Succeeding in a mature market. (Chief Concern).

It's tough gaining a competitive edge when you're in a slow-growth industry. Business isn't yours for the taking, so you have to be that much more creative, efficient and visionary to succeed. But I like to think--and recent events have borne this out--that all CEOs would benefit from running their companies as if they were mature businesses. That's because the competitive fundamentals, the blocking and tackling, become relevant in every sector sooner or later.

Kodak Polychrome Graphics is the largest supplier of graphic arts products in the world, with hundreds of thousands of customers on six continents. We've been successful--but competing in the mature graphics industry means never having guarantees. I've followed some time-tested methods of achieving growth.

Sell in depth to delighted customers. There are only so many customers out there, so you have to sell deep to every one you have. If we don't have 100 percent of a customer's business, we ask our sales personnel why; and we hold them accountable.

You need to know early on if you're not meeting customers' needs--because if they're less than thrilled it will be only too easy for them to find another supplier. I spend 50 percent of my time traveling to get out in front of customers so they know I'm committed. I return emails within 24 hours--no matter where I am in the world.

And if there are problems, I handle them myself. Recently, one of our smaller New York customers called up asking for the CEO. I was in a meeting, but my assistant knew to get me. I called him back, and, not knowing who I was and quite agitated, he began swearing at me. I told him who I was and that I wanted to help. Incredulous that the CEO was calling him, he was embarrassed and didn't want to share the problem. I said, let's get it resolved, because if there's an issue here that could be systemic, I want to nip it in the bud. I followed up with him through the process--calling twice a week, then once a week, then once a month; I still call him periodically. Most of our customers just want some attention. When my people see me taking the time to do it, they do it too. Some CEOs would say they don't have the time; I think that's a crock. There's nothing more important than your customers.

Cannibalize yourself. Since your missed opportunities mean a chance for competitors to get ahead of you, you have to be the first to recognize change. And you can't wax sentimental about it. Our conventional products--film, analog proofing, plates--have been declining rapidly due to enhanced technology. But because we had digital plates ready, we had a two-year head start on our competitors. Fact is, cannibalization is always going to happen; it's just a matter of whether your competitor does it to you or you do it to yourself.

Cut costs deep. In declining conventional businesses, we've been relentless about cutting costs. As attached as you might be to certain units, if you can't find the justification for why people, materials or equipment are not earning their cost of capital, and that can't be improved, then you have to shed them. And you have to decide where to reinvest the savings.

Expand aggressively. One area of reinvestment is to tap less-mature markets. We've been expanding globally, adding new manufacturing lines in China and Bulgaria this year. We also acquired Mitsubishi Chemical's plate business in Japan, which increased our market share by 50 percent in that region.

Don't tolerate excuses. Excuses are rationalizations for failure, and in mature markets where you're trying to be agile, there's no time for that. Sure the economy's bad--so what? That's life. We still need to make our numbers, or come as close as possible.

Set bold, realistic goals. When I took over the company in 2000, a number of operations were hemorrhaging--and the economy was still strong. My restructuring goals scared a lot of people, but I knew we could achieve them. In general, I think it's best to start with the moon and work backward. Because if you shoot for the moon and you miss, you're still among the stars.

Jeff Jacobson is the CEO of Norwalk, Conn.-based Kodak Polychrome Graphics, a $1.5 billion provider of digital and conventional graphic arts solutions. It is a joint venture of Eastman Kodak and Sun Chemical. Send comments to [e-mail].