COMMUNICATION
Send Ice Cream Money
Forget thank-you cards. The Richter & Phillips Co. in Cincinnati, OH, sends customers gift certificates for ice cream cones with their thank-you notes, reports sister publication INSTORE. “It’s simple, but our customers really seem to like this,” says co-owner Eric Fehr. Cost: $3. Memory: Priceless. They remember the cone, not the card. Sugar beats sentiment when building loyalty. And when temps plummet, pivot to hot cocoa!
PLANNING
Pick Your Partners
Star Taylor of Richens Eye Center in St. George, UT, uses the lull between “Tax Refund” and “Back-To-School” seasons to get proactive: “We like to start planning any partnerships that we may be able to develop during the year and put some activities into place.” Lighter clinic days become strategy days — lock in community collabs before the calendar fills.
SALES
Three Shows, Triple Sales
Stop halfway selling. Every customer deserves three presentations: what they came for, the add-on, and the “wow” piece. First, take five minutes to listen, match, then deliver. The add-on takes 30 seconds to present: “Now, here’s a sun style that would look incredible on you.” The wow? Something gorgeous, slightly above their range. You’re not pushing. You’re planting seeds for tomorrow. Maybe they won’t be able to stop thinking about it or their tax refund just happens to have hit their account. They saw it, they felt something, and now they know where it lives. When you quit selling, customers quit buying. Keep showing.
Advertisement
SALES
Ban the Word ‘Help’
OK, so here’s a thing humans do that makes zero sense: we walk into stores with money, ready to buy stuff, then someone says “Can I help you?” and our brain immediately goes into panic mode, like, “Abort mission, they know I’m here.” And we think we’ve figured out why — the word “help” makes us sound needy and incompetent. The fix? Try: “Is this your first time visiting us?” It comes across as way less threatening. It feels more like “Hey, welcome to the club” than “Are you even supposed to be here?”
PRODUCTIVITY
Lower the Stakes
Perfection kills progress. Writer Anne Lamott, in her book Bird by Bird, calls the fix for this “shitty first drafts” — start messy, suspend the demand for brilliance, and just get moving. By lowering the mental stakes, you sidestep the fear of failing and finally get started. Refine later. For now, just act.
Advertisement
PRODUCTIVITY
Off-Season Cleanup
For William Chancellor at Best Chance Optical in Forsyth, GA, slower months mean “spring cleaning on inventory and record organization,” plus EHR cleanup. Tightening stock and data now prevents headaches later — fewer dead frames on boards and smoother billing when things get busy.
GROWTH
Small Bites Add Up
Does 10% profit growth sound impossible? Finance expert David Brown demonstrates the power of compounding. Increase units sold by 4%, average sale by 4%, and markup by 4%. Those three modest improvements compound to hit your 10% profit target. As Brown puts it, “A meal is always eaten in bite-sized chunks.” Small improvements in multiple areas beat chasing massive change in one.
SALESEven a Bad Joke Is Still Good
Stanford’s Naomi Bagdonas found customers will pay nearly 20% more if you drop a playful line at the end. “The bar is so low,” she laughs. Try it: quote the price, then grin and say, “And I’ll throw in my pet frog.” If they laugh, they buy.
Advertisement
