Owning the Podium – Lessons Learned for Business
Today I’m ‘officially’ travelling to our
Unofficially I’m taking my son, visiting my sister, and taking in several Olympic events. And like all Canadians I’m very proud of our athletes (win or lose) and the great job the City of Vancouver has done – after all not everyone can pull off, as Barnum and Bailey called it, the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’.
The media has made much of our boast to Own the Podium and how athletes from other countries have used it as motivation to beat us at these games. That we never heard from other countries about our goal being a little cocky (to say the least) attests to a simple rule – never insult your host unless you want a cold dinner. For me I love that goal and I’m glad our Olympic Committee had the courage to put it out there because it ignited my interest in these games and more importantly generated a level of pride and confidence across our country that I’ve never seen before.
However what are the lessons learned for business? Many companies including qdata boast about being: the leader, the best, the most innovative, best in customer service, etc. And while
So what does Owning the Podium look like for business?
- written references from customers with actual numbers to support any claims
- measurements of customer service such as response time, days outstanding, and ratio of open vs resolved cases
- percent of business from existing customers
- customer survey results
- on time delivery percentages
- returns as a percent of sales orders
- # of lost customers per year
- # of new customers per year
- training hours as a percent of hours worked
- R&D dollars as a percentage of profits
- single digit employee turnover
- year over year growth and profitability
- a solid balance sheet
- metrics and bonuses in place that monitor and reward the above
- a vision and rallying point for the company
Getting those numbers and vision right for me means Owning the Podium.
And while we’re not ‘gold’ in all categories yet, we’re tracking them and improving on them meaning we’re on the podium in more than our fair share of deals.
So here’s to our athletes and the City of