1.) As our discussion has gravitated to benchmarking what about industry benchmarking what is it, is it good or bad and is it valuable and if so how and in what respect is it valuable if at all?

2.) You mention in your post that assigning a number to a customer to determine the consistency or frequency of purchases and placed the metric under the guise of a study. Here are a few questions, is the metric the numbering system itself, or is it contingent upon the people who are numbered? How do you determine the effectiveness of the use of a number when environmental issues such as inflation, interest rates, and regulation changes occur? Third question, should a major change happen in the shopping pattern of those who are numbered, how would the monitoring of your numbering system determine the quickest way to rectify the problem? Last question, by using your metric system for tracking strategic implementation, how would you know if the continuous use of numbers remains a valid way to track the implementation system and how would you measure the effectiveness of the overall planning of strategic implementation?