Quick Tips

Quick Tips from the Village Better Business Bureau

• Don't make an end-of-the-world facial expression if your customer doesn't have exact change.
• Lay gravel or a path to your business so that customers don't have to leap across puddles. Bonus: this will help with your dirty shoes problem!
• Unless deaf or belligerently drunk, there is never a need to yell at your customers. In fact, greeting them and saying 'please' or 'thank you' will likely cause them to come back again.
• If you sell perishable goods, try to cover them. Look into communicable diseases some time.
• With food, don't greet flies and other insects.
• It's good to vary your selection. Having the exact same products as your neighbor and the other 5 stores on your street is not an advantage.
• If a customer enters your store, please acknowledge them in a timely manner. Don't ignore them for more than 2 to 3 minutes. End that conversation on the phone with your sister.
• Smile
• Know what you sell. Mark your inventory.
• Don't hire your mother. Though she might work for free, her inability to move and lack of interest in selling is a hinderance.
• If a customer comes in, points to something and asks to see it or wants to buy it, don't say "no." Trust me, if you want to make a profit, you're going to have to have some transactions.