Concluding our series on Alan Lafley's success at P&G, winning in the marketplace requires the continual generation of new ideas - be it constant product innovation at P&G or new ways of reaching customers and delivering solutions for middle market professional service providers. New idea generation starts with putting customers first and asking "Who are they and what do they want?" and concludes with "find out what they want and give it to them."
According to Lafley, the two moments of truth come:
- when the customer decides to buy a product or service, and
- when they experience the product or service - if delighted they will likely repurchase.
The natural tendency of most organizations over time is to become inwardly focused. One of the central on-going challenges for the owner/CEO of a company in transition is to resist and reverse that tendency by:
- insisting on greater external focus - managers and employees must talk to customers, attend trade shows, read the trade rags;
- encouraging innovation and risk taking - give employees some rope, accept small failures as necessary steps on the road to success; and
- diving in yourself - demonstrate your own commitment to the power of learning.
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