People expect MORE every day. Not only the people who work in the business, but also the people who sell to the business, the people who buy from the business and the people who lend to business!
Unfortunately, most businesses see people as a problem. “People are so unmanageable,” I hear from business owners.
In a free market system one has to come to grips with the fact that people always need something.
That something is MORE. In our free market system, businesses are the instruments through which people get MORE. Everyone is supposed to get MORE. Customers are are king — or queen — in their own minds, but the employees, the suppliers and the lenders are also asking, “What about me?”
Every successful business in a free market system since time began has been in search of the indefinable, unknowable, irrefutably, unavoidable, Holy Grail of MORE.
The purpose of business is to serve as an instrument through which people in a free market system get what they want, and what they want is always MORE.
So it is safe to assume that any business that comes up with MORE is serving its purpose well and therefore survives. Any business which fails to come up with More is not serving its purpose at all, and therefore dies.
So what is the answer?
First, remember that every answer in a successful business is only a temporary solution in the never-ending search for MORE!
In the land of MORE, if you don’t survive it’s because you didn’t deserve to. You weren’t paying attention. Focus on playing the game of business growth instead of playing the game called goodbye.
- Have a strategy that focuses on going the extra mile. Do more than what the customer expects. Ask more questions. What do they want more of? They’ll respond positively to a customer experience like that.
- Get employees actively involved in providing improvement practices to grow the business. This is especially important for how your front-line services present themselves, and your CRM system is a tool they’ll use constantly to improve their customer contacts.
Don’t fail to listen to the people you come into contact with, both internally and externally. If something is not clear, ask clarifying questions. Switch from a killing field of spirit to a cheer leader for the insatiable drive for MORE.
Business is the organized expression of our growing self-interest manifesting itself the best way it knows how. Business is a living thing. It is growing or it is dying.
Your business must touch a strong resonant and resilient chord in the hearts of the people you intend to serve. Grow to serve, and serve to grow. and you’ll attain loyalty for a successful business.
* Inspired by Michael Gerber, author of the E-myth.
What is your business doing to deliver More to your customers?
