Think back to a time you walked into a store and were greeted with a friendly smile and an assertive yet not too pushy associate who took the time to engage you in the store product. Now recall an experience when you walked into a store and were not greeted with even a hello and left without being acknowledged at all. Both actions delivered by store employees influenced you in your shopping experience, however only one of these scenarios likely resulted in an unplanned purchase or at least an enjoyable shopping experience.

The goal of your store employees should be to demonstrate knowledge and interest in the product or service they are selling while also communicating in a professional manner. The key here is to remember that your employees are a direct reflection of your store and often, they are what consumers remember more so than the product. This said, in addition to their knowledge and interest of your store product or services, also consider their personality and style. Do they complement your store, as well? They should.

Having the experience or at least the interest in the products being sold is essential. But this will not equal the right sales approach in all employees. Make sure that your employees are aware and well trained in communicating to customers the way in which you want them to. All new hires should be trained accordingly, as well as reviews / trainings / store meetings should take place on a quarterly or bi-annual basis. Without communicating your expectations of sales to your team, you cannot ensure the best customer service from your associates.

Finally, while it can be tempting to hire friends, family, or just someone who you get along with, make sure their passion towards your store purpose is on track with your own. This will reflect in their sales performance and customer service and ultimately, in your store sales.

To begin, “branding” your store and even yourself with great customer service is a fantastic way to stand out from other stores in your community. This can include friendly welcomes into your store, extra little perks such as beverages or sweet treats during store visits, outstanding service for customers who appreciate “the above and beyond” and much more.

For boutiques, the rules are up to you. And so is the challenge. What makes your store stand out? Do your employees represent the same extra special somethings that you do? How can your store – aka your “brand” – be unique in a competitive market? Some tips to help your boutique be the best it can be include:

1. Let your voice be heard. Don’t shy away from any customer that walks through your store, but instead treat everyone as if they are your #1 customer. Spoil them with friendliness, attention and knowledgable product information to help them really experience your store and the products you sell.

2. Brand your boutique. Your logo is one thing, but the overall style you create in your store can help shape the experience your customers have. Use repetitive colors, strong visual appeal, bold features, comfortable additions (think nice dressing rooms or comfy but stylish chairs to sit) that will all help position your store as a leading boutique in it’s enviornment.

3. Be a united team. If there is more than one person working in your store, you should all represent your boutique in a united way. This means from how you greet customers to how you support them as they shop. Strong employee training and expectations can help set this standard among your team.

Remember, part of the appeal of having a boutique is creating it to be an environment that is unique in ALL ways – not just your product assortment. What does your boutique do that makes you stand out? Let us know in our comment section below!

The funny thing about increasing sales is that it doesn’t always take a huge change in your store to do this. Often you have the inventory, the people and the opportunity to do this… but aren’t. Then again, change is sometimes exactly what you need to do to increase sales.  Which category do you fall into?

Below are five tips to help you boost sales and increase store revenue.

1. Always have extra products available for quick add on sales. Whether it’s bottled water (even if it makes no sense to the rest of your store assortment), fun accessories or random knick-knacks, the ideas is to give customers something to touch while they are getting ready to check out. Their lingering of additional merchandise should lead to add on sales – and more money in your register.

2. Use smart sales strategies. If a customer is checking out, let her linger over your great add on products near the cash wrap. But also engage in conversation to help her understand why she needs something else. When customers are shopping, react to their body language, questions, overall engagement and more. Basically, offer customized customer support per each unique customer. And don’t forget… standing behind the cash wrap area (or your desk!) is a very hard way to create sales in your store.

3. Pay attention to your best sellers – and react to them. Do you have two left in a top performing item? Buy more NOW! If you let best sellers sell-thru without re-ordering them, you lose money. Plain  and simple. Give yourself enough time to order things that need to be ordered… which leads us to our next point…

4. Markdown slow moving items. If inventory isn’t moving, mark it down and get them sold at a reduced price. Keeping old inventory in your store that isn’t selling not only makes your overall store assortment look stale, it hurts your bottom line. Mark these items down, sell them and move on.

5. Train your team on products, selling techniques and your store “brand”. If it’s just you working in your store, then you know what you are doing – or not doing. But if you have a team of 1 or 10 or 100, you need to train everyone to be on the same page. Set selling standards. Introduce product knowledge workshops. Identify your store mission, values and how you want customers to perceive your store – and the people that work there. Remember to follow up with reviews to make sure things are getting done. Without a strong team, you will miss sales. It’s very simple, really.

