The Golden Rule

"Treat others how you want to be treated."

That's BS.

Okay, before you click off this blog, let me explain. I had lunch with a friend today who just read a management book.

"It was a lot more spiritual than I thought. Compared with a lot of the stuff we talk about, which is more nuts and bolts," he explained.

I wondered if we have been having the same conversations. We certainly do talk nuts and bolts; he does our billing, so it's more like dollars and cents. Our conversations are often practical and technical. But our more memorable conversations, for me at least, get to be a little more big picture, more global.

So, the first quote above was the take home message from the book he read. It might work out well in a spiritual sense and it is a great message. But in business it hasn't worked for us.

My business partner and I started out trying to design our business with that very principal in mind. We designed it the way we would want it to work if we were customers or employees of the company. What we learned, often the proverbial hard way, is that what we like and what motivates us is not always the same as our customers and employees.

Think of it this way. Do you think Ray Kroc wanted a burger? Do you think Henry Ford wanted a Model T? I don't know if they did. But their customers did. They knew their customers.

And that's the key. Know your target audience. Michael Gerber calls it marketing. Others call it market research. But learn all you can about your customers and potential customers, what motivates them, excites them, frightens them and worries them. Learn their hopes, dreams, aspirations and fears. Then address those through your business.

So, instead of "Treat others how you want to be treated." You can "Treat others how they want to be treated!"

It's not about you. It's all about your customer.