Wold's 'Twelve Ways of Christmas' for Merchants

Small business expert Barbara Wold offers the following twelve ways to increase sales for merchants as we enter the "home stretch" to Christmas:

1. Have all salespeople read company ads, catalogs and distributed literature before customers come in with questions and inquiries...and check out the ads of the competition--if your competitor has a Facebook page, become a fan so you know what information it is passing on to customers;
2. Establish dress codes for employees and enforce them; employees are the representatives of the business and should project the image you want to convey;
3. Greet everyone who walks through the door with five different greetings so customers don't hear the same greeting over and over when shopping; have employees identify themselves when answering the phone to add a professional touch and provide the caller with a personal connection on the other end of the line;
4. Clean up the cash-wrap area as you go and put everything in its place--customers will be concerned about transaction accuracy  if this area is a mess;
5. Listen, really listen, to customers; if you don't really listen and show customers the wrong merchandise, they will assume you don't have what they are looking for and leave without buying anything;
6. Stock and clean during hours when the store is not open; doing these chores when the store is open is inconsiderate to shoppers and doesn't convey a professional image;
7. Stay in contact with your customer base--contact customers who shop in your store regularly, by email or regular mail, and call your very best customers yourself--and build your database; it's a very busy time of year, but don't forget to capture customers contact info to grow your database;
8. Add at least 30% more store and window display lighting in your store; it will affect the way your store looks and help sell more product…and it can be as easy as replacing light bulbs that have burnt out.
9. Get everyone on board--ensure that everyone in the organization understands what the winning advantage is and what their role is in supporting it--and focus on selling; teach your staff to show just one more item to every customer that they talk to (don’t forget add-on sales at the cash register);
10. Tone in the store--strive for enthusiastic, happy staff all pulling together to achieve this Holidays Seasons' goals with a focus on exceptional customer service;
11. Hands free shopping--offer customers a basket, a bag or cart, and take your customer’s coats and other bags--do whatever it takes to make your customers feel wanted and cared for; creating this type of shopping experience will keep customers in your store longer and will increase sales;
12. Set daily sales targets, and share them with your staff--they should know what is expected of them--but remember that you alone are the driving force in your business; get out on the sales floor more often over the next weeks and watch your sales increase!