What happens when your customer says “No”?  Do you take this as a personal rejection?  It is not.

Now that you have built rapport with your customer and have properly qualified their needs, it’s time to present options—your products and services—offer an irresistible choice and gently guide the customer to a decision.  In this session, Greg Billings will show you how to make your presentations dynamic, relevant and effective.  Topics include Getting Permission to Make a Presentation, Refini

Customers will buy when they feel a sense of trust and connection. In order to establish trust with your customer, you begin by building rapport. This starts with the first interaction between your customers and your staff.

George Hines, George's Music, Inc., leads a six-part series at the 2009 NAMM Show, entitled Participative Selling for Music Retailers - exploring key components of the sales process and providing a comprehensive overview of the skills needed for effective selling in a retail music store.

What are the warning signs that internal fraud or theft might be occurring at my store?  Every year, statistics are compiled about internal fraud and theft that happens in U.S. retail stores—and those statistics are startling:

How do I convince my bank to lend to me?  There’s an old saying, “The time to get a banker is when you don’t need one.”  That’s because most people wait until there’s a severe cash flow crisis before they contact a banker to obtain a much-needed loan. Unfortunately, a retailer's chances of getting a loan are greatly diminished if the store is unprofitable and losing money. But even the most pro

Watch this video for an easy lesson on creating a budget and steering your music store toward profitability and success.

How much should I be spending on advertising?  Advertising is an important expenditure for any retailer. Yet the field is always changing, which requires you to explore and consider new avenues of delivering your message to keep the image associated with your store fresh and to attract the best customers to your store. The good news is that with changing advertising media, some of these new way

How much should I be spending on rent?  Everyone knows the old saying about rent and retailing:  “It’s all about location, location and location.” As relevant as this statement is today, the Internet has greatly impacted rent expense and has made its measurement somewhat convoluted. Your customers can now research virtually any product they want via the Internet, which leads directly to the key

How much should I be spending on sales salaries?  Sales salaries are one of the most debated areas of the retail landscape because different types of music dealers (full-line, combo/MI, school music, keyboard and print only) in different parts of the country find it difficult to determine appropriate compensation for sales staff.  It’s not unusual to find salespeople feeling underpaid while the business owner (and many times the accountant) suggests that sales staff are either fairly, or typically, over-compensated.