Management

To me it's simple: Make it easy to speak with me or my business goes elsewhere.

Target Corp. on Tuesday defended the use of its new freedom to spend money on political campaigns as employees and gay organizations criticized a $150,000 donation that will help a Minnesota GOP gubernatorial candidate who opposes gay marriage.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced this morning that the six-month search for its next CEO has ended, with the appointment of Larry M. Kimmel as the global trade association's new CEO.

Scott Silverman, who has served as Shop.org’s Executive Director since 2001, is resigning his position as head of the trade group, the National Retail Federation announced today. Silverman has accepted an executive-level and co-founder position with an e-commerce start-up and will step down from Shop.org effective August 13.

Forever 21, a clothing chain that attracts many under-21 customers with its inexpensive, trendy fashions, is being questioned about its motives in choosing a select group of states to carry its recently launched maternity line. The line, called Love 21 Maternity, is currently available in Arizona, Alaska, California, Utah and Texas.

There's a lot to be learned from your old-school retailer. From trial and error, I've learned and hopefully taught the companies I've worked for how to build relationships with their clients. It used to be that people only bought “stuff” from retailers. I tell companies, “People don’t buy from companies, they buy from people.”

The beauty of this process is that you can change new customer assumptions, customer retention assumptions and/or spend per customer assumptions to see what impact the assumptions have on the future of your business. You can identify a path that leads you to the sales figures that management is looking for.

The InterACT! Conference, an educational forum for marketers, brand owners and service providers on cross-media direct marketing opportunities and strategies, has launched "Build-a-Buzz" Giveaway - a social networking contest for marketers (or anyone) who wants to win one of four cool prizes: an Apple iPad, HP Netbook, Amazon Kindle or American Express gift card.

A simple CSR training program can solve the lackluster attitude and increase conversion. Using this technique at one company I worked with, we increased conversion rates by as much as 20 percent. Also, by fostering an atmosphere of teamwork and healthy competition, we increased the enthusiasm and morale in its call center as well.

In a session at this month's Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, Paul Holstein, vice president of CableOrganizer.com, an online retailer of cable, wiring and equipment management products, listed three ways that retailers can use feedback from their customers to better their operations.