7. The Customer Comes First
All our businesses depend on customers choosing and purchasing our products and services. This is true whether one is selling individual products or contracting with a customer to provide services on a regular basis.
Therefore, it is a natural part of doing business to always think from your valued customer's point of view, provide sincere services, and respond promptly and appropriately to any problems that may arise.
We can gain the trust of our customers and continue to have them choose us for the first time only when we are able to do a better job than our competitors to instill such a mindset. In addition, if many customers say, "I'm glad I chose Panasonic," and such views become widespread, then our business will be allowed to grow and develop.
The founder had much to say about the mindset needed to do business. "The customer comes first" is one of those ideas, and he spoke about it as follows.
-Providing happiness to customers is the value of commerce
Selling our products means not only convincing customers of the products' value, but also making them feel happy and secure. There is enormous value in this joy. We therefore should think carefully about how to communicate and provide service. By working in this way, we can also gain pleasure beyond profit.
-Become the customer's purchasing agent
In doing business, you should of course examine the products you handle thoroughly, and sell them with confidence. However, one of the most important things to keep in mind when doing so is to put yourself in the customer's shoes, and examine the products as if you were the customer's purchasing agent. If you think of yourself as such, you will be able to examine the product while being aware of what the customer's needs are at the moment, what kind of product they require, and how much they desire it. Thus, you can consider how to benefit them.
-When you care about your customer, growth follows
The joy of receiving praise from customers for a product you worked hard to produce is even greater than the joy of having them purchase it. No matter how large a company becomes, it is important for every employee to humbly attend to customers' requests. By doing so, you will gain further support from your customers. This support will spread from customer to customer, and the company will grow.
-Companies that fail to take care of their customers will collapse
If there are two shops offering noodle dishes at the same price, which will attract more customers, the shop that is kind and treats its customers well, or the one that treats its customers poorly? No matter how big Matsushita Electric becomes, its true form must not change from that of a noodle shop that takes care of its customers. If the company cares only for things like the size of its workforce or its sales amount, and if its people become lax in their management and treat customers poorly, the company will inevitably collapse.
No matter how large and complex our company becomes, each of us must approach our daily work with the mindset of caring for our customers. If our business fails to grow, we must investigate the cause and correct it promptly. We may well find upon reflection that we are not truly conducting a business where the customer comes first, or that something about our business is preventing us from gaining the full trust of our customers.
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1. The Mission of the Enterprise
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2. The Mission of the Panasonic Group, and What We Must Do Now
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3. The Basic Management Objective
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4. The Company Creed and the Seven Principles
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5. The Basic Business Philosophy of the Panasonic Group
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6. Practicing the Basic Business Philosophy
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7. The Customer Comes First
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8. Autonomous Responsible Management
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9. Participative Management through Collective Wisdom
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10. Developing People and Making the Most of Their Potential