I want to talk about benchmarking. I do a brief segment about this in some of my speeches and I’ve written several short articles that include this topic. I read one of them today and felt it was worth giving some thought to.
I am an advocate of benchmarking. Most people feel that benchmarking is comparing to others. Think about doing this. Find out what others are doing right, but don’t compare or try to copy them. Use their excellence as a starting point. Figure out how to do it better – improve on their greatness.
When a person or company benchmarks they are usually looking at a company within their industry. Great, but there is more. What are the companies and people outside of your industry doing? Find out what they do best and figure out how to incorporate these ideas into your own business strategies. Then try to improve on them.
The bottom line is that benchmarking is a starting point.
Finally, an appropriate quote. Here it is…
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle
Be excellent!
Shep Hyken, CSP is a professional speaker and author who works with companies who want to develop loyal relationships with their customers and employees. For more information on Shep's speaking programs, books, tapes and learning programs please contact (314) 692- 2200. Email: shep@hyken.com Web: www.hyken.com