I was at the playground with my daughter recently, and whilst she was off on the swings, I was absentmindedly watching a group of toddlers play in the nearby sandpit. I observed a little girl with pigtails playing with a dumptruck in the sand, when a boisterous toddler, a little older than her, thundered over, ripped it out of her hand, and started playing with it. The mother came over to placate the little girl, and rescue the dumptruck, all the while soothing the tears with the promise of ice cream on the way home. It got me thinking. So much of what we learned in preschool, can be translated into business. And quite often, we overthink the simplest things. So today I’m going to share with you 6 things you learned in preschool that will help you sell more. Being friendly and interacting, builds trust and security In retail. There’s no such thing as “build it and they will come”. The only way that you’re going to expose your brand to more people is through marketing. Yes you can do paid advertising, but also being out there on social media, being friendly with other business owners, and generally, just being a nice person, goes a really long way.When people know the face behind the brand, when you tell  a story that potential customers can become familiar with, you build a bond. And that bond creates trust and security, when it comes to buying from you. People attract people We used to have a saying in our store… “the bus just came in”. The store could be empty for an hour, then all of a sudden, a dozen people show up. Maybe it’s the law of attraction, maybe