Notable quotes about customers: Difference between revisions

  | text = There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.<ref>{{cite book |last=Drucker |first=Peter F. |title=TheManagement: PracticeTasks, ofResponsibilities, ManagementPractices |publisher=Harper & Row |date=20061973}}</ref>

  | author = {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = There is only one boss—the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.<ref>{{cite book |last=SoderquistWalton |first=DonSam |title=TheSam Wal-MartWalton: WayMade in America |publisher=Thomas NelsonDoubleday |date=20051992}}</ref>

  | author = {{Sam Walton/attribution}}

  }}

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| image = peter-drucker.jpg 

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| text = The single most important thing to remember about any enterprise is that results exist only on the outside. The result of a business is a satisfied customer. The result of a hospital is a healed patient. The result of a school is a student who has learned something and puts it to work ten years later. Inside an enterprise, there are only costs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Drucker |first=Peter F. |title=Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices |publisher=Harper Business& Row |date=20081973}}</ref> 

| author = {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Customers first, employees second, and shareholders third.<ref>{{cite web |title=RegistrationLetter Statementfrom (FormJack F-1): Alibaba Group Holding LimitedMa |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1577552/000119312514184994000119312514347620/d709111df1d709111d424b4.htm |website=SEC.gov |publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |access-date=18 December 20252023-10-27 |date=6 May 2014-09-19 |author=Jack Ma}}</ref>

  | author = {{Jack Ma/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.<ref>{{cite book |last=LeBoeuf |first=Michael |title=How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |date=1987}}</ref>

  | author = {{Michael LeBoeuf/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Make a customer, not a sale.<ref>{{cite webnews |title=Top40 Eye-Opening Customer Service Quotes: 10 Thoughts Every Business Can Live By |url=https://www.vonageforbes.com/resourcessites/articlesekaterinawalter/top2014/03/04/40-eye-opening-customer-service-quotes-10-thoughts-every-business-live-by/ |websitework=Vonage |author=Vonage EditorialForbes |date=October 27, 20222014-03-04 |access-date=December2025-12-24 19,|author=Ekaterina 2025Walter}}</ref>

  | author = {{Katherine Barchetti/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.<ref>{{cite book |last=FischerGandhi |first=LouisMahatma |title=The EssentialCollected Gandhi: An AnthologyWorks of HisMahatma WritingsGandhi on|publisher=Publications His LifeDivision, Work,Government and Ideas |publisher=Vintageof BooksIndia |date=20021967}}</ref>

  | author = {{Mahatma Gandhi/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = The biggest needle movers will be things that customers don’t know to ask for. We must invent on their behalf.<ref>{{cite web |title=2018 Letter to Shareholders |url=https://www.aboutamazon.eucom/news/company-news/2018-letter-to-shareholders |website=About Amazon Europe |publisher=Amazon.com |access-date=18 December 20252019-04-11 |access-date=11 April 20192023-10-27 |author=Jeff Bezos}}</ref>

  | author = {{Jeff Bezos/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = You've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can't start with the technology and try to figure out where you're going to try to sell it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Steve Jobs: Appleat WWDC 1997 Closing Keynote |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF-tKLISfPE |website=YouTube |publisher=Apple Inc. |access-date=18 December 20252023-10-27 |date=13 May 1997-05-13 |author=Steve Jobs}}</ref>

  | author = {{Steve Jobs/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = We needed to build deeper empathy for our customers and their unarticulated and unmet needs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nadella |first=Satya |title=Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone |publisher=HarperCollins |date=2017}}</ref>

  | author = {{Satya Nadella/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = You can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new.<ref>{{cite news |title=Steve Jobs: The NextEntrepreneur Insanelyof Greatthe ThingDecade Award |url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/19890401/5602.html |work=Inc. Magazine |date=1989-04-01 |access-date=20252023-1210-1927 |author=George Gendron, George}}</ref>

  | author = {{Steve Jobs/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Don't find customers for your products, find products for your customers.<ref>{{cite book |last=Godin |first=Seth |title=This isIs Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn Toto See |publisher=Portfolio |date=2018}}</ref>

  | author = {{Seth Godin/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = We see a lot of feature-driven product design in which the cost of features is not properly accounted. Features can have a negative value to customers because they make the products more difficult to understand and use. We are finding that people like products that just work. It turns out that designs that just work are much harder to produce that designs that assemble long lists of features.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crockford |first=Douglas |title=JavaScript: The Good Parts |publisher=O'Reilly Media, Inc. |date=2008}}</ref>

  | author = {{Douglas Crockford/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = As far as the customer is concerned, the interface is the product.<ref>{{cite book |last=Raskin |first=Jef |title=The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems |publisher=Addison-Wesley Professional |date=2000}}</ref>

  | author = {{Jef Raskin/attribution}}

  }}

| text = If we can keep our competitors focused on us while we stay focused on the customer, ultimately we'll turn out all right.<ref>{{cite book |last=BrandtBezos |first=Richard L.Jeff |title=OneInvent Click& Wander: JeffThe BezosCollected and the RiseWritings of Amazon.comJeff Bezos |publisher=PortfolioHarvard Business Review Press |date=20112020}}</ref>

| author = {{Jeff Bezos/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Customer service shouldn't just be a department, it should be the entire company.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hsieh |first=Tony |title=Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose |publisher=BusinessGrand Central PlusPublishing |date=2010}}</ref>

