A Business Exists to Serve a Customer

Without satisfied and growing customers, nothing else a contractor does will matter.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
D. Brown Management
February 11, 2019 2 minute read
leadership principles sustainable growth wisdom
Share

Few things are more profitable for contractors than recurring work negotiated with a select group of project owners. That’s why customers are the first key metric on the scoreboard. 

Quote: A business exists to serve a customer. Peter F. Drucker

Likewise, few things unite a culture faster than creating an intense focus on the customer in every job role description and evaluation.

Review your stated mission, vision, values, strategy, job descriptions, meeting discussions, evaluations, calendars, and other communications. How often does the customer come into them? Are they framed in a positive or negative manner?  

How clear is your market strategy, including your existing top customers and ideal customer profile? 

Recommended Reading: The Effective Executive:  The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done by Peter Drucker

Winston Churchill - Success, Failure and Enthusiasm
When there are no clear answers, it is critical to experiment, learn, and rapidly scale up those things that work. "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
Related Article
Balancing Exploration and Exploitation
Exploitation involves choosing the best option based on current knowledge of the system which may be incomplete or misleading. Exploration involves testing new options that could lead to better future outcomes but drawing resources away from exploitation.
Related Article
Appearance and Experience of Management Control
As your career develops and you grow into roles of greater responsibility, one of the biggest challenges is what Jennifer Garvey Berger calls “The paradox of the appearance of increasing control and the experience of decreasing control.”
Related Article