The Hindu Business Line : Be true to your mission statement

Organisations serious about their mission statements must reshape what they are busy doing every day to ensure that the effort is synchronised with what they plan to deliver, says Dan J. Sanders in Built to Serve: How to drive the botto m line with people-first practices ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com).

As the CEO of United Supermarkets ( www.unitedsupermarkets.com), the author speaks of firsthand experience at such a reshaping. “We challenged our thinking by going outside our industry to identify best practices. Additionally, we recruited guests to serve on Guest Advisory Boards, forums for exchanging information directly with our guests regarding what was important in the area of service.”

Enriched by feedback regarding areas of waste and inefficiency, the company abandoned some of the practices that were more self-serving than beneficial to customers.

Customer prosperity key

What the Customer Wants You to Know
Ram Charan

The heart of the new approach to selling, which Ram Charan propounds in What the Customer Wants You to Know ( www.penguinbooksindia.com), is an intense focus on the prosperity of custo mers.

“The entire psychological orientation is shifted 180 degrees. No longer do you measure your own success first. Instead, you measure success by how well your customers are doing with your help.”

This is possible only if you ask questions such as: ‘What are your customers’ goals? Which financial measures are they most keen about? How do they create market value and what are the key factors that differentiate their product or service from those of their competitors?’

Charan sees the greatest opportunities in the medium- and long-term, ‘where you and your customer can work together to change the nature of the game in your customer’s industry based on value you can help provide.’

Trust yourself

Who Stole My Energy?
Ariana Trinity

To Ariana Trinity, confidence is a language in itself. People with confidence are noticed straight away, she writes in Who Stole My Energy? ( www.macmillanindia.com). Confidence seems lik e an unseen force; when confident people walk in, the others cannot miss them, because they have an air about them, the author adds.

All confidence is having trust in oneself, she explains. “You may think lack of confidence means you are afraid but it actually is about not trusting yourself.” Therefore, trusting yourself in the area you need more confidence in is going to be all you need to have that inner strength and confidence shine through, guides Trinity.

Trusting yourself more also makes it possible for you to trust others more, and the result is openness, she continues.

“You will feel a sense of freedom, because not being able to trust yourself is like being restricted or trapped. Imagine always questioning if you are doing the right thing, always doubting, always resisting moving forward, constantly being in knots over life and all because you can’t trust yourself.”

Imperative read.

D. Murali

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