myRetailer.ca

Customer feedback is what will keep your business moving in the right direction. Value every bit of feedback you receive, no matter how painful. You don’t always have to address it, but you’ll learn a lot from listening.

I recently received feedback from a customer who was not overly happy with one of our policies. In fact, the truth was that she was quite unhappy and sent a very pointed e-mail to me about it.

As I read through the letter, it was obvious that this lady did not understand business at all and was most likely a chronic complainer, who wouldn’t be happy no matter what we did. However, she was a customer and like all customers who contact me directly, I responded by e-mail and then by phone. We actually talked for almost 40 minutes about the issue and how disappointed she was.

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Having a full understanding and a real sense of what’s going on inside your company can only happen one way – if YOU take the time to deliberately ‘Walk the Four Corners’ (W4C).

Walk the Four Corners, or W4C, is a term that is coined by Kraig Kraimer, who preaches its importance for any business owner. As business owners or managers, our daily routines have us so busy that we fail to connect with our staff and customers the way we should.

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Retail sales rise more than expected in May

Canadian retail sales rose much more than expected in May after a surprise drop the previous month, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.” Retail sales have been generally rising since the beginning of 2009,” it said.

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6 Essentials for Maintaining Your Marketing Edge

Unlock new demand – All it takes is ONE customer from a completely unexpected market or industry to say, “Wow! Every other (x) out there needs one of these too!” At which point you say, “Yes. Yes they do.” So, you start to niche, position and target your marketing efforts in their direction. Just make sure they see THEIR name on it. That way you become an essential part of that industry’s library.To whom are you a rockstar?

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• Canadian #retail sales surge http://bit.ly/jbhNr #fb #
• Canadian #retail sales surge http://bit.ly/jbhNr #
• Bank of Canada says recession is almost over http://bit.ly/lEuls #
• Canadian #retail sales surge http://bit.ly/jbhNr #
• Canada, U.S. central bankers see brighter economic future, recession waning. Good news for #retail http://bit.ly/49gCCW #
• Financial Post offers some tips and articles on handling the slowdown http://bit.ly/nU0On #
• Watching the coffee wars heat up as McCafe is taking on Starbucks. But specialty still wins? http://bit.ly/PFLF6 #

Ideas. They create inspiration, help me innovate and improve my business – even when they are outside my industry.

There’s huge value in learning from others whenever you can. Learn from others inside your own industry, as well as those outside of your industry.

I recently attended a buying meeting in Toronto. I flew up for it on a Thursday then planned to tour around to visit other stores in my industry the following day. I felt it was so valuable that I flew up my two Managing Partners to join me.

We toured four different garden centres to see what they were doing differently and gathering ideas for our own stores. Tours like this are always worth the time and cost.

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