How to become a successful company

                                                     How to become a successful company

 

Have you ever thought about the question: What makes your business or company successful? Maybe it is the choice of a good strategy or the right organizational culture.

During our Leadership and Culture Excursion to McCormick Place we talked to Ken Schmidt, the Technology Services Director and Jessica Williams the Technology Infrastructure Service Manager and they explained to us how they became successful in this customer service oriented business.

In their business the satisfaction of the customer needs is really important. Based on this they have to figure out what kind of service the customer wants and what they are looking for. They have to talk to the customer and listen carefully what they say, because every customer is special and has different needs.

They showed us their organizational structure and tried to explain it to us in different ways. I figured out that for them, it is mostly important to be part of a strong team and that every member fits in this team perfectly. This became clear to me when Ken told us about Jessica’s job interview and that they have never talked about “I” but instead, mentioned the team throughout the interview and that without this team they would never gain this success. Furthermore, one important point is that when it comes to praise it is spoken out in public every single time. Criticism, however, but will be realized in person by their manager.

Moreover, we learned that it is important to have an overview about all the processes and that a well-working reporting system is relevant to minimize the costs (e.g. the over- or under-use of the different internet connections).

What we learned at this excursion is the point that the product we sell isn’t that important, it is important to us and for our business idea what the customer can do with this product and if it satisfies the customer’s needs and how to figure this out. This knowledge will help us in the future to develop our idea.

If you are interested in getting more information about my Advanced Seminar on Entrepreneurial Strategies and Finance please follow me on Twitter @Gennarowen.