T!P {1}
Depending on the size of your customer base, make a list of your top 20% customers by sales volume.

1. Send them a personal email or better yet, give them a personal call and thank them for their business over the years. If they’ve stopped doing business with you, then ask them:
2. What your business can do to be more helpful and more valuable to them in 2009
3. Be sure to get their thoughts on how you can make doing business with you easier, more convenient and more pleasant
4. If they’ve stopped doing business with you, there’s probably a valuable reason. This would be a good time to hear if you’ve done anything to inconvenience them
5. If you’re in a position, extend a special offer to this group of customers and make the offer available to their friends and family too

T!P {2}
Engage your Staff and make crowd sourcing work for your business:

1. Ask your staff, 3-5 things your company does that drive customers away
2. 3-5 things that your company can do to WOW! customers
3. If the company could only make one change, what should that be?

Give them a few days to respond, thank them for their participation and make it clear that they can send their recommendation anonymously. But be sure to acknowledge and praise those employees, who include their name, as transparency in business should be rewarded and acknowledged.

What do you think?

Love to hear some of your practical and timely tips for managing your business in challenging economic times.

I love coming to Toronto – on each trip, I spend a chunk of my time exploring new funky shops and boutiques in one of my favorite areas in the city, the ever growing and ultra hip Queen Street. Year after year, from East to West, this once downtrodden street blossoms with an increasing number of truly unique and super creative retail spaces – filled with the latest in urban design, art galleries, great eateries, bars and hundreds of specialty shops. The creative vibe here is so strong that its also impacting off-shooting streets connecting directly to it, and becoming a hive of activity and adrenaline for the creative geeks of every genera.

On my recent visit, I noticed a big increase in specialty coffee houses – with the hundreds of Starbucks, Timothy’s and Second Cup’s around – I began to wonder how these small independent coffee shops survived? So I made it my mission to discover what was brewing. It quickly became obvious, each was uniquely different from the other, not only in aesthetics but the way they communicated and delivered their coffee culture, and how these elements related to their brand.

Let’s look at three of my newest favorite coffee shops in Toronto:

Cherry Bomb Café
Address: 79 Roncesvalles Avenue
Map: view here

KEY DIFFERENTIATION POINTS

– Retro design
- Friendly human service
- Huge selection of Teas
- Best Hot Chocolate in the city!
- Wide variety of specialty roasts from fair trade to organic
- See the making, and devour delicious freshly baked goodies

For more info on Cherry Bomb Coffee House, visit their website.

Tinto Coffee House
Address: 89 Roncesvalles Avenue
Map: view here

KEY DIFFERENTIATION POINTS

– Friendly atmosphere
- Free WiFi for all customers
- Cozy and comfortable setting to read and work
- High quality coffee at a fraction of Starbucks prices

Visit Tinto Coffee House website for more info.

La Merceria
Address: 506 Adelaide Street west.
Map: View here

{photo courtesy: decor8}

KEY DIFFERENTIATION POINTS

– Simple Menu
- Niche clientele
- Great use of sensory branding
- Yummy things for the belly & beautiful things to take home*

At La Merceria there is wonderful coffee and treats but also beautiful things to indulge for gift giving and life. From quality crisp linens and fine ceramics to writing papers and fragrances, the founders have nailed the idea: fill the belly, fill the senses. La Merceria is clearly a labor of love for the founders and couple, who’ve made their dream a reality of serving coffee in a cozy and comfortable atmosphere and seducing customers with unique treats for your home … total self indulgence.

Holly from blog “decor8″ has written a great post on La Merceria. Be sure to check out her blog for a virtual store tour : )

Rumor has turned to reality; Richard Branson’s mega gyms Virgin Active are now confirmed for Porto, Lisbon, Coimbra and Faro.

With expectations of an additional 10+ health clubs across the country, the Virgin Group also plans to open more gyms in areas in the Iberian Peninsula where there are more than 50,000 residents.

Now how will local small gyms compete vs. a mega brand like Virgin? As things stand, local gyms here in Faro will have a hard time when Virgin arrives and flexing it’s financial muscle. You can expect, Virgin Gym’s will be big facilities with the latest equipment, fancy machines and other membership perks such as a spa, great design, etc.

If I owned a Gym, here are 5 actions I will take immediately … like today:

1 }Identify my targeted clientele and focus on establishing a name for my Gym through strong brand identity — good signage, logo shirts for staff, etc.

2 } Launch a user friendly website with tips, exercise videos and a community supported network which enables my trainers and members to interact with one another … include diet tips, video exercises, blog, newsletter, and allow members to track their diet and workouts, etc.

3 } Set a budget to refresh the inside my gym (a new coat of paint, mirrors, improved lighting, and a plan to replace old machines with new machines over-a-specific time frame … for example, one new machine per month or quarter. Also look into new exercise forms if my facility allows it, like an indoor rock climbing, boxing classes, etc.

4 } Turn my trainers and staff into key stakeholders, so you keep good staff from going to the competition. Establish a program where trainers and staff receive incentive when Gym meets membership goals. Give each staff member a business card which they can use to hand out to friends. (Goal: would be to ensure the business cards are fun, different and one that staff would be proud to share with others)

With an improved member experience, motivated staff, and a fresh look, my member’s experience should improve greatly and lead to positive word of mouth.

5 } And then from here, what I would do is look into alternative marketing channels by creating buzz:

• Organize once a month activities with members and have members bring a guest or two with them. Events could include beach volleyball, cycling, and roller blading; out-door cardio class, outdoor spin classes.
• Start a 90-day fitness challenge for my members and get local sponsors to cough up the prizes
• Experiment with some alternative street marketing ideas. Here are two … one here and another here.

And bonus, I would definitely try a couple of fun marketing campaigns at Faro Beach over the summer when there’s a captive audience.

There are many ways a gym here in Faro can differentiate and build a better experience for their members, the above are just some examples. And if all fails, I would look into targeting an entirely new clientele such as ladies only, heavy duty gym or maybe even a… gym just for kids!

Do you agree or disagree. Love to hear some of your ideas.