Winners vs. Losers

Stephen Mulvaney has consulted with hundreds of businesses of all types. That experience has helped him learn what separates good companies from bad companies, and here are some of the key points he has learned.

Winners have a vision for success. Losers work to avoid failure.

Winners cause change. Losers wait and hesitate to react.

“This is especially a problem for family businesses since change can be so difficult for the people involved there,” Mulvaney pointed out, reinforcing his message with a quote from former General Electric CEO Jack Welch. “If the change inside your organization is slower than the change outside the organization, the end is in sight.”

Winners go with winners. Losers rescue losers.

Winners focus on customers. Losers sell on price.

“Price is important,” Mulvaney acknowledged, “but it can’t be your lead sales message. Low-price customers are demanding, there’s no loyalty and they will ultimately hurt employee morale.”

Winners feel urgency for improvement. Losers accept OK as good enough.

“Southwest Airlines is a perfect example,” Mulvaney noted. “They have an intense focus on what the customer wants most and then they build the entire company around that.”

The author is Editor/Publisher for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at bwest@lawnandlandscape.com.