Case Study: The Group Connect
(Richmond, BC, Canada)
Hard Work, Responsiveness and an Attention to Detail – The Group Connect's Keys to
Wireless Success
Max Mintzberg came to Western Canada with a business plan in mind. A native Montreal with a wealth of phone retail knowledge, he sold his interest in The Telephone Booth (a cellular retail chain located mainly in Ontario and Quebec, which he'd founded in 1979) and brought his family to Richmond, B.C. in 1994.
Mintzberg opened his first two stores in Calgary, under the name "The Group Connect," in 1995 and never looked back. In 1997, he opened a couple more stores in the B.C. lower mainland. Today, The Group Connect operates 25 store locations across B.C. and Alberta and is Canada's largest exclusive TELUS dealer.
Blood, Sweat and Tears
Mintzberg – founder, president and CEO of The Group Connect – is unflinching when describing the ‘secrets to his success.' The biggest challenge he faced in creating this company? Finding the right locations and building the right teams.
"It took hard work, diligence and the help of the very best professionals to get where we are today," he says. "I had good training growing up at home, as both my mother and father were in business – my dad in manufacturing and my mom in bookkeeping and then in sales."
He also points to a co-operative relationship he was able to build with TELUS, the company's network carrier from day one.
Real-time Control for Real-time Results
In 2003, The Group Connect implemented the RetailiQ retail management solution to help grow its business. "We researched many POS applications, but determined that RetailiQ was best suited to our needs," says Mintzberg
Two key RetailiQ features caught the company's eye: the carrier reconciliation modules and the real-time work environment.
RetailiQ's comprehensive, efficient design has helped The Group Connect make time-consuming manual processes – like carrier reconciliations and handling of customer profiles – simple and automatic. They have become a part of system.
Likewise, delivering the entire retail chain's data to every employee, in real time, RetailiQ facilitates communication and better, self-motivated sales performance.
A Meticulous Drive to Grow
The Group Connect is renowned for its strict attention to detail and its emphasis on customer service. Mintzberg says RetailiQ allows his employees to focus easily on both mandates.
"Our entire customer base in RetailiQ is accessible from any location, in any city. Our staff is the best trained and we provide ongoing product and sales training to keep the skill sets to our high standard."
RetailiQ has granted Mintzberg the ability to have constant involvement with each of his stores' activities. His hands-on management approach, coupled with RetailiQ's communicative virtues, keeps him in touch with his personnel. In turn, they respond with a unique commitment to both him and to the company's goals.
"I am actively involved in all aspects of the business and RetailiQ helps me stay as involved as I would like to be," he says.