The number of customers that wander in and out of stores during the chaos without being acknowledged, directed to merchandise or served in any way equals lost sales. When faced with the option of waiting for assistance or going to another store, far too many customers move on to another store.

When there are more customers waiting to be served than there are salespeople in the store, the store man¬ager or a designated floor supervisor should be circulating throughout the store instead of assisting individual customers. The floor supervisors’ goal should be to greet all cus¬tomers entering the store, escort them to the merchandise they are seeking, get them to wait for assistance, handle any problems they may have, and jump in every once in a while to help a salesperson close a sale that is taking too long.

Having a store "ambassador" who answers questions, and even offers refreshments for those waiting, will en¬courage customers to wait more patiently until a salesperson can assist them. Give this method a try on your next busy Saturday and see how many sales you save. Get a head start on managing the holiday rush now and prepare yourself for your best selling season ever.

Harry Friedman