• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Subscribe
  • Submit Content
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Advertise
    • Display Advertising
    • Email Marketing Campaigns
    • Newsletter Advertising
    • Sponsored Content
    • Lead Generation Services
  • Top Product Sources

WholesaleCentral.com Blog

The Industry's Trusted Source for B2B Retail and Wholesale News

  • For Buyers
    • Retail News
    • Products & Suppliers
    • Ecommerce
    • Marketing & Management
    • Trade Show News
  • For Suppliers
    • Supplier News
    • Marketing & Management
    • Importing
    • Manufacturers
    • Warehousing
    • Finance
    • Show Exhibiting
  • Wholesale 101
  • Trade Show Calendar
  • Wholesale Products
Home » 10 Management Tips

10 Management Tips

March 1, 2010 by Publisher

Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco, Britain’s largest supermarket chain, offered ten management lessons, recently at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Annual Conference in New York.
They are:

  1. Find the truth. Don’t just rely on research or past experience. Find out where your company stands now by talking directly to the customer. They will be honest about what’s good and bad about your business.
  2. Set audacious goals. These can galvanize your organization. Tesco’s audacious goals included being the No. 1 retail choice for U.K. customers, being as strong in nonfood as it is in food, becoming a leader in global retailing, and inventing retail services.
  3. Vision, values and culture. These matter more than any plans, strategies or marketing tactics. Your staff can help you learn what your company’s values should be.
  4. Follow the customer. You’re not going to be able to guess what the customer wants. Therefore, you need to stay close to them, observe them and be prepared when you see a change.
  5. The Steering Wheel. How do you relate big picture ideas to what your staff, at all levels, works on every day? Tesco has focused on setting specific measures for customers, community, operations, people and finance. Everyone in each part of the circle knows how they relate to the company’s overall strategies.
  6. People, process, systems. This is the process of transforming your plans into the customer experience.
  7. Lean thinking. Leahy read about how Toyota cleaned up its manufacturing process, and used it as a model for how to make Tesco’s business leaner.
  8. Simple beats complex. Develop a culture of simplicity. Communications was one of Leahy’s examples. Tesco turned to the newspaper industry to better understand how to communicate simply.
  9. Competition is good. Learn from your competitors and don’t focus on their faults. Focus on their strengths.
  10. Leadership. Leahy’s favorite definition of this word: A leader takes you further than you would go on your own. Leahy also offered a half a dozen drivers of growth to use in your favor as we emerge from this recession:
  • Customers will gravitate toward brands they trust.
  • Information is key. Customers now know a lot more about your business and vice versa, so make sure your company is transparent.
  • Health is big. Customers want products that will help them live longer and look better doing it.
  • Customers crave convenience more than ever. Rather than doing a weekly well planned shopping trip, customers are popping into stores whenever they can fit it into their busy days.
  • Be a problem solver for your customers. Simplicity is key, both as a goal for your business and your customers.
  • Climate change is a major driver. There are business opportunities for retailers who can offer low carbon products and living for consumers.

Category: Magazine Archives, Marketing & Management Tags: customer service, management, NRF

Primary Sidebar

Latest Posts

Using Blockchain to Grow Your Business

Ecommerce

5 Tips to Boost Ecommerce Conversions

Ecommerce

Success Tips for Food & Beverage Wholesale Distribution

Marketing & Management

8 Entrepreneurial Myths Debunked

Retail News

Improve Retail Pop-Up Experiences with Technology

Retail News

Halloween Retail Displays to Boo-st Sales

Retail News

Sign Up for Buyer Updates

WholesaleCentral.com

Join the Buyer's Network

Get news & updates only for retailers.

Editor’s Picks

How to Build the Perfect Marketing Campaign

Editors Picks, Wholesale 101 for Buyers

The Best & Worst Times to Post on Social Media

Editors Picks, Marketing & Management

Best Made in USA Products to Sell in the Summer

Editors Picks, Featured Products, Made in USA, Product News

More Editor's Picks

Follow Us:

© Sumner Communications, Inc.
6 Research Drive, Suite 420 | Shelton, CT 06484