for free.
Why be excellent?
The fundamentals of a capitalistic market are simple: Make money, grow, and kill the competition. It sounds more like the philosophy of a virus or terrorist group but that’s how it is. In a small market like Bahrain reputation is everything, and the devil is in the detail. If you run an airtight ship and have a great product/service then you won’t leak customers and can only grow. Keep innovating. Make sure everything you do is perfect, and better than the rest. Why? So that you don’t lose out to new competition, and keep acquiring new customers. Besides, don’t you want to be the best?
“I know we aren’t robots but if we aren’t the best then somebody else can be better: And they will be.
How ?
Have high standards. Make sure everything is perfect. All the time. Some days we’re tired, lazy, or not in the mood so we may compromise quality. I know we aren’t robots but if we aren’t the best then somebody else can be better: And they will be. Provide great service to others exactly how you would expect it yourself. Apologize when you’re wrong and fix the mistake. Put the customer first, and make sure they’re always right: Even when they’re wrong. Service, service, service. If you remember that they’ll keep coming back for more. Make sure as you grow you remain excellent by providing systems and processes to ensure consistency and quality all the time.
When?
Always. You must provide quality 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 12 months a year. Don’t take customers for granted just because you have so many, and don’t sell a bad product just because you have a lot of orders. Keep in mind that today’s customers are extremely savvy and very fickle: They’ll switch loyalties faster than you can stutter “c come b b back”! Too late, they’re gone…
“People shut down their business without even knowing why customers stopped coming.
ilzibda
I know this may seem obvious to everyone, but you’d be surprised at the amount of inferior products/services that are out there. People shut down their business without even knowing why customers stopped coming. The first few months these failures had so much business they could barely breathe, and within a week nobody came through the door anymore, or visited their site. They don’t realize that in the beginning the market is testing them, nothing more nothing less. If what they offer is good people come back, if not, they don’t. It’s a very simple concept that is seldom understood. In conclusion be excellent, all the time, wherever you go. Treat the customers like kings or queens, plaster a smile on your face, kill em with kindness, and give them the best. You will make money, grow, and kill the competition; and that’s all a lil old business can really ask for.
