The Power of One

A message from Chamber Chair, Jeff Hamilton

Some time ago, a friend of mine told me a story that I will share with you. He worked in sales for a very large bakery and they were looking for ways to increase sales. They had created what they felt was an exceptional product but were having a hard time getting their largest customer to start stocking it on their shelves. No matter how hard they tried, the customer did not want to list it.

They struggled for months knowing that if the product was picked up, it would represent a huge jump in sales and revenues for the company. A similar product was already being carried by the customer’s competition and was quite successful.

Finally, one day, when it seemed there was no chance of getting their product off the ground, someone in marketing came up with an idea. They sent out communications to all employees across Canada which totaled more than 2,000 people and asked the employees to go into the stores that they were trying to sell to and ask if this product was available. When the store replied no, they didn’t carry it the “customer” then asked if it would ever be available.

They did this over a 2-month period and within 30 days after, the product was listed as a test and eventually rolled out to all locations. To this day, the chain still carries the product.

As a single voice, whether it is the sales person I spoke about or a single business owner, it can be difficult to affect change. But this story illustrates that as a group of “One” or a single voice made up of many, change can happen.

As the Voice of Business, it is within our mandate to provide a strong voice to civic, provincial and federal governments for business, industry and the professions through our local Chamber, the Ontario Chamber and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

We will continually work with you to understand your needs and concerns and will advocate on your behalf. Together as a united voice, we too can harness the Power of One.

— Jeff Hamilton, Chair of the Board