Harvard Service

Author: Xiang Hong, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Loyal customers are like savings cards for merchants that allow them to withdraw cash from ATMs without needing to deposit money. Failing companies often focus on finding new customers to replace old ones, while successful companies focus on retaining existing customers and expanding new ones, thereby increasing sales volume and performance. For a seasoned businessperson, selling to new customers is merely a bonus, but without a solid foundation of loyal customers, selling to new customers is just a compensation for lost ones, and overall sales will not increase. A company must establish the following concept: loyal customers are your best customers. A company must adhere to the following principle: make the first-time buyer of your product a lifelong customer. There is a famous equation in the marketing world: 100-1=0. This means that even if 100 customers are satisfied with a company, but just one customer holds a negative attitude, the company's reputation instantly becomes zero. This metaphor seems exaggerated, but facts show: each highly satisfied customer will share their positive experience with at least 12 people, and about 10 of them will patronize the company when they have the same needs again. Conversely, a highly dissatisfied customer will share their dissatisfaction with at least 20 people, and almost none of them will patronize the criticized company when they have the same needs. It is clear that customer satisfaction is a subjective quality that is difficult to quantify and does not follow mathematical or logical principles.
In the early 17th century, the first British settlers arrived in North America to establish their own paradise. Among them were over 100 Puritans who had received classical higher education at Oxford and Cambridge. To ensure that their descendants could also receive this education in the new homeland, they established Harvard College in 1636 along the Charles River in Massachusetts. By 1780, just four years after the founding of the United States, Harvard College, which had a history of over 140 years, was elevated to Harvard University. The founders of Harvard College initially adopted the model of Cambridge University and named it Cambridge College. In 1639, to honor John Harvard, the primary donor of the school's founding, the Massachusetts legislature passed a resolution to rename the college Harvard College. The Harvard University seal, still used today, features the Latin word "VERITAS," meaning truth. The original motto of Harvard University, also written in Latin, translates to "Be friends with Plato, be friends with Aristotle, and above all, be friends with truth." The words on the seal and motto reveal the founding purpose of Harvard University—seeking truth and upholding authenticity.
Conant, a renowned American educator who served as Harvard University's president for 20 years, once said: "The honor of a university does not lie in its buildings or its size, but in the quality of its generations." It is precisely because Harvard has consistently maintained high standards in selecting faculty and educating students that it has become a top-tier, prestigious institution that has nurtured generations of talent. Harvard has had a profound impact on the economy, politics, culture, science, and higher education of American society, and it remains highly attractive to seekers of knowledge worldwide. Let us understand Harvard from its cultural essence—