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Everything Starts with Customers

19 January, 2016 - 17:13

Most organizations start with an idea of how to serve customers better. Apple’s engineers began working on the iPod by looking at the available technology and thinking about how customers would like to have their music more available, as well as more affordable, through downloading.

Many companies think about potential markets and customers when they start. John Deere, for example, founded his company on the principle of serving customers. When admonished for making constant improvements to his products even though farmers would take whatever they could get, Deere reportedly replied, “They haven’t got to take what we make and somebody else will beat us, and we will lose our trade.” 1 He recognized that if his company failed to meet customers’ needs, someone else would. The mission of the company then became the one shown in  Figure 1.3 Mission Statement of Deere and Company  

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Figure 1.3 Mission Statement of Deere and Company  
 

Here are a few mission statements from other companies. Note that they all refer to their customers, either directly or by making references to relationships with them. Note also how these are written to inspire employees and others who interact with the company and may read the mission statement.