“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The true dangerous thing is asking the wrong question.

The one man to distrust, however, is the man who never makes a mistake, never commits a blunder, never fails in what he tries to do. He is either a phony, or he stays with the safe, the tried, and the trivial.

The less an organization has to do to produce results, the better it does its job.

A decision without an alternative is a desperate gambler’s throw.

By themselves, character and integrity do not accomplish anything. But their absence faults everything else. Here, therefore, is the one area where weakness is a disqualification by itself rather than a limitation on performance capacity and strength.

People in any organization are always attached to the obsolete – the things that should have worked but did not, the things that once were productive and no longer are.

There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.

To be sure, the fundamental task of management remains the same: to make people capable of joint performance through common goals, common values, the right structure, and the training and development they need to perform and to respond to change.

You should not change yourself, but create yourself, that mean build around your strengths and removing bad habits

Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.

Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.

Management is about human beings. Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant.

Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.

A manager is responsible for the application and performance of knowledge.

Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are essential resources, but only effectiveness converts them into results.

Meetings are by definition a concession to deficient organization For one either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time.

I’d rather spend money on things that improve the customer experience than on marketing.

We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers. That is my new battle cry. Live and breathe Starbucks the way our customers do.

We asked ourselves what we wanted this company to stand for. We didn’t want to just sell shoes. I wasn’t even into shoes – but I was passionate about customer service.

Until you understand your customers – deeply and genuinely – you cannot truly serve them.

Instead of telling a story about how great your brand is, try telling a story that shows you completely understand and empathize with your customer and their life.

It’s almost always easier to sell to an existing customer base than to find a new one.

Creating demand is hard. Filling demand is easier. Don’t create a product, then seek someone to sell it to. Find a market – define your customers – then find or develop a product for them.

Giving customers and prospects a glimpse into the entrepreneur’s life and mindset can allow them to cultivate a deeper relationship with customers separately from the brand.