We're here to give you the most help, and a chance to be helpful, too.

refining product choices to meet consumer wants

several ideas how one merchant keeps winning customers

what to ask and what to share

your staff has ears

the importance of transparency

6 page action guide with step-by-step step suggestions to beat your newest competitor

this 5 page action guide provides proven techniques to successfully increase customer loyalty

it is easier to keep your customers than trying to get new ones. so, stop losing customers! this 7-page guide will help you learn ...and most importantly how to win them back.

it's wonderful to have so many customers in your location that they may have to wait. do you and your staff do "the right things" to keep them happy while they wait? this 4-page action guide contains over 25 tried-and-true "right things" to keep your customers waiting contentedly.

how "small" can beat the big boys

a difference-maker in true customer service

so, how do you, the small retailer, make sure your customers continue shopping at your store during tough economic times? here are 12 ideas to consider:

mri study identifies five buying style segments: * buyers of the best * swayable shopaholics * habitualized havers * conscientious consumers * penny-pinchers

a free action guide to help you get started on facebook

as far as comments on products or service we need to get better about getting out from behind the counter and interacting with our customers and creating a dialog. one of the things that helps is doing role plays with the staff on a regular basis and coaching them on how to converse with customers. most of the information we get from this is anecdotal, we don't capture it, but it can help to identify trends.” jackson t, miami, fl café owner

“kim has been blogging lately about the "six i's" to effectively plan and execute better word of mouth by retail store owners. she just blogged about the importance of "inviting" your customer to participate in wom. it begins with a conversation with customer.but how do you start the conversation? you certainly don't just ask them to go out and talk up your store.what are some key conversation starters to make it easier to engage your customer?i find it helpful to ask questions that let the person talk about their favorite subject---themselves.better to ask them questions they can answer easily and are open-ended encouraging a longer answer. for example,"i recognize you from shopping here before. i'm interested to know, what items do you hope to find here, and are disappointed that you didn't find? is there a favorite product or a brand that i don’t carry that you wish we did?is there one employee here who has been helpful to you? how did they help? is there any experience you had here that was disappointing? how should we have handled that? i'm looking for ways to improve how we serve you. what is one thing i should tell my staff that could make us a better place to shop?while these questions can run from positive or negative points of view, i think it best to ask open-ended questions that encourage more conversation. asking questions that require a single-word answer are conversation barricades, not conversation starters. i don’t learn a thing when i ask, "did you find everything?" "how are you, today?" .and just for one day, please don't tell you customers to "have a nice day."try, "thank you. i'm glad you came by today. it's nice to see you again."mary pat, racine, wi

“we like to reward our customers by giving them recognition in our store. we have a list in our store where we put the names of any of our customers who recommend/refer another customer to us. we also print up a monthly newsletter and we give credit to our customers that make suggestions to our store by listing the suggestion of the month. our customers say they like being included and they look forward to see what someone new has contributed to our store.”todd h, cedar city, ut fitness center

“we use newsletters to get information from our customers. have a poll or a survey. it can be short, and even fun: where are you going on vacation? what tv show are you enjoying this summer? then post results in a future newsletter. people love taking polls.of course, always best to use a poll topic that is of interest to your audience.our customers are into new bands, especially hip-hop. we like to poll about "who's hot" in order to let them chime in about their favorites, and it also let's us get a sense of trends.”anson l , natchez, miss clothing store

“newsletters can provide good information about the store: for example, give subscribers first notice of any in-store events, and they will have ‘first dibs’ on signing up to attend events. also you communicate changes to your store hours or policies, to make their shopping easier and more convenient.”larry n, dearborn, mi ice rink owner