Supply Chain

It's the Customer, Stupid!

Sept. 18, 2010

Ask most business people today what they need more than anything else to grow their businesses, hire new workers, and expand their investments, and the answer becomes pretty clear: give them more customers.

It is a nice thought that the Federal Government is increasing lending options to small and medium-sized businesses and offering tax breaks for new investment.

Still, these well-intentioned policies will ultimately have little impact on the ability of firms to build sustainable growth in both the short and long-term.

It is not until customers return in a meaningful way that companies will be able to provide the foundation for America’s true economic recovery. And, much of the world’s as well.

As 70% of the U.S. economy- and more than 20% of all global GDP- is driven by the American consumer, it is ludicrous to be even thinking about raising taxes or eliminating “the Bush tax cuts”. Yet, that is exactly what is happening.

Lawmakers- many of them seeking re-election in November- would be wise to remember that until Americans begin to spend again, nothing much will occur. It’s the Customer, Stupid!

About the Author

Andrew R. Thomas Blog | Associate Professor of Marketing and International Business

Andrew R. Thomas, Ph.D., is associate professor of marketing and international business at the University of Akron; and, a member of the core faculty at the International School of Management in Paris, France.

He is a bestselling business author/editor, whose 23 books include, most recently, American Shale Energy and the Global Economy: Business and Geopolitical Implications of the Fracking Revolution, The Customer Trap: How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake in Business, Global Supply Chain Security, The Final Journey of the Saturn V, and Soft Landing: Airline Industry Strategy, Service and Safety.

His book The Distribution Trap was awarded the Berry-American Marketing Association Prize for the Best Marketing Book of 2010. Another work, Direct Marketing in Action, was a finalist for the same award in 2008.

Andrew is founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Transportation Security and a regularly featured analyst for media outlets around the world.

He has traveled to and conducted business in 120 countries on all seven continents.