Communication—the starting point

by Larry Meyer
MRA Chairman and CEO

In the last issue I touched briefly on three themes of my leadership style. Let me expand on one I think is sometimes undervalued: constant, two-way communication.

The two-way part is crucial. You cannot afford to either hold back whatever information will help your staff members do their jobs, or fail to listen to whatever information they can provide.

One of a manager’s most important roles is to give employees the tools they need to do their best. Information can be one of those tools. Just as they need to know the dates and details of an upcoming sale, they should know something about the business’s long-term goals and, most important, your expectations of them.

Businesspeople must also be active listeners—not just receiving whatever information is volunteered, but seeking out feedback on every aspect of the business and then using this information.

Gather information from everyone who has contact with your business—customers, staff, vendors, neighboring businesses, even competitors. And listen not just with an ear toward fixing some specific problem or improving efficiency—file away these impressions and include them in your “big-picture” or long-term planning and strategizing.

My business professors called this “double-loop learning”—using information in a broader way to challenge old assumptions and open up new paths to growth.

When you do hear about a specific problem or a suggestion, act on it and communicate back with the person concerned, accurately and as promptly as possible.

One member was surprised when I called him on a Saturday morning, since my office was closed. But when I read his e-mail at home, I responded to it then and there. That level of promptness and attentiveness improves any relationship.

Do you actively seek out information from your customers? It might take the form of chatting at the register for a moment with a new customer to discover what brought her in or mailing a customer service survey to existing customers.

MRA solicits information from our “customers”—that is, our members—through customer service survey letters, sent out to about 10 percent of the members that customer service has had contact with each week.

The information we get improves our operations, and we hope it sends the message that we value communication—we want to know and understand our membership’s concerns. If you have received and completed one of these surveys, thank you.

But any time you have a suggestion or a comment for us, please let us know—just as you want to know if a customer has a reaction that might help you improve your store.

The criticism we hear from membership can sometimes be traced to a failure to communicate. That is, we may already be addressing the issue, but the member was unaware of it because we hadn’t communicated that information.

Good two-way communication is the essential first ingredient for improvement and growth. It’s not enough in itself, but it’s where it all begins. Improve the quantity and quality of your communications, and good things are bound to result.