One of my mentors had a quote on the wall of his office. It was significant because he did not have any other signage or pictures on the wall. The quote was by Henry Ford:
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.”
He remarked that “this is, in my opinion, the #1 failure of leadership…beginning to focus on the obstacles in a business instead of the objective.”
So what is the objective that is so crucial in business? What is the target or focus we dare not lose sight of?
Making money is the most common answer. Focus on profit. Now I don’t have anything against making money…I want my business to be profitable. But I think focusing on profit (or enhancing shareholder value) is putting the cart before the horse.
Business legend, Peter Drucker, says it best, “There is only one valid definition of business purpose…the creation of a customer.”
Sadly, for some employees, the customer has become an interruption in their busy day. Here’s a true story I heard about Robert Henry:
He went into a big box sports/recreation equipment store to shop for a pair of expensive binoculars.
As he walked up to the appropriate counter he noticed that he was the only customer in the store. Behind the counter were two salespersons. One was so preoccupied with talking to “Mama” on her cellphone that she refused to acknowledge that Robert was there. At the other end of the counter, a second salesperson was unloading inventory from a box onto the shelves. Growing impatient, Robert walked down to her end of the counter and juststood there. Finally, she looked up at Robert and said, “You got a number?”
“I got a what?” asked Robert, trying to control his astonishment at such an absurdity.
“You got a number? You gotta have a number.”
Robert replied, “Lady, I’m the only customer in the store! I don’t need a number. Can’t you see how ridiculous this is?”
But she failed to see the absurdity and insisted that Robert take a number before agreeing to wait on him. By now, it was obvious to Robert that she was more interested in following procedures than helping the customer. So, he went to the take-a-number machine, pulled number 37, and walked back to the salesperson. With that, she promptly went to her number counter, which revealed that the last customer she waited on had been holding number 34. So she screamed out,
“35!…35!…36!…36!… 37!”
“I’m number 37,” said Robert.
“May I help you?” she asked, without cracking a smile.
“No,” replied Robert, and he turned around and walked out.
And they will walk out of your store or business.
The passionate goal of every business needs to be dazzling customers.
If you have a product or service that is needed in the marketplace, and focus on delighting customers and being good to your employees…the profit will come. Customers are the root of success. When that is the central goal we stay focused on, profitability becomes the fruit of success.