Hi everyone,

a quick intro about myself and Blackmore Hill Consulting which I operate in the SW corner of London and Surrey in the UK. Great to see such an international membership as I'm sure we here in the UK still have a lot to learn - I'm reminded of that daily!

My consulting business helps companies become the best they can at what they do. In particular to this forum, this involves helping them understand the importance of their customer relationships and how to provide an experience that will want them to come back without looking around for alternatives. In this environment, only the best will survive - as Woolworths and many others found out to their peril!

Looking forward to reading about other member's experiences and ideas.
regards
Sonya

Hi Sonya,
The key is understanding your customers business and overall industry. We were looking to change our soft ware system and went through several months with a company that designs these systems so they could present us with a model that would be industry specific to textiles. After months of meetings and countless hours of one on one explaining our business model it came down to the final pitch for their system. In the presentation the computer company made a reference to a "gray area" in part of our business referring to an issue about aligning product with demand and then looked at me saying like your gray fabric. After all this time he did not understand what "greige goods" were, a basic component to the textile industry. Greige goods are the fabric "blanks" prior to the fabric being dyed or printed on. Know your customer and they will partner with you, exhibit that you do not understand their business and they will have no confidence or trust in you.
Best,
Sandie McCann