In a business environment that is becoming more and more sophisticated about connecting with customers, the simplest approach is sometimes the most effective. For Quinn, that means listening. "Genuine listening ability is one of the few true forms of competitive advantage," he says. Superquinn's multichannel "listening system" includes regular customer panels, customer-comment forms, a service desk at the entrance of every store, and formal market research. In addition, every store invents its own channels. David Fox, manager of the brand-new store in the futuristic shopping center in Swords, personally calls the top 150 participants in Superquinn's loyalty program, SuperClub, every quarter.

Innovation Everywhere

Superquinn's listening system not only picks up ideas and insights from customers -- it also fuels innovation in the ranks. Every Superquinn colleague -- whether a regional manager or a produce department's champion of green vegetables -- has access to chainwide results every week, including the past week's sales, relative store performance, cost of labor, and year-to-year improvements. But the most important metric -- and the one that determines compensation and rewards -- is loyal households (that is, the number of returning members of a household, rather than the total number of customers that come through the door). The very visible challenge for each employee is to increase the number of loyal households in his or her piece of the business.

Just two guidelines matter when it comes to rank-and-file innovation. First, all innovations must be tested on the shop floor before seeking organizational approval. The second rule, says Quinn, is "you can add, but you can't subtract. Once the organization has accepted something as a practice -- such as the no-sweets-at-the-checkout policy -- you can't individually decide to change it. And some standards, including food-safety procedures, aren't up for discussion."

Superquinn's customer insights have attracted a variety of business partners that would normally gravitate toward the leverage of bigger players. The chain's Swords store, for example, is the world pilot site for National Cash Register Corp.'s cutting-edge retail technology. Superquinn's fresh produce, butchers, and fishmongers are mixed in with futuristic flat-screen displays, digital shelf labels, and kiosks that link customers to their bank, to their SuperClub account, as well as to wine recommendations and interactive recipe planners.

Quinn credits his listening systems for the company's status as a pioneer in food safety. More than five years ago, Superquinn developed the world's first meat trace-back program in a joint effort with a Trinity College startup, IdentiGEN. Since 1998, Superquinn has used the DNA-tracing technology to test more than 100,000 animals. In the midst of Europe's BSE (mad-cow disease) scare and its foot-and-mouth crisis, Superquinn's sales of beef have experienced double-digit increases.

Quinn has been equally bold in leading Superquinn into new business lines. Its newly launched online division boasts more than 26,000 registered customers and a booming wine-delivery service. Texaco has partnered with Superquinn to develop, source, and train staff for a chain of full-service convenience stores, called SuperQ, at filling stations around Dublin. Meanwhile, Superquinn has plans to open six new shopping centers and stores by 2005.

Spend any amount of time with Feargal Quinn, and you'll hear one mantra repeatedly: "I listened, I learned, I discovered." His humility when it comes to what he doesn't know -- and his humanity when it comes to thinking about the customer experience -- are the simple secrets of his success. What's more, Quinn genuinely delights in his customers -- and looks on them as individual people to be won over, not as statistics to be managed. "The real entrepreneur," he says, "is always spurred on by a wish to attract every customer -- by a childlike belief that you can win all the time, every time."

Polly LaBarre (plabarre@fastcompany.com) is a Fast Company senior editor based in New York. Contact Feargal Quinn by email (himself@feargalquinn.ie).

Sidebar: What's Fast

Feargal Quinn is a pioneering entrepreneur and a respected Irish senator who starts every interaction with employees or customers by talking about what he doesn't know. Here's what he does know.

Leaders are listeners. "If you expect to learn from your customers and employees, don't rely on market research or a suggestion box. Host customer panels, solicit complaints, step into your customer's shoes, plant your people at the front lines, and learn a dozen customer names a week. Listening is not an activity you can delegate -- no matter who you are."