You’ve stocked your store with the right products. It looks fine, but you might be confusing customers and missing out on critical sales—all because of poor merchandising. At the 2014 NAMM Show, Tracy Leenman of Musical Innovations offered 10 simple and effective merchandising tips you can use right away. Don’t underestimate the power of merchandising.

In less than one minute, Tracy Leenman of Musical Innovations shares her big idea: Get involved in your local chamber of commerce. Leenman hosted a business after-hours event through her chamber of commerce in August 2012. The event brought 200 people to her store’s parking lot. “One band director ended up bringing his whole marching band,” she says.

When was the last time you did a mirror test to make sure your business was still alive and breathing? With the rising influence of e-commerce and economic pressures, how do you keep your business relevant and focused?

Today's digitally armed consumers have adopted showrooming as part of the buying process. Using brick-and-mortar stores to check out products and later purchase them online is becoming more common. There are productive ways to combat showrooming, so you can get those customers browsing and buying in your store. Kenny Smith shares a few ideas that top retailers have successfully implemented.

In less than 2 minutes, Donovan Bankhead of Springfield Music shares his big idea: Use Google Apps to stay organized and improve your business. He's used this service at his music stores to do everything from share sales procedures with his team to organize his company's many promotional events. He adds, "They have a free program, and then you can also scale it up with a paid program if you need to."

Many customers consider shopping a stressful chore and place a huge premium on convenience. Is your store merchandised in a way that contributes to their stress? Tracy Leenman of Musical Innovations offers 10 easy ideas to make a store more shopper-friendly, so customers feel comfortable in your showroom and can find what they need easily. The more comfortable they are, the more time and money they'll spend with you.

Did you know that the simple act of communicating can make a big difference to your store’s bottom line? Colleen Billings of Billings Piano Gallery shows how communicating effectively with your employees will strengthen key relationships and your business. Committed employees become ambassadors for your store and your relationships with customers.

Key management and operations strategies from "40 Tips for Music Professionals 40 and Under"—a NAMM U session presented at The NAMM Show 2013. The session was hosted by Ryan West (pictured), Cris Behrens and CJ Averwater of NAMM YP (Young Professionals). Use this as a checklist, and share it with your employees.

The NAMM Show and Summer NAMM are always fun times to see new products, meet new people and catch up with old friends. Still, retailers need to make sure they use their time wisely. With that in mind, Donovan Bankhead of Springfield Music shares his top 10 tips for getting the most out of every show.

To attract customers, your store should be filled with cool products that customers want and need. But finding out what customers want can be daunting. Leslie Faltin of Instrumental Music Center explores three questions to ask yourself before committing to a purchase order.