Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon.com and potentially one of the most polarizing figures in the corporate world today. Martin Sosnoff is a respected financial columnist for the Forbes website and Sosnoff has recently called Bezos “borderline psychotic.” When a respected financial observer from one of the most respected financial publications in the world calls you psychotic, then that may indicate that there is more madness than method to Jeff Bezos.

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Bezos gets his reputation for having a sense of adventure that few business professionals would dare to display. When Bezos first introduced the idea of using delivery drones for same day service, many industry observers thought he was kidding. When they realized he wasn’t kidding, some (such as Sosnoff) thought he was crazy. But can other business professionals learn from Bezos’ method? When you look closely at what Bezos has done, it starts to become easier to see the method and dismiss the madness.

Bezos Believes In Long-Term Thinking

Whenever an entrepreneur starts a new venture, one of the initial thoughts is of the profit that will be gained from that venture. In an article in Slate.com, Bezos was quoted as saying that long-term planning mixed with short-term actions to delight customers will always line up with investor expectations. To this point, it is hard to argue with Bezos based on the success of Amazon and its many programs.

What does this mean for your business? It means that Bezos may be unconventional, but there is a reason behind what he does. When he plans a new venture, he thinks in terms of long-term effect and results. That is something that new business professionals should consider as they put their own business plans together. Instead of looking for a quick return, it is smarter to think long-term.

The Customer Is King

According to the Bloomberg Businessweek website, Jeff Bezos encourages customers to use his public email address to send him questions and complaints. When Bezos sees a problem that is shared by a group of customers, he sends an email to his team and demands an immediate resolution to the issue. It is a routine that Amazon employees have become accustomed to and it is the way that Bezos does business.

The message here is very simple; the customer is always king. Bezos may take extravagant risks in his business ventures, but he is always focused on his customers. As you start putting together your business venture, keep your focus on your customers to help enhance your chances of success.

The Biggest Factor Is Accountability

The Openview Partners website offered the Jeff Bezos view on business growth and customer service and the underlying theme was accountability. Bezos believes in being accountable to his customers and he believes in holding his employees accountable for their actions.

As you put your new business venture together, remember to build accountability into everything you do. If you are accountable to your customers, then you are focusing on the very group that will determine your success.

For all of his outlandish ideas, Jeff Bezos maintains a rather stable business philosophy that every business professional should learn. You can take risks in business, but you must remain grounded in the things that are important to your organization if you want to succeed. It may look like Jeff Bezos takes risks. But when you look deeper into his decision-making process, you start to realize that there are some very good reasons why Amazon is one of the largest retailers in the world.