I Listen to Main Street

I listen to Main Street… No, it’s not a new book!

Did you hear that? It’s the consumer, making choices by the second, reacting to an ever-changing world. What continues to amaze me is how many businesses, large and small, keep missing the messages consumers are sending. That’s why it is important to pay attention to Main Street. The social and economic shifts taking place are sending loud signals, but not all businesses and leaders are listening.

First, let me explain what I mean by “Listen to Main Street.” This is where the public makes their decisions about work, their homes, what to buy, how to take care of themselves and their families. Main Street isn’t about central business districts. It is about the consumer who experiences the local and global shifts before business and governments do. I have spent a career listening to Main Street, and it has served me well in meeting consumer needs and in driving economic growth through the expansion of more stores and jobs.

Some believe brands set the trends. There is some truth to that. But what often gets missed is that the best brands, especially their designers and innovation teams, listen to Main Street. They do so not only to create products that connect with consumers, but also to understand how to sell those products and services more effectively. We should not be surprised by how many businesses fail to listen at all. There is a strong correlation between not listening to Main Street and business failures, CEO turnover, employee exits, customer defections, and, of course, product and promotional failures.

While many are busy chasing whatever successful retailers appear to be doing, the smart money should be on understanding Main Street. Even the most creative fashion designers look there for ideas.

50% of businesses today are small businesses, and they account for roughly half of employment. Their failure rate is high. I can say without reservation that many of them do not listen closely enough to Main Street. And when the wrong CEOs and leadership teams take over larger companies, they forget to do the same. The collapse of many retail giants suggests that, when they should have been listening more carefully, they instead retreated into what they thought they did best or assumed customers wanted. Hint: discounting is not listening to Main Street. More often, it is a familiar last-chance survival tactic.

I know that reading about what other retailers are doing provides insight. Even visiting successful retailers will not teach you much about what drives them, nor why they do it. They know something you don’t know. Simply chasing the leader won’t tell you what Main Street thinks. That isn’t the best use of time and resources.

I listen to Main Street because that is where the consumer decides how to respond to the next incoming shift, whether it’s economic, social, political, or environmental, and that happens long before business realizes it is happening.

George Minakakis is a proven leader, having held senior roles within Fortune 500 companies as a VP, Country Manager and CEO. He has served on for-profit and not-for-profit boards as a director and chair. He’s the author of four books on leadership and AI.  He is also a Municipal Councillor in the Town of Milton.