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"Executives may claim to care about their customers, but their actions frequently suggest just the opposite. How else could you explain hitting loyal customers with a sudden 60 percent price increase (Netflix, 2011)? Would a company that cared about service really try to implement a $5 fee on debit card transactions and then defend the move as something that customers would appreciate (Bank of America, 2011)? Can a company that cares about its customers really implement a procedure where pennies are literally stolen from its customers at the point of sale by rounding down the amount of change due when customers pay with cash (Chipotle, 2012)?
I know what you are thinking. You're different. You truly care about your customers and would never resort to price gouging or penny stealing. I hope so. And, the mere fact that you've read this far and may have even been a little indignant about a company skimping on toilet paper speaks volume about your character.
Still, do you really care about customer service?"
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"'Reputation' is not a line item we can find on a corporate income statement. But honestly, it should be. Instead it's lurking in there, living pervasively below the surface of the carefully calculated revenues and expenses. And yet, the accountants can't assign a specific number to it.
Think about that for a moment. Companies can leverage the incalculable perceptions of a great reputation (their brand) into bottom-line success and a very real corporate advantage. Sadly, there's also the flip side. Companies can totally crash and burn because of negative reputations, despite solid product offerings. Perceptions may be unquantifiable, but they are infinitely powerful."
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"Soon after entrepreneurs and business owners start businesses, we become trapped in the day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month struggles and goals of generating more sales and profits, improving employee performance, and trying to reduce our hours and stress.
At some point, virtually all of us become 101% focused on these short-term goals and lose sight of our long-term visions. As a result, we begin to wander, and never achieve our initial vision. How can we find success given the daily struggles of building a company?
Forget Today; Start at the End
[...] In business, as in everything else, you need to have a clear vision of where you want to go. Then, and only then, can you create a plan to follow to get you there. The key is to "start at the end." Figure out where you want to go. And then you can reverse engineer the path to get there."
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"40 years ago a brand such as Jolly Green Giant could sell a lot of mediocre corn with a great jingle and a huge television advertising budget. 20 years ago a company such as Circuit City could be a miserable, secretive place to work but it wouldn't matter much to shareholders or customers because they likely would never find out.
Social media has changed all that, very quickly. The speed and ease with which information travels—the good, the bad and the ugly—is faster than ever before, and only accelerating. Today, the brands that succeed aren't the ones that spend the most money on disruptive advertising—they're the ones that spend the most money on creating valuable, meaningful products and customer service. Today, the businesses that succeed aren't the ones who keep costs down by not giving perks to employees—they're the ones who create an open, transparent, fun place to work where passionate people can exchange ideas. Today, more than ever before, for businesses, brands, and entrepreneurs, it pays to be likeable."
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"When we realize that our mind is a creative platform—a vast network of networks—we experience a revolutionary and profound transformation. New possibilities emerge. The process of realization and transformation is the essence of life. It means that everything in this world has an inherent purpose—and that is to find its optimal form. This is why we are constantly trying to improve ourselves, why we venture out into the unknown, why we have children, and why we want to be the best in the world at what we do.
The more creative we become, the more resourceful we will be. We can transform ourselves and everyone around us. These connections, and this archetype of innovation, uncovers the building blocks of life itself, revealing our origins. Innovation is intrinsic to essence, and essence is intrinsic to the act of creation."
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