 Kevin Natapow  I think the big challenge is how to convert folks who may only be at that event but don't know your shop or are in a different locale into a loyal customer. Education is a huge part but branding is key too. If they are close enough that they could be
(1) There are SO many sites these days and outlets for fair trade, handmade, etc. I often tell people to consider their web sales as a portal to make non-local customers able to buy from you (especially if you live in a touristy destination and you get repeat non-local customers) or for locals who just
 Kevin Natapow  Doing events in your store can be a great way to connect with the community that supports you in a unique way. It has the potential to attract customers from a different demographic then you typically attract by how your structure your events. One strategy that we used was to host
 Kevin Natapow  This is always a very difficult expense to track, unlike inventory, we are not able to often directly track the impact of our marketing and advertising dollars spent. That being said, I think there are some effective ways to maximize your dollars spent in these areas with closer ways to track
 Kevin Natapow  The long-standing customer service experience question- a good one! My opinion is that anything you can do within reason to make your customers experience the best it can be and set yourself apart from everyone else is worth every penny and effort. Wrapping can be a real pain but depending on
 Kevin Natapow  One thing to look at is what system if any does your POS offer. Many have a built in rewards/loyalty program and these are great questions to ask if you are shopping for a POS system. Our system was a hybrid- it tracked customers and their purchases and applied (at our
 Kevin Natapow: HUGE- many of you who have seen my presentation at FTF or elsewhere know that I put a huge emphasis on location (50% of your success) but that should be an easy one, which is another discussion. Customer service, and inventory control, which plays heavily into your customers overall experience are much more
KEVIN: I think this harkens back to the earlier question on how to convert customers in to advocates. If you are awesome then people will generally believe you are awesome and spread that word. We did very extensive training with our employees on the customer service experience and the goal was for every customer to
Kevin: We often hosted events that supported local NPO’s and community organizations. It was a win/win as we drew on their support network as they wanted to support their cause and our supporters wanted to support our efforts to support a local organization. We usually structured it as a benefit event- all profits donated to
KEVIN:Â Rewards Programs- spend your money on in-store programs to reward your customers. You can directly track benefits and how effective your campaigns/efforts are. Create a loyalty/rewards program where, for example, you can give them a $50 reward for every $500 spent. Many POS systems will do this automatically and customers will not have to do