Poor communications destroy everything the organisation tries to achieve.

A big problem with store communications is targeting: it's easier to send an email or memo to everyone rather than find the one or two stores that are affected by this problem or that instruction. So we get internally-generated junk mail. Sent with the best intentions, but still, for 90% of its recipients, junk.

Junk that we have to wade through, junk that deflect us from important action, junk that buries important messages. The solution? Stop email, stop memos, stop faxes.

Replace them with:

• Targeted online communication that understands roles, shop-fit differences, store size and any number of other store attributes
• messages targeted to the right places, by role and shop attributes
• surveys that are quick to build, quick to answer and quick to provide results
• actions targeted to the right roles, with exception reporting and status monitoring.

Junk drops to zero, along with communications delay. Now finding out who's done what isn't another mail storm, it's a couple of mouse clicks. Getting input from stores isn't weeks of ringing-round, it's immediate, actionable feedback from a simple electronic survey.

Who's doing it?

• New Look use Retail Manager to reduce Area Manager phone calls by 80%.
• Matalan use Retail Manager to provide targeted two-way communication between stores and head office.
• Mothercare use Retail Manager to provide a single communications channel to all their stores.
• Vision Express use Retail Manager to make sure that all staff high quality, tailored information that helps them meet their objectives.

Kevin Abbott, Project Manager, Comet.