1: Value

When I was in college, we used to drive to neighboring campuses for parties and mixers. On the way home, it was a tradition that late at night we would stop by Howard Johnson’s. The orange roof was always a recognizable sight. But where is Howard Johnson’s today? For that matter, where is the airline Pan Am? Or TWA? Or Woolworth’s? Try finding a Bennigan’s. Or a Hofbrau House.

There is a long line of businesses that once were household names that no longer exist today. Restaurants. Airlines. Retailers. Manufacturers. Every kind of business imaginable.

There are many reasons why businesses go under: changing market conditions, changing tastes, changing technology–but behind every reason is a basic and fundamental failing of businesses that go under. That failing is that businesses that fail have not listened to their customer.

When a business listens to and hears the voice of their customer, they are able to respond to their marketplace...