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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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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Successful businesses define themselves. They know who they are, who they serve and focus entirely on both.

I recently had a discussion with a fellow garden centre retailer (Dutch Growers – Regina) who told me that he is no longer in the garden centre business. Instead he describes his store as a women’s store. With this focus, he runs every part of his business to cater to women, even to the point that he has drastically expanded and changed his product mix in recent years. This garden centre sells clothing, hats, even jewellery!

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When you ensure your customers have everything they need before checking out, you’re doing them an enormous favour (not to mention in increasing your Average Ticket Size).

In our stores this spring, our entire team has been attending our spring training sessions. Recently, during a session, we had a great discussion about selling additional items to customers and how it was truly a service to them.

At my stores, our company purpose is to find solutions that provide enjoyment, relaxation and a sense of pride to our customers. Customer service is our number one value. Our staff knows that when we are serving a customer, we must always remember our purpose and do everything we can in order to ensure success for our customers. Most often, that means suggesting other items that will ensure that they are successful and get the most out of their purchase.

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