Best Buy 2008 Annual Report Download - page 5

Best Buy Fiscal 2008 Annual Report | 3
Inherent in our view is a bold belief. That belief is this:
our growth can exceed what the product cycle and diffi cult
macro environment would indicate we should be expected
to produce this year. Our optimism is founded in our people,
their behaviors and our culture. Over the years, I have
learned to trust the evidence we see in our stores more than
any other data I receive. We know it is our challenge to turn
anecdotal successes into the rule.
Measuring from the outside
A fair question investors sometimes ask is how to tell from
the outside whether our strategy of customer centricity is
working. One way is to judge our performance compared
to that of our industry peers. Of course, this information is
available only after the fact. A better way is to spend time
in our stores, engage our services, interact with our call
centers or visit our Web sites.
When you do that, see if the strategy I describe in this
letter is matched by what our front-line employees think our
strategy is. Ask them what they are noticing about their
customers, how they are attempting to serve customers
better—and how well the company is supporting their
efforts. Judge for yourself whether we’re that trusted advisor
capable of helping customers use technology the way they
dreamed. While you could get a misread at any one
location on any given day, anywhere you go you should
see some evidence of the strategy we are trying to execute.
The most satisfying outcome of customer centricity that
I see inside Best Buy today is that a larger number of our
employees look at it the same way investors do: that how
they perform is a major refl ection on Best Buy and can
contribute to our growth. They feel that what they do counts.
They are no longer an outlet for all of the ideas we generate
at the corporate campus. Instead, they feel empowered to
solve problems for customers, supported by the enterprise,
so that they can focus on customer needs we can’t see
at headquarters. When our employees truly believe that,
know that and act that way, it unlocks enormous horizons
of growth opportunities for us.
Candidly, we’re counting on them to drive our earnings
growth—not just this year, in this economic cycle, but in the
years ahead.
In closing, I’d like to thank our employees for the year they
just delivered, and the passion and energy with which they
serve our customers. I’d also like to thank our vendors and
our external partners for their collaboration and support.
Last, I’d like to thank you, our shareholders, for supporting us
in our journey to become truly customer centric and continue
on our tradition as a growth company.
As I look at the rich opportunities for growth in the connected
world, and consider our strategic positioning, I wouldn’t want
to trade places with any other CEO.
Bradbury H. Anderson
Vice Chairman and CEO