Indispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can't Live Without

Chapter 2. The Five Drivers

Monotonous Success

When I talk with the leaders of extraordinarily successful companies with a loyal customer following, they all say pretty much the same thing. It's become very predictable, almost monotonous. And, somewhat surprisingly, until you really think about it, they tend to speak in what some would consider clichés:

"This isn't rocket science."

"This is a people business."

"It's all about relationships."

"We treat our employees well."

Oh please. Come on. Surely business in this day and age has gotten complicated enough to get past those old chestnuts of wisdom, hasn't it? For crying out loud, I halfway expect them to start saying, "We just play it one game at a time," or "There is no 'I' in team, Joe."

For those of you who insist that it is rocket science and that there's much, much more to winning in business than people and relationships, here's a flash for you. You are wrong. That's not me talking. That's the numbers talking. That's the market talking. Most important of all, that's the customer talking. Believe me, I have no interest whatsoever in weaving a tapestry of warm, fuzzy stories to warm the cockles of your heart or bring a tear to your eye. I couldn't care less about that. I am a bottom line guy, and I'm interested in one thing: Does it work?

For 25 years as a consultant to and observer of some of the best companies in the world, I have reached the undeniable, righteous, whether-you-like-it-or-not conclusion that about 90 percent of what ...