Jim Barksdale, CEO of Netscape Communications, is standing
before 50 new recruits at an orientation session. He's a congenial guy with a wry sense of
humor. He's old enough to be the father of many people in the room, which is precisely what
he doesn't want to be.
First he asks a question: "What's the purpose of this business?
"To make money," replies one new employee.
"Wrong!" Barksdale snaps. "Our purpose is to create and keep customers. Somehow each of you
has to be a part of that purpose."
From "Hire Great People Fast" by Bill Birchard, Fast Company (1997)
Even if you can't find a lot of information on the company interviewing you, you can have a good idea of many of the challenges facing them and the areas where you could make a contribution. Most businesses share similar problems and want similar benefits from their employees.
By understanding how businesses operate and provide value to customers, you will be in a position
to deduce ways that you can make a contribution to an organization -- even if you can't dig up any
specific information about them in your research.
The purpose of every business:
To make a profit through creating & keeping customers
If you only internalize three points in this book, this should be one of
them. Businesses exist to create customers -- and they must do this at a
cost that enables them to stay in operation. (For example, if their purpose is merely
to create customers, they can do so by slashing all prices in half. With this
strategy, the business will attract plenty of customers, but will eventually run out
of money and be forced to shut down. Creating and keeping customers is the fundamental
purpose, but there are always financial constraints.)
Think about what you have to offer the company and answer these questions:
- What can you do to help them get or keep customers?
- How does what you see yourself doing provide value to their customers?
This is an absolutely essential part of your preparation -- and one ignored by most
interview guides.
A company makes a profit by offering something of value to its customers. Even non-profit
organizations exist to serve customers. An organization without customers has no reason to exist,
and there's no reason for anyone to devote any resources to keeping it going (other than the
expectation of having customers in the future).
The company may issue your paycheque, but...[continued here]
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