It's a busy retail world out there - every competitor wishes they had more customers. Actually, they wish they had YOUR customers. Keep competitors at bay and thrill your customers with this easy-to-implement customer-pleasing, traffic-building, sales-increasing idea!

Would you like to increase your new customer count and foot traffic this year? Who wouldn't? Every retailer enjoys seeing new faces roaming the store aisles, looking at old product with fresh eyes, and exclamations like, "I need this and this and this!" are music to retailers' ears. This magic happens in stores across the country everyday, but it doesn't happen by accident.

We read recently that the retail industry in the United States represents a whopping $4 trillion dollars. Now, let's think this through. Yes, a business can be hard at times, but even if the retail industry took a devastating $1 trillion dollar hit, there would still be $3 trillion dollars worth of business being done. Stake your claim to those dollars by adopting a powerful approach to growing your business. Let everyone else cry recession - you can't shrink your way to greatness!

So, how are you doing these days? Things sure seem to be a lot tougher at retail this year than they were last year. According to Michael Niemira, chief economist with the International Council of Shopping Centers, personal income and personal consumption have been moving in lockstep over the past few months.

P.T. Barnum, he of circus fame, once said, "Without promotion, something terrible happens ... nothing!" A master promoter, Barnum would sweep into town with a flourish. He'd parade the elephants through the streets and send clowns to visit children in local hospitals. He'd offer tours of the Big Top and hold contest after contest to attract crowds. The people loved it, and so did the media, which showed up in droves. Barnum was a master at publicity.  You can be, too.

We were walking through the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas when we stopped to watch a group of  50-something women try and navigate their way down the cobblestone streets. They weren't intoxicated, they were merely trying their best not to catch a heel and lose their balance on the uneven flooring. We've seen this happen on more than one occasion, and apparently so has the hotel, because posted at each entrance is a classy brass sign warning guests about the possible hazards of the uneven walkways.

Only one in ten customers will take the time or make an effort to complain. If you attempt to resolve a customer complaint, over 80% will give you another chance!

Only one in ten customers will take the time or make an effort to complain. If you attempt to resolve a customer complaint, over 80% will give you another chance!

People who don't travel for a living think business travel is so glamorous. You get to see the world, eat at the finest restaurants, and stay at Five Star hotels! Actually, we see more of the world's airports and convention centers, eat at fast-food restaurants, and stay at hotels where folks are sometimes less-than-thrilled to see us.

We were giving a presentation at a marketing conference and the topic was "Neutralizing Your Competition." We were just getting into a discussion on Shoppertainment, sharing a story about a retailer who held a fancy catered dinner in her store, along with a trunk show, demonstrations, and pedicures, when we noticed that one man's eyes had glazed over.

We prefer Southwest Airlines, even though they fly out of an airport that is farther away and harder to get to. We don't mind because their people don't treat us like we're an inconvenience. They actually seem glad to see us.

Recently, a waitress scowled at Rich when he told her the coffee burned his mouth. She said, "Listen, honey, nobody wants lukewarm coffee." Know what? She's right. Lukewarm doesn't cut it anywhere. Now, before you read any more of this column we want you to get up and pour yourself a nice glass of lukewarm water. Take a sip. You're probably agreeing with our waitress right about now: lukewarm is bland.

Customer service has been a hot topic in our consumer focus groups recently, so we decided to do an experiment of our own. We spent three hours at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, on a busy Saturday afternoon in February. Our plan was to purchase something in every store where we were greeted or acknowledged by a store associate. To be fair to our wallets, we didn't count the shops that had a greeter stationed at the front door.