Since Steve Jobs untimely death in October, it seems he has been on the minds of just about everyone in the business world. His biography by Walker Isaacson was rushed to press right after his death and has been atop bestseller lists every week since. There are some wonderful lessons to be learned from Steve Jobs life and from what he and his staff were able to accomplish at Apple. Don’t forget, Apple was 90 days away from declaring bankruptcy  back in 1997 when Steve Jobs returned as CEO. In August of 2011 Apple had become the world’s most valuable company with a market value of $337 billion.

When Apple was formed as a corporation in 1976 with co-founder Steve Wozniac and investor Mike Markkula, it was the philosophy penned by Markkula in 1977 that was the driving force that  Steve Jobs ran the company by, and that Apple continues to abide by to this day.

Empathy

We will truly understand their needs better than any other company.

Can you make the same claim for your business?  Do you and your staff understand the needs of your customers better than your competitors? What steps will you take in 2012 to be able to proudly make that claim?

Focus
In order to do a good job of those things we decide to do we must eliminate all of the unimportant opportunities.

What are you doing in your business that is ancillary and taking away from your focus of running the best business possible? Are you selling product that’s just for fun, just a whim? Are you selling t-shirts when you and your staff should be concentrating on your primary products? When Steve Jobs returned to Apple he cut the product line from dozens to four. He simply asked his engineers “which models do I tell my friends to buy?” The idea was to be totally committed to make the best product in 4 areas Consumer/Professional, Desktop/Laptop. To this day, Apple doesn’t offer wide variety in each product. Sometimes having too much to choose from doesn’t create opportunity, it creates confusion.

Impute
People DO judge a book by its cover. We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceive as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.

When you purchase an Apple product, the box and how the product is presented in it, is almost as well designed as the product itself. The cords are wrapped neatly in a clear plastic sheath which surely costs another penny or two in time and material than a twist tie, but you get a feeling of quality when you open an Apple product. From their website to their retail stores to every product they make, Apple imputes quality.

How do you present your products? From start to finish, does your business represent the message of excellence and professionalism you are trying to convey? Do you package their purchase in a plastic grocery bag? Are your business cards printed on your inkjet? Does your website look like it was built 6 years ago by your cousin’s next door neighbors son? The impression your customers have of your practice is formed by both the big things and the little. You can sell the finest product out there. You can choose to affirm the sale with the right touches for a few cents more per item, or take a chance or ruining it when your business doesn’t impute the same quality you put into making the product when you deliver the product