Altona & District Chamber of Commerce

Ambassadors of Excellence Program Information...

This program is a joint venture between the Altona & District Chamber of Commerce, Town of Altona, Altona Community Development Corporation and the R.M. of Rhineland.

OBJECTIVE:

• Establish a high standard of customer service uniformly delivered by the Altona and Area businesses.
• Pro-active businesses committed to assertive community promotions.
• Business to business networking
• Business referrals
• Communication and support with business peers
• Cross promotions

STRATEGY:

EDUCATION

Comprehensive customer service training programs for staff and management provided by Manitoba Tourism Education Council. These seminars will be hosted at least once a year (more often if required) to ensure the opportunity for all management and staff to receive this training and also refresher options.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Regular assessment to ensure the delivery of this training will be administered by “mystery shoppers”. Also, the business-to-business networking will encourage accountability with the Ambassadors of Excellence program.

PROMOTIONS

Enterprising marketing campaigns designed to increase your traffic and your sales will be developed and offered to businesses committed to the Ambassadors of Excellence program. These will include joint advertising campaigns, annual sales and creative promotional events.

QUALIFICATIONS:

To ensure continuity with the delivery of the Ambassadors of Excellence program, the following requirements have been established and must be committed to by all participating businesses:

• A minimum of 50% of your employees must attend the one-day Manitoba Tourism Education Council customer service seminar.
• All owners/managers must attend the two-day Manitoba Tourism Education Council seminar for managers.
• A high level of customer service must be consistently delivered.
• Commitment to marketing and promotion concepts:
  • Uniform exchange rate
  • Cross promotion arrangements
• Business to Business Networking:
  • Business referrals - ie: when a customer asks for a product that you do not carry, contact businesses in town that may satisfy the customers needs.
  • Communication and support with Ambassadors of Excellence peers.

SUMMARY:

Competition for the retail dollar in our region is becoming more aggressive all the time. No longer do we view our neighbouring communities as our major competition. Our greatest competition is the absence of loyalty that today's consumer has for any specific business or product. E-biz, big box and city malls are all major benefactors to this lack of loyalty. The ease of travel that we all enjoy, also contributes to this situation.

The one competitive edge we as local retailers have is personality. We know our customers, we talk to our customers, we listen to our customers, we service our customers. We must build on this competitive edge not only to maintain and grow our businesses, but to instill a desire in consumers to want to do business with us.

The Altona & District Chamber of Commerce, Town of Altona, Altona Community Development Corporation, R.M. of Rhineland and several local business people have developed this innovative strategy designed to enhance the Altona shopping experience. The Ambassadors of Excellence program will elevate the level of customer service delivered by our business community, increase the promotion of our business community and foster a "business to business" peer network. We believe that this is the strategy that we must embrace for us to continue to be competitive in today's economy.

AoE Seminar Dates
AoE Program Affiliation Benefits