Finally, wear cozy shoes so you don’t mind being on your feet all day. Eat healthy so you have energy. Rest your body – and feet in particular – when you aren’t working so you have the energy to work retail hours. And of course, have some fun. Enjoy your work, and your time off. This will all lead to more sales since it will lead to a healthier you!

Or insert a smile! There are some fun ways to help lift the moods of employees who are working weekends in retail stores. Besides the (hopefully) obvious – that you are working in a store that sells great product and has great customers – consider having weekend ideas that can help create a more exciting work enviornment.

Saturdays and Sundays can be busy for retailers, so employees can expect shorten lunch breaks, tired feet, long days and little down time. This may be good for your cash register, but it can leave employees – or yourself – beat. Introducing the tradition of something just for employees can be a fun way to help the day go by. Consider having pizza delivered for lunch, or introduce a pot luck style lunch where everyone brings something. You can get creative – one week it can be Mexican food, another week sandwiches and chips. Food isn’t always a perk (depends on who you are talking to!) so consider other options that can lift  moods. Have a daily contest to jump-start sales, increase employee motivation and create some fun! Open the store and close the store with a “dance off” – louder than normal music, dancing while cleaning, laughing, etc – all while you prep and close for the day. Surprising your employees with an extra “perk” is always nice, too. Whether it’s a quick coffee run to your favorite local coffee shop (on the store, of course) or giving employees a pair of movie tickets for a job well done, the ideas are endless. It can even be fun to leave your employees guessing – wondering what Saturday or Sunday will bring… yet knowing it will bring something “extra”.

Employee appreciate goes a long way, and certainly appreciating yourself does, as well. So make sure to take it up a notch every now and again… or even every weekend… to keep your spirits lifted and your job fun!

Below are some suggested topics to introduce at your next employee meetings.

1. Returns & Exchanges

Sure, your team may know how to return a product. But do they know the best strategies to make an exchange instead? Often, reviewing some ways to turn a return into another purchase can help overall store sell thru. Additionally, reminding your team of any issues that stem from returns is always a good idea. Another topic to discuss? Your actual return policy!

2. Store Theft & Shoplifting

Unfortunately,  store theft isn’t going anywhere. It’s important to be realistic in understanding that theft not only happens by customers – but also by employees (gulp). As manager, you should have clear standards in employee bags going in and out of your store, as well as set standards on how your employees keep an eye on customers in the store. While discussing this at a meeting is great, many stores also benefit from posting these expectations in a common area for employees to review reguarly.

3. Overall store safety

Even the most seemingly safe stores still should have a plan in place “just in case”.  Whether an employee slices their finger pretty bad opening a new box of inventory or a customer comes in and creates an elevated problem, your entire team should know what to do. Have important contact numbers by the cash wrap / store phone, as well as encourage everyone to program important numbers in their cell phones. Nearby stores, local police and  of course, 911, are all numbers that should be easy to locate. Additionally, having a first aid kit on site can’t hurt, either.

4. Product Knowledge

A fun excuse to have employees to get together for a meeting is to gain new product knowledge. Almost all products in the market have some value to understanding them – whether it’s the contents of clothing, function of performance footwear, details about a new technology product, overview of seasonal foliage or more – employees always should be educated about what their selling. Additionally,  this is a great excuse to get a vendor into your store when possible to help educate your team on the product they rep.

5. Special Events

These are “special” for a reason, and deserve that extra TLC to prep for. This includes attention during meetings that allow your entire team to understand expectations during these events. Reviewing their roles, contributing roles, special sale details, local community details and anything else that is evolved in your “special” day is important.

At the end of the day – and particularly a retail work day when someone has been on their feet for 8 plus hours – no one wants to waste their time talking about what may seem pointless. Knowing this – and respecting this – it’s also a good idea to keep employee meetings fun while also informative. Order in pizza, have a little game to kick start the meeting or offer employee “prizes” based on their recent successes in your store. The ideas are endless since each store has unique issues, unique employees and unique assortment. Another thought? Have a morning meeting while everyone still has the energy to give their best.

Dress codes have a bad rap, unfortunately. The reality is, however, that dress codes don’t have to be bad. Sometimes a dress code is exactly what a business needs to help establish a brand look. Other times they provide direction for the not so stylish to follow. And often they simply provide a foundation as a list of do’s… not just don’ts. Whatever the reason, dress codes can actually offer a positive addition to various types of businesses. From fashion forward boutiques to trend setting furniture stores to baby focused shops to service focused bizs, dress codes offer direction on how employees should represent the business in which they work for.

If dress codes are something you currently have in place, consider reviewing how your policies are set in place. Are employees told not what to do, or rather do you set the policies with a tone of yes’? Additionally, how do your employees react to the dress code? There are sure to be whispers if things are not to their approval. But better yet – hopefully you have heard first hand their thoughts on your dress code policies.

If dress codes are something you do not have, consider how your business may be responded to differently if they were in place? One example of this may be if you believe the dress of some of your employees does not represent your store environment very well. If their dress was better suited to your business, do you think customers would respond to this employee differently?

It’s important to always respect each person’s unique character, style preferences and budget. Asking employees to buy clothes specific for their work is not always ideal, however sometimes a necessary evil (hopefully discounts can apply here). It’s important to also remember not everyone enjoys getting dressed the way you may, so a dress code could provide them with relief to the question mark of what to wear everyday. Whatever the reasons, simply remember to be fair and aware of what your policies – or lack of them – do for your business, your customer impressions and your overall brand identity.

It’s not too late to introduce a tradition to your business, or possibly it may mean simply marketing something you already do as a tradition. A few ideas that may be right for your business include:

1. Have a special sale separate from any other sale going on (nationally or locally). This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t participate in Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday, it simply means you should introduce one more. And make it big! Add some bang to this sale with holiday extras such as complimentary desserts & beverage, a local musician playing as background noise, extended hours that includes a festive party or partnerships or promotions with area businesses.

2. Introduce a favorite item that is only sold seasonally. Maybe it’s a holiday collectible item, maybe it’s a decorative home piece or maybe it’s a disposable novelty item. Whatever makes sense for your business, introducing something that can be marketed before it arrives and then revved up in marketing efforts once it arrives is always fun. Possibly it’s something no one else in town has… or maybe it’s something a few other stores have. Either way, if you create a buzz around it and make it “the place” to get it, this can create a reason for customers to visit your store with anticipation and excitement… and money to spend. Use press releases to share the news of this highly anticipated item and start taking names to add to your “wait list” of this popular good. Wait lists always spark a special something.

3. Keep some traditions personal – or at least as personal as it should get with business associates! Sometimes the best business traditions aren’t those shared with customers but rather those shared with the employees who work together all year long. If your business operates with even one more person than just you, it’s worth having a tradition to look forward to that celebrates the season – and the year – with your associates. A grab bag gift exchange is fun, but take it up a notch and consider a special holiday dinner, giving back to others together by working with a charity or simply taking time off for fun (together, of course).

Whatever your holiday traditions are, celebrate them by also marketing them to your customers and associates. Make them big by creating the buzz around them to be big for your customers and associates alike to get excited by. Have traditions of your own you already do? Let us know! Please comment below.

1. Training Your Team. It’s easy to hire someone, train them and then let them have at it. But it takes effort to help them evolve as employees, encourage them to grow and motivate them to be better at their respective roles and support them at reaching higher goals. Make it your goal to achieve this in 2011 in an effort to better support your overall business.

2. Promoting Your Store. Don’t let your store blend in with others. It should be your goal to stand out. Even if you aren’t new, haven’t recently renovated or don’t have a new product to promote (though this is an easy way to gain new press), make sure you are reaching out to the media. It should be part of your business plan to acquire press consistently. Local editorial outlets, news stations and radio are consistently looking for new stories. Your story could be their next pick… they just need to know about it.

3. Introducing New Product.Customers get bored with the same thing. While it’s true that some things have been tested, approved and are consistent sell thrus, other products need a kick out the door in an effort to make room for new things.  What new things can enhance your overall assortment? Don’t be afraid to mix things up a bit based on customer trends, demographics or customer requests.

4. Focusing On Your Customers. Take the time to really listen to what your customers like, don’t like and need. Talk to them. Listen to them. Have your employees do the same. While you are at it, put customer service on the top of your resolution list and kick yours up a notch. Really make sure your customer service stands out from the competition. This won’t get ignored – trust me here.

5. Lean On Others. It’s so easy to stress over the right product, the right merchandising or the right seasonal buy. But leaning on others to help you with the endless list of retail decisions is sometimes a must. It’s okay to hire support when needed or simply ask questions from your trusted team. You don’t have to do it all.

Finally, be realistic about your goals. Resolutions get broken when they seem too far fetched – but they get met when they are put in place with realistic expectations. Push yourself to make some impactful impressions in 2011, but don’t kill yourself along the way.

By keeping your store associates or business employees educated on your company’s products, best practices, policies and more, you are investing in the success of your business. In exchange for their knowledge and your time spent educating them, it’s likely you will see a higher percentage of customer satisfaction and even higher sales.

[tweetmeme]Some things to consider when planning employee meetings that are designed to educate include:

1. Make sure the employees in attendance are well rested and ready to go.Scheduling a meeting at the end of a long shift will likely decrease their attention span and won’t bring much value to the overall experience. Schedule a meeting a convenient time for the majority of people in attendance as possible. Offering some light snacks and beverages is a good idea, as well.

2. Invite product reps to join you in your meeting if possible. Depending on how much inventory you have, a vendor representative may be thrilled to join you in an informative presentation for employees to learn more about their specific product. For example, if you sell footwear, a footwear rep can educate your sales team on the production of their shoes, fashion details about their product line, the quality of the leather and much more. These selling tips can then be transferred to your customers through your own store associates.

3. Keep it interactive. Nothing is more boring than sitting in an uncomfortable chair and listening to someone talk… and talk… and talk. Include your associates in your discussions by asking questions, getting feedback and brainstorming on ways to help your business thrive.

4.  Make it routine. One meeting won’t be enough. And jamming everything into one meeting won’t work, either. Instead spread your meetings out with a target  goal per meeting that will allow you to more comfortably educate your team. One meeting can focus on product, another on best practices (customer service, etc) and yet another on company policies. Look at your unique business to decide what may make a great employee update meeting and then plan around that one topic. If your team knows to expect these once every other month, once a quarter or at least twice a year, they will begin to respect it as part of their job responsibility.

5. Think about the big  picture. What does that picture look like to you? It takes a lot of little steps and a few big dives to get to your final goal, so don’t expect a huge return on your meetings right away. Employees may not respond to them at first, but stay dedicated so that you can reach your goals effectively. Having your team on board will eventually make the process easier.

Finally, mix it up. Running your own business is about being your own boss, so don’t be afraid to execute your update meetings with that in mind. Just remember to do them. Not only will it bring your team togetherin an environment away from customers, but it will also encourage your team to work together in an effort to increase sales.After all, that’s the goal, right?

[tweetmeme]A few tips to creating and introducing an employee handbook to your store include:

1. Identify key federal and state law that apply  to your working conditions. This includes The Family Medial Leave Act, among others. Make sue you do not misquote or misstate anything that is protected by a law.

2. Have a disclaimer. The handbook is not intended to be a contract, but rather a guide to your specific store responsibilities and expectations. Employees should feel that the manual is meant to support them in their job, not push them in a corner.

3. Be concise and clear in your messages. If you are outlining the consequences of being late to work, be straightforward so there is no misunderstanding. At the same time, always keep your tone respectful and considerate of your audience.

4. Make sure all employees are tactfully introduced to the manual.If you present the handbook to them in such a way that they believe it is a tool to help them, you will receive a better response from it. Have a handbook accessible at all times for employees to reference.

5. All employees should sign off on the handbook. Make their “sign off”  fun but purposeful, too. For example, “I promise to smile at all customers who walk through the door and really mean it.” In addition, have them sign off on confirming they have read and  understand the details in the handbook.

Finally, if you update the handbook (and you should as your store policies change, technology changes, etc.) make sure your employees are aware of the new conditions. Have them sign a new confirmation and keep all signatures in a secure place just in case.

Look at the handbook as a tool to aid you in your management, and in return you will see a stronger partnership with your team. Now what are you waiting for? Don’t have a handbook yet? Get started!

Retail Minded is available to construct a personalized Employee Handbook for your store. Email nicole@retailminded.com for additional details.