W09 Reflection

     I think that this week covered a more broad set of information.  The topics that we covered ranged from trust and ethics to leadership and capability.  I think one of the most important things I learned from this week was creating trust with the customer.  Guy Kawasaki gave a couple of examples of this.  An example of this is companies paying for shipping costs, even if someone is trying to return the product.  It shows that the company trusts the consumer.  This makes shopping with those certain companies a lot more appealing because you won't have to worry about causing unnecessary friction.  It's just another way of putting the customer first.  

    In general, it's important to hire ethical people.  But how do you do it?  In one of the videos, we learn that it may be a lot easier than it seems.  What you want to look for is someone who is nice.  Why?  Usually it's because these people that are nice in social settings are more likely to put the team needs first.  This is how we should treat our customers as well.  If we treat them like a number, they're going to treat us as a number.  However, if we are personable and we do business as if we were doing it with family (by not trying to short anyone and by providing the best service), we will create stronger connections with our consumer base and we will have more loyal customers.  

    The last thing that I learned this week was about leadership.  As leaders we must be able to communicate.  Usually when I think of communication I think of what and how I'm speaking.  However, as leaders, it's also important to listen to our co-workers and to our consumers.  It's very hard to lead when we don't know what the needs are of others and what they expect of us.