5 rules for a consumer-centric approach that will separate

retail leaders from the rest of the pack

It’s a given that anyone that has ever taken a basic sales course or learned the trade under the tutelage of a lifelong sales-person has heard the cliché – “The customer is always right.” Throw that statement out amongst a group of sales folks and you’ll probably inspire some heated debate as to its veracity. I’ve witnessed many awkward situations where the customer appeared to be wrong – very wrong. And salespeople not particularly concerned about their job security have been quick to let unsuspecting customers know just exactly how wrong he or she might be.

What’s not debatable is the fact that consumers are constantly providing voluntary and involuntary feedback about their needs and wants in the form of tiny bits of data collected by retailers at a number of different benchmarks throughout the customer-retailer relationship.   This data provides intimate insight into the shopping habits and trends of consumers, and used correctly can provide retailers with a sustainable competitive advantage, while driving sales, profits and consumer loyalty.