Focus on service, and sales will follow.
And yet we are increasingly told not to engage in politics and to instead focus on service delivery.
Of course, the renewed focus on service reflects more than good intentions on the part of Mr. Gifford.
He added that a new high-tech cable brand and an "intensified focus on service and innovation are making a real difference".
This, Fernandopulle explained, would force doctors on staff to focus on service, in order to retain their patients and the fees they would bring.
Fijians accumulate standing and influence via traditional social relationships that focus on service to others rather than individual accumulation of wealth or property.
But with its customer satisfaction survey also pinpointing Npower as the worst performer, it's clear a greater focus on service is needed urgently.
"Norwest's focus on service may be just what's needed to right Wells's wrongs," says Sean Ryan, an analyst at Bear Stearns.US Bancorp insists it can compete alone.
"Agents who focus on service to the buyer were not impacted as heavily by Sept. 11," said Richard Eastman, a travel industry consultant in Newport Beach, Calif.
But "customer", with its attendant focus on "service", feels not only antithetical to what we do, but also potentially dangerous, especially in the setting of higher education.
It said: Cheaper online competition is not something new for Halfords and the focus on service and fitting has provided a degree of insulation from this threat.
