Ever have this problem: a potential customer says they’d like to buy from you. They even request a quote. But after you send that quote, you never hear back from them? A person working at an insurance agency told me about this one. I suggested that people really did want to buy from her,…
Are you in a tourism-based town where people stay in town overnight, but head out touring all day long? Ever complain that the tourists stay, but they don’t spend? Here’s a suggestion, inspired by something Peggy Sanders said in her guest post last week, Which town is yours? “Instead of complaining that the hordes are…
Guest post by Peggy Sanders Let’s compare two small towns and how their retail outlets do business. Town A has a population of 3,700 and is on a steady decline shown by a loss of 15% since 2000, and Town B has 990 residents with a 27% increase during the past 16 years. Towns A…
Every retail store in a small town has slow days, times when you know you just won’t have many customers. One of your fellow readers wrote in with this tip for slow days in retail stores: I run a clothes shop in a small town in Oviedo in the north of Spain. I never…
How do your customers feel about the opportunity to access your company online? This may be to find information, search for products or services, make a purchase, ask a question, discuss a problem, find more information, get store hours, or determine where you are located. Have you ever thought about this question? Or perhaps you…
People appreciate the opportunity to pay more for the stuff that matters to them. Maine photographer Meg Hatch offered a photography mini-session for families before the holidays. She sold a lot of them. She over-delivered, taking more shots than promised and going over and above the call to get great photos for families. One customer…
I just had a recent experience that reinforced the importance of customer service. A recent trip to our basement found water on the floor by the water heater (How many of you can relate?). The plumber was called. They came out. Upon a brief inspection, they informed my wife that it wasn’t the water heater,…
A downtown retail store owner told me she closes at 5 pm because she hates to stay later. She gets to work at 8 am most days, and so at 5 pm she’s ready to go home. She doesn’t like to delegate at all, she told me, and she wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything…
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