From Deseret News archives:
Businessman describes 7 traits of successes
Hall, founder and chairman of Ogden-based MarketStar, told about 400 people at the sixth annual Rural Business Conference that he discovered those seven basic principles during a business life that has featured both failure and success. Four companies he founded before MarketStar failed, but MarketStar now is in 100 countries, has thousands of employees and generated $5 billion in sales this year on behalf of 30 high-tech clients it represents.
While one audience member surmised that the seven principles represented common sense, several of the points focused on relationships with customers and employees.
Among them were that top companies know their customers.
"They just get it," Hall said. "They know exactly how the customer behaves. They know how they buy. They know what they want. They understand everything about the nature of the customer. So if you think about your own businesses and where you're located or the businesses that you support, the No. 1 thing I would have you consider is how well they know their customers. Those that greatly succeed and greatly benefit and prosper, they really have this nailed down."
Hall said statistics indicate that "knowing customers" means spending half of the business day with them.
"So you have to ask yourself, in the course of your normal day, that you're doing all the kinds of things that a business executive has to deal with, how much of that time is spent on talking and visiting with your customers? I would dare say that most of us are not spending half of our time doing it," he said.
MarketStar takes time every year to visit with each customer, not to sell anything but instead to listen and learn about trends and needs, he said.
But when it comes time to sell, the company leader must lead in sales, he said.
"My experience from businesses good and those that aren't too good is that the leader of a business — let's call it the CEO, the president, whoever it is — that person should be the No. 1 salesperson. All too often, the senior executive of a business likes to delegate that to somebody else."
But that "somebody else" may lack the drive or interest that the top executive has. "You can delegate it, but you always own it," he said.
Another characteristic of winning companies is taking care of customers, he said. "You have to remember, ladies and gentlemen, that after the sale, you're not done," he said.