  | author = {{Tony Hsieh/attribution}}

  }}

| image = johnterry-zimmerpratchett.jpg

  | author = {{JohnTerry ZimmerPratchett/attribution}}

  }}

| image = connieorison-elderswett-marden.jpg

  | author = {{ConnieOrison Swett ElderMarden/attribution}}

  }}

| image = herbmary-kelleherkay-ash.jpg

  | text = ThePretend customerthat isevery sometimessingle wrong.person Weyou don'tmeet carryhas thosea sortssign ofaround customershis or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.' WeNot writeonly towill themyou andsucceed sayin "Flysales, somebodyyou elsewill succeed in life."<ref>{{cite book |last=FreibergAsh |first=KevinMary Kay |title=Nuts!Mary Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal SuccessKay |publisher=BardHarper & PressRow |date=19961981}}</ref>

  | author = {{HerbMary Kay KelleherAsh/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = It also involves romancing the customer and romancing all the senses in the store experience.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schultz |first=Howard |title=Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time |publisher=Hyperion |date=1997}}</ref>

  | author = {{Howard Schultz/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.<ref>{{cite book |last=Disney Institute |first= |title=BeThe OurQuotable Guest:Walt Perfecting the Art of Customer ServiceDisney |publisher=Disney Editions |date=2001}}</ref>

  | author = {{Walt Disney/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel.<ref>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Richard L. |title=Richard L. Evans' Quote Book |publisher=Publishers Press |date=1971}}</ref>

  | author = {{Carl W. Buehner/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = The key is to set realistic customer expectations, and then not to just meet them, but to exceed them — preferably in unexpected and helpful ways.<ref>{{cite booknews |last=Branson |firsttitle=Richard |title=BusinessBranson Strippedon Bare:How Adventuresto ofAttract Customers |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/richard-branson-on-how-to-attract-customers/226639 Global |work=Entrepreneur |publisherdate=Virgin Books2013-05-13 |access-date=20082023-10-27 |author=Richard Branson}}</ref>

  | author = {{Richard Branson/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Quality in a product or service is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for.<ref>{{cite book |last=Drucker |first=Peter F. |title=Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles |publisher=Harper & Row |date=20061985}}</ref>

  | author = {{Peter Drucker/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = The best way to hold customers is to constantly figure out how to give them more for less.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kotler |first=Philip |title=Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs to Know |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |date=2003}}</ref>

  | author = {{Philip Kotler/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cuban |first=Mark |title=How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It |publisher=Diversion Books |date=2011}}</ref>

  | author = {{Mark Cuban/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It's our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.<ref>{{cite newsbook |last=Stone |first=Brad |title=FromThe BillEverything Gates toStore: Jeff Bezos: Thoughtsand onthe consumersAge |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/thoughts/from-bill-gates-to-jeff-bezos-thoughts-on-consumers/75589/1of Amazon |workpublisher=ForbesLittle, IndiaBrown |date=2022-04-22and Company |access-date=2025-12-19 |author=Forbes India Staff2013}}</ref>

  | author = {{Jeff Bezos/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gates |first=Bill |title=Business @ the Speed of Thought: Using a Digital Nervous System |publisher=Warner Books |date=1999}}</ref>

  | author = {{Bill Gates/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.<ref>{{cite newsbook |last=AndersStone |first=GeorgeBrad |title=Relentless.comThe |url=httpsEverything Store://www.wsj.com/articles/SB94322434193566141 |work=TheJeff WallBezos Streetand Journalthe Age of Amazon |datepublisher=1999-11-22Little, Brown and Company |access-date=2025-12-192013}}</ref>

  | author = {{Jeff Bezos/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.<ref>{{cite book |last=KilpatrickBuffett |first=AndrewMary |title=Of Permanent Value: The StoryTao of Warren Buffett |publisher=AKPEScribner |date=20072006}}</ref>

  | author = {{Warren Buffett/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = The best customer service is if the customer doesn't need to call you, doesn't need to talk to you. It just works.<ref>{{cite webbook |titlelast=2011 Letter to ShareholdersStone |urlfirst=https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/2011-letter-to-shareholdersBrad |websitetitle=AboutThe Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon |publisher=Amazon.comLittle, Inc.Brown |access-date=Decemberand 19, 2025Company |date=April 11, 2012 |author=Jeff Bezos2013}}</ref>

  | author = {{Jeff Bezos/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = If we are delighting customers, eliminating unnecessary costs and improving our products and services, we gain strength.<ref>{{cite web |title=2005 Shareholder Letter to Shareholders |url=https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2005ltr.pdf |website=BerkshireHathaway.com |publisher=Berkshire Hathaway Inc. |access-date=18 December 20252023-10-27 |date=28 February 2006-02-28 |author=Warren Buffett}}</ref>

  | author = {{Warren Buffett/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000.<ref>{{cite newsweb |title=TheCustomer NerdExperience ofIs theThe Future Of AmazonMarketing |url=https://www.cbsnewsforbes.com/newssites/jeffdanielnewman/2015/10/13/customer-bezosexperience-is-the-nerdfuture-of-the-amazonmarketing/ |workwebsite=60 MinutesForbes |publisher=CBSForbes NewsMedia |access-date=19992025-0612-2024 |date=2015-10-13 |author=Simon,Daniel BobNewman}}</ref>

  | author = {{Jeff Bezos/attribution}}

  }}

  | text = Delighted customers are the only advertisement everyone believes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Ron |title=Lift Me Up!Uplifting Service with a Smile: 101 Bright Ideas to Make Your Customers Smile |publisher=UP!Evolve Your ServicePublishing |date=20052012}}</ref>

  | author = {{Ron Kaufman/attribution}}

  }}