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eader- Feargal Quinn

Irelands Pope of customer service dominates his market and continues to beat

bigger rivals --- with a leadership philosophy that is at once folksy and radical.

Behind all his success is one big uestion! "ow do we convince our customers to

come back#By Polly $aBarre.

Feargal Quinn is in no rush to get to the point. Its Monday, the only day of the week thathe spends in the nondescript suit of office on the outskirts of Dublin that constitutes thesupport office of super Quinn, the superarket chain he founded !" years ago. Quinnhas leadership lesson to teach, but right now he has stories to tell. #hich is ostwelcoe, becoe to hear a story told by Quinn, a copact Irishan with sil$er hair anddancing blue eyes, is to settle into the front row of a perforance that has been gi$enany ties, but that still iparts $aluable secrets.

If you$e got the chance to be born again, he says with a wink, do your best to beborn into a faily that runs a holiday cap. Its a sashing way to grow up % and asashing business education. &hats how Quinn grew up, of course. 'e spent schoolbreaks at his fathers red island holiday cap (ust outside )herries on the coast ofnorthern country Dublin, working as a waiter, page boy, bingo caller % whate$er the daycalled for. #hat he was really doing was soaking up insight and e*perience that foredthe core of a leadership philosophy that is at once folksy and radical.

&he ost $i$id takeaway for the young Quinn was his fathers policy of changing guestsup front for their holiday. It was set up so that no atter how hard we worked to gi$eour guests a great e*perience, we wouldnt increase our profit fro their stay, says

Quinn. &he only way we could (udge our success was if the guest cae up to y fatherand said, +Mr. Quinn, I had a great holiday. I rebooking for ne*t year. $ery singlething we did was centered on one o$erriding ai- to get people to coe back. I learnedthat if you look after getting repeat business, profit would largely take care of itself.#hen faced with any business decision, any call on your tie or resources you need toask, what will this do to help bring the custoer back

Quinns tireless and in$enti$e e*ploration of that /uestion has earned hi a reputation asIrelands people of custoer ser$ice. In 012", he opened his first shop in Dundalk,when he was 34. &oday, he is the e*ecuti$e chairan of a 5,2""6person, 016store chain ofsuperarkets 7estiated annual sales- 89"" illion:. For )uper Quinns relati$ely tiny

si;e 7its fiercest copetitor, the

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inno$ation % fro professionally staffed child6care center to coplientary ubrellas atthe door. )uper Quinn inspires such intense de$otion that any custoer say that theydri$e out of their way % and past se$eral of its bigger copetitors % to shop there. &hattranslates into arket leadership for the pri$ate owned copany in its greater6 Dublinbase, and 1> of Irelands 800 billion grocery business. 7Quinn, his wife, and their fi$e

children control 15> of the copanys assets.:Feargal Quinn is not (ust the face of )uper Quinn? hes soething of an institution inIreland. 'e is at least as well know for his 0" year stint as chairan of Irelands nationalpostal ser$ice 70191601@1:, during which he led the transforation of a oney6losinggo$ernent institution into an inno$ati$e, profit6aking sei6 state enterprise. In 0114,he was elected as an independent eber of the seanad eireann, the upper house of theIrish parliaent. )till ore often than not, Quinn can be found in one of his 01 stores,bagging groceries, talking to custoers, checking in with eployees, and straighteningup displays.Indeed for Quinn, custoer6ser$ice inno$ation and public ser$ice deand the sae

definition trait huility. Quinn likes to reind business leaders that they should akeonly fi$e assuptions, which he calls his fi$e lessons in huility. My custoers knowore than I do. My eployees know than I do. Aeither y eployees nor I can becreati$e all of the tie. #hat I knew yesterday is not enough for today. I notresponding fast enough for y custoer.%he right choice& not the easy choice.&he first thing that hits you when you walk into one of the 01super/uinn stores in andaround Dublin is the coforting aroa of baking bread.

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custoer back isnt as /uantifiable as the option a*ii;es profit on the currenttransaction.

&ake the standard industry practice of stocking candy at checkout counters, which causesa hassle for os shopping with kids. &hey kick up blue urder until the other buys

the soething fro the display of goodies, says Quinn. #hile Quinn had hard dataspelling out the considerable re$enue he wanted forgo, he had no accountant6friendlye$idence on the benefits of reo$ing the sweets.

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includes regular custoer panels, custoer6 coent fors, a ser$ice desk at theentrance of e$ery store, and foral arket research. In addition, e$ery store in$ents itsown channels. Da$id fo*, anager of the brand6 new store in the futuristic shoppingcenter in swards, personally calls the top 05" participants in super Quinns loyaltyprogra, )uper club, and e$ery /uarter.

Innovation (verywhere.)uper Quinns listening syste not only picks up ideas and insights fro custoers 66its also fuels inno$ation in the ranks. $ery super Quinn colleague % whether a regionalanager or a product departents chapion of green $egetables % has access to chainwide results e$ery week, including the past weeks sales, relati$e store perforance, costof labor, and year6to6year ipro$eents.

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)pend any aount of tie with Feargal Quinn and youll hear one antra repeatedly- Ilistened, I disco$ered. 'is huility when it coes to what he doesnt know % and hishuanity when it coes to thinking about the custoer e*perience % are the siplesecrets of his success. #hats ore, Quinn genuinely delights in his custoers 666 andlooks on the as indi$idual people to be won o$er not as statistics to be anaged. &he

real entrepreneur, he says, is always spurred on by a wish to attract e$ery custoer %by a childlike belief that you can win all the tie, e$ery tie.olly Gabarre 7plabarrreHfastcopany.co: is a fast copany senior editor based inAew ork. Jontact feargal Quinn by eail 7hiselfHfeardal/uinn.ie:)iderbar! 'hats *ast

Feargal Quinn is a pioneering entrepreneur and a respected Irish senator who starts e$eryinteraction with eployees or custoers by talking about what he doesnt know. 'ereswhat he does know.

$eader is a listener.

If you e*pect to learn fro your custoers and eployees, dont rely on arketresearch or a suggestion bo*. 'ost custoer panels, solicit coplaints, step into yourcustoers shoes, plant your people at the front lines, and learn a do;en custoer naesa week. Gistening is not an acti$ity you can delegate % no atter who you are.

'atch the time.

If anything atters to people today, its tie .#e call these people +J&& custoers.Jant cook, too tired, and ha$e no tie. &he best ser$ice for this custoer is in$isibleser$ice. &hey want what they want, when they want it, how they want it. #e$ede$elopent a $ariety of eal solution for these custoer and reduced the a*iuwait in any checkout line to 2" seconds.

+ake yourself available.#hen I hear leaders talk about anaging by walking around, I think its great thattheyre working on their $isibility to eployees.