Christi Tullis

First and foremost ... arrive with a positive attitude. You'd be surprised how contagious positivity can become. Instead of focusing on last month's low numbers, think about how good they're going to be this month. Don't be afraid to speak the positivity amongst your staff and your customers. When people ask how your business is doing, express only the positive things that are or will be taking place. No one wants to hear anyone whine about how bad the economy is and how hard it is to hang on for the brutal retail ride.

Before you step outside your home or office decide on three things you'll say when asked, "how's your business doing?" My answer for those dying to feed off the negativity is, "We're doing great. We're expanding the boutique area where all of our personal items are displayed, we're finalizing the details for our fall and Christmas events, and I've got a house that I'm finishing the design on." What does that tell the person who's hungry for a negativity meal? I've just given them a one-on-one infomercial for Ambiance.

While I'm giving my infomercial, what am I doing? Smiling. I've personally never purchased anything in a store where there was a Frownie Fannie. Smiling raises your self-confidence and affects your attitude.

Dress to impress. I tell you, if I wake up and put on loose, baggy unfashionable clothing, I'd feel like I should be camping, cleaning or sleeping ... ANYTHING but servicing customers! Guess what? Most likely that's exactly what the customers think if they see us looking grubby. Remember in high school when we'd put our outfits together the night before? What was the goal? To impress of course! Why should that change now? We have customers who respect our opinions in purchasing furniture and accessories for their homes, and gifts for their best friends and co-workers. They are more likely to listen to our suggestions if they're fond of our fashions.

Create a dress code for your store. At Ambiance, our concierges (a.k.a. staff) are required to dress in black pants or fashionable denim bottoms with black, white, or pink top to coordinate with our company colors. Upon arrival, they choose from a variety of aprons that are available for sale in our gift gallery. They may also choose to purchase clothing from the boutique at a dramatic discount. We don't have room for mannequins so our concierges bedecked in Ambiance attire is a huge benefit to our bottom line.

Get off the Merry-Go-Round; it's taking you in circles! Forget the things that aren't working or don't generate revenue. If you've had lines that simply aren't selling or sales have slowed on particular products, drop them!

Put stale inventory at the cash wrap, severely discounted. For instance, you have a candle line with 15 fragrances and three of the fragrances sales have plummeted. Move the candles to your checkout stations and reduce the price by 50% or more, then make that price good with any other purchase of $25 or more. Be sure to check your database and call customers that have bought the product you have on promo. The customer will appreciate the individual service they can only get in a small business, and the promo will most likely bring them back into your store to buy at least the $25 in other merchandise plus the promo candles that you need to rid.

If you have products past the point-of-stale and in the molding process, consider offering it as a FREE gift with purchase. People love FREE and this gives you opportunity to increase your average sale, give the customer a gift and create a little hype. The retail dollar amount of your free gift should be at least a quarter to half of the cost you'd like the customer to spend to receive the free gift. We just discontinued a line of compact mirrors that retailed for $17.99, so our promo was a FREE compact with a $45 purchase. When our guests came to the cash wrap with $38 of merchandise, we'd let them know if they spent seven more dollars they'd get a FREE compact mirror for themselves or for a gift.

Put a smile on your face, prepare your outfit for tomorrow and pull that point-of-stale merchandise — you'll be shocked at the results. Share your successful retail reform stories with me at Christi@AmbianceWorldwide.com.