Tag: mindfulness

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Provide Legacy Customer Service

customer legacy

Customer service is your business’s legacy. Read on for tips to encourage customers to shop again.

Physical Presence

The first part of leaving a legacy is your store’s physical presence. A great way to think about this is through the senses.

What does your store look like? Make sure the environment is clean, organized, and accessible.

How does your store smell? Scent leaves a strong impact. Certain scents, including lemon, peppermint, and cinnamon, support memory recall.

How does your store sound? Consider playing soothing sound tracks of classical or old-timey music.

Can you provide taste? A great way to offer this is through a coffee bar.

Leave Your Legacy

Your store’s appearance is just one piece of your business’s first impressions. The next piece comes with how you interact with the consumer.

It goes without saying but being present and active listening are vital in all of your customer interactions. Whether in person or on the phone, it is critical to be in the moment in order to gain your customer’s trust.

Post-Sale Connections

Finally, how do you keep your customer happy. A great way to do this is by following up after the sale. This is just as important as making a connection prior to one. Note, personalization is key.

For example, if your customer told you she was buying material to make a quilt for her granddaughter, follow up with a hand written note asking for a photo of the completed project. Depending on the customer, also ask for permission to post the quilt on your social media or website.

There are a multitude of follow up options so be creative. Some examples include following up with new customers about classes offered or sending birthday cards to loyal customers, among many more of course.

Inspiration for this post comes from “Customer Service Defines Your Legacy” by Julie Ressler published in the October 2022 Issue of Creative Retailer.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to Creative Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you. And don’t forget, you can always purchase single issues if you prefer that instead.

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How to manage your anxiety

Anxiety

Anxiety can happen anytime and anywhere. It’s something that can creep up from behind or happen all at once. Since anxiety it something we all suffer from, check out these tips to help manage your stress levels in ten minutes or less.

Meditation and mindfulness

There are a variety of meditation techniques and apps that can help you find which technique you like the most. Some are free and some aren’t free, but they can be found in your app store with a simple “meditation” search.

One of the most common meditation techniques include a body scan, where you imagine scanning your body from head to toe then back again to notice how your body is feeling. It’s a good time to see where you’re holding stress, and to release those areas.

Another technique is a mindfulness exercise. Start each day with an affirmation and watch as your mindset changes for the better. Chose simple verbs such as, “I respect,” “I love,” or “I honor” and finish the sentence. At first it may be difficult but after some repetition the statements will become easier to finish.

These, along with simple breathing exercises, are quick and easy ways to center yourself back to reality.

Anxiety tools

Journaling is one simple practice you can start to manage your stress. The best part about journaling is that it can be as unstructured as you want it to be. You can write every day, or whenever you think about it, and both ways can be incredibly therapeutic.

Adding yoga into your exercise routine can help your anxiety levels too. Yoga classes are in abundance everywhere these days and instructors even have their practices on YouTube. If you’re not familiar with yoga, each practice ends with something called shavasana, which is a time meant to sit alone with your thoughts. The practice of stretching beforehand is to prepare your mind for the moment when it can sit alone and focus. Whether you carve out ten minutes or an hour, yoga is a tradition that has lasted centuries (probably for a reason).

Studies have shown that anxiety techniques increases productivity in the work force. Has your business considered offering tools to it’s employees? Managing your anxiety can help you keep your business on track.

If you’re looking for more information to guide you in owning a retail business, subscribe to American Quilt Retailer today. Already a subscriber? No worries—join our Facebook group for insights and dialogue from industry specialists like you.