New customers are always welcome, but companies must have a strategy for understanding and retaining existing ones. Thomas R. Cutler reports on the importance of customer relationship management. The bottom line defines success for most companies. Their mission is to acquire new customers aggressively and grow revenues, often without regard to sustained profitability and tenure. In this environment, the existing customer is easily overlooked.

BridgeStreet Worldwide believes in consistency and controls in processes, and a human touch in customer relationships. President Lee Curtis talks to Keith Regan. Corporate housing provider BridgeStreet Worldwide was formed in 1996 through the roll up of what had been seven separate privately held companies.

A team led by the South African Department of Trade and Industry is working on a plan to rescue the countryÔÇÖs automotive industry. The team, which includes industry and labour representatives, was set up as part of a South African response to the global economic crisis, thrashed out in the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).

Securing the future┬áVanguard Security is showing the value of a different approach to security services, as Sean Flynn tells Ruari McCallion. ÔÇ£The security business is changing,ÔÇØ says Sean Flynn, president and CEO of Vanguard Security, Inc. And itÔÇÖs about time, many may feel. The popular image of security is not out of the top drawerÔÇöelderly men with dogs of uncertain temperament and parentage making once-an-hour checks on the fence, equipped with little more than a flashlight and a crackling walkie-talkie donÔÇÖt inspire confidence.

Location, location, location┬áCentral Locating Service, along with its sister company, SM&P Utility Resources, has a mobile workforce of more than 3,000 locators working at construction and excavation sites. Linda Seid Frembes talks to Jim Wallace, vice president of operations. Central Locating Service (CLS) is a best-in-class company that specializes in locating underground utility lines for private infrastructure owners as well as utility providers like telecommunication, cable television, water, gas and electricity.

Performance excellence┬áMartin Ashcroft finds lean returning home to automotive through process improvements in a vehicle rental business. The business philosophy we now know as ÔÇ£leanÔÇØ has its roots in automotive manufacturing with Toyota. Many other industries have since seen its value, and the language of lean can now be heard in the corridors of healthcare facilities and financial institutions ÔÇö anywhere, in fact, where waste can be eliminated from processes.

Designing the future┬áAndrew Pelis learns how Graziani + Corazza Architects is leaving its mark on TorontoÔÇÖs skyline by designing for the 21st century with modern innovation. The Toronto skyline is currently undergoing a transformation.

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Advancing the business in the down market┬áIn a downturn, forward-looking executives focus not only on survival, they also prepare the business for recovery. Article three in this series on effective executive management during an economic downturn describes the strategies and practices that business leaders must deploy to achieve this. IntroductionEconomic downturns are accompanied by the failure of weak businesses and ineffective executive teams.