Customers should be number 1, Employees number 2, and then only your Shareholders come at number 3.
Interpretation
Prioritizing customers and employees is crucial for a successful business.
This quote by Jack Ma emphasizes the importance of putting customers first, followed by employees, before considering shareholders. The idea is that by focusing on customer satisfaction and employee well-being, a company can build a strong foundation for long-term success, ultimately benefiting shareholders as a result.
In practice
Use this quote in a business seminar to highlight the importance of customer and employee satisfaction.
Hong Kong people say Hong Kong needs to preserve its uniqueness. I say Hong Kong's uniqueness is in its diversity, its tolerance of difference cultures... China does not want to see Hong Kong in decline. I have full confidence in its future.
If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat tons of them.
It's not that other countries steal jobs from you guys. It's your strategy. Distribute the money and things in a proper way.
Helping doing business easier, we choose the name Alibaba because it is a global company. It is founded in China, but it was created for the world.
In the beginning I just wanted to survive. For the first three years, we made zero revenue. I remember many times when I was trying to pay up, the restaurant owner would say, 'Your bill was paid.' And there would be a note saying, 'Mr. Ma, I'm your customer on the Alibaba platform. I made a lot of money, and I know you don't, so I paid the bill.'
Even if your competitor is still small in size or weak, you should take him seriously and treat him as a giant. Likewise, even if your competitor is massive in size, you shouldn't regard yourself as a weakling.
If a company is profitable, the founder is in control. If it's not, investors are in control.
I strongly believe the business of a business is to improve the world.
Zoom does not focus on revenue goals, but rather we have confidence that focusing on the happiness of existing customers and our employees will organically increase growth.
In business, if you realize you've made a bad decision, you change it.
Power is winning the battle over who owns the customer: the brand or the retailer.
In the long run managements stressing accounting appearance over economic substance usually achieve little of either.
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