Have you ever wished there was a way for you to catapult your Amazon Store to success? Or become the next Jeff Bezos? To get on the right path, equip yourself with the right tools to tackle the major challenges of running an online business. Let us look closely at how Jeff Bezos would have approached the problems you are facing as an Amazon seller and entrepreneur.
Even the best financial tycoons on Wall Street do not have all the answers. But what sets them apart from the average person is these people know how to leverage their intellectual resources for success.
And Jeff Bezos couldn’t have stated it better when he said there are three ingredients to success:
- Talented experts;
- A beginner’s mind
- A long-term orientation
But back when Bezos was just a budding entrepreneur, it wasn’t always easy for him to get the right information from his staff and people around him. That’s because everyone, from executives to managers to sales clerks, tends to sugarcoat what they say either to impress or to keep their boss from knowing something they think might upset them. This in effect isolates and insulates the CEO from everything that’s going on in the company. Something needs to be done.
“When you’re in a box in an office, you’ve got to invent a way out of that box,” Jeff Bezos once advised.
Certainly, one of the tools you can use to get around the problem is employee feedback. When Bezos started distributing questionnaires to his employees, he was slightly uneasy, not knowing what to expect. He swallowed his pride and learned to appreciate the insight he gained, having found countless ways to improve employee productivity, drive customer engagement and increase company revenues.
Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur or a seasoned one, there’s a lot to learn from Jeff Bezos. So now you too can leverage your own company’s intellectual resources to the fullest.
- Work with the right people
There’s a saying that goes, “your company is only as good as the people it keeps.” Hiring talented people is a good start, but it’s not enough. You need a team of talented people who can actually work together in taking your company to the next level. You want to surround yourself with brilliant individuals who also have the ability to work together seamlessly in bringing your plan to fruition.
- Be a perpetual student
Sometimes having an extremely talented team also carries its own problems. Simply belonging to that team could lead anyone to think they already know everything. Beware of a mindset that prevents you from growing and learning, because everything goes downhill from there.
What Jeff Bezos recommends is for leaders to adopt a beginner’s mindset, which allows you to set aside your ego and embrace learning new things every day. Being a perpetual student means keeping yourself updated on things going on around you, within the company, the community around you and the world as a whole. It’s a continuing process that builds upon itself, giving you a fresher perspective, so you remain open to new and better ideas.
Be bold about learning. Experiment and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Take each learning moment as opportunities for growth and professional development.
- Think long-term
When Bezos was just a budding entrepreneur, his business suffered a lot of setbacks. However, he was set on his vision and never let up even though Amazon had financial difficulties at the start. He persevered knowing that achieving the goals he set for himself and Amazon take time and patience.
He encouraged and inspired his team to do the same – to think long-term.
The ups and downs were seen as essential catalysts for learning and improvement. The idea is to look beyond momentary victories and temporary defeats and focus on the company’s long-term goal and strategies. This is what made Amazon great today. It’s a product of intelligent, long-term planning and hard work. There are no shortcuts here.
- Give monetary incentives
Bezos believes in giving money incentives as a way of coaxing his staff to provide feedback. The incentive can be a hundred dollars for every brilliant suggestion or proposal. However, this strategy will only work if you have earned first the trust of your people.
Of course you don’t always have to give something in return for your employees’ ideas. A simple acknowledgement of their contribution is can be enough to encourage them to be open with their thoughts and ideas.
- Big goals start with baby steps
The idea is to build upon our previous efforts and successes. Hardly is there any need to do things drastically and build something in its place from the ground up.
So instead of tearing everything down, solicit ideas from your employees on how you might improve the way the business operates. A slight tweak here and there as well as careful attention to details may be all that’s needed to give your business the boost it needs for greater success.
As your team begins to feel more at ease with contributing their ideas, empower them by trusting them with important projects. If someone has a great idea on how to boost online sales, then let them lead the team towards the realization of that goal. Not only will your workforce feel good about being entrusted with such an important project, but they will have more drive and motivation because they are executing their own ideas; leading to higher employee morale and retention.
Conclusion
The members of your staff are your spokespeople. They represent your brand and company. If there’s anything going on, good or bad; they are the frontliners and are first to know. That’s why we need to gain their trust and make use of this intellectual resource for the good of the company and all its stakeholders.
A good leader does not rely on semi-annual surveys alone. It is not sufficient to address a company’s feedback needs. Keep communication channels open, and encourage everyone to speak up and express their thoughts and views as the need arises.
Over the years Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos learned that team members who are given free rein to innovate often turn out to be highly capable of steering the company’s strategic direction. So take good care of you employees. Who knows, your next million-dollar idea might just come from that new hire with a fresh perspective.
If you enjoyed reading this blog post; or if you want more insightful stories like this one, feel free to let us know and we’ll do our best to assist you in your request. At Seller Investigators, we are entrepreneurs and FBA Sellers just like you. If you are frustrated with Amazon’s return systems, we know exactly how you feel, because we’ve been there ourselves.
If an item is lost, damaged, or destroyed, the onus is on you, the seller to request a credit. Amazon makes it confusing to spot reimbursements and laborious to file for refunds. Un-refunded reimbursements can make up to 2% of your turnover.
FBAi developed a proprietary API that reviews our client’s accounts and automatically retrieves all the funds that are owed. Once owed-reimbursements are identified, our team manually submits and manages these requests on a weekly basis. You receive bi-weekly reimbursements from Amazon credited and deposited into your account – without having to do a thing.
