Master Old Rule: Shareholders Rule / New Rule: The Customer is King with Picmonic for College

CEOs often discuss the importance of their customers, and describe a push to maximize shareholder value (stock price).

"The tail wagging the dog" describes that aggressive pricing abuses customers, trying to shake out profits from them. In this metaphor, the tails is the company, while the dog is the large customer base being abused.

With the old rule, customers were bullied with aggressive pricing on hotel phone bills, rental-car gas charges, credit card fees, etc. This led customers to believe their companies were not doing a good job of serving them.

The new rule dictates that a successful company will predict what customers want before they even know. An example of this is Apple, who dreams up devices that customers want before they know they do.

Companies in the new rule keep the customer experience front and center. An example of this is Genentech, whose employees remember that their drugs are for cancer patients. Another example is Apple, which is a company obsessed with the user experience.

Harnessing employees as a "powerful engine" can occur if employees are made proud. It was found through metrics called the Net Promoter Score that measured how likely a customer was to make another transaction with the business. It was found that in these companies, when everything was focused on delivering for customers, the employees were more proud, empowering them to work harder.