Is putting the customer first scalable?

Putting the customer first as a means of delivering business growth. That's a novel thought. But, if you try to implement even a test of something so simple the first roadblock that you will face is someone protecting the status quo by asking, is it scalable?

What does it mean to be scalable? When a test market is being designed, and a well-meaning staffer says, "we can't do that, it's not scaleable", what they are really saying is, "we can't repeat the program on a national scale within the current budget." But, that's not the definition of scalability.

A definition of commercial scalability on Wikipedia offers the following: "scalability of a company implies that the underlying business model offers the potential for economic growth within the company." So, if within the test market you are able to prove, i.e. measure, that the business activities result in profitable growth then that meets the burden of the scalability test.

Putting the customer first will always cost more money during a test situation for two reasons: you're operating on a highly customized situation and you're doing something that the existing organization is not designed to do. But, you first have to show that it will work and deliver an ROI. Then you start implementing changes within a defined budget.

I prefer to find out what level of investment is needed to grow the business, staying within a target ROI, then to artificially set a budget and make miracles happen....year after year.

If we want different results, we need to try something different. Don't use "scalability" as an excuse to repeat the same mistakes.

Any thoughts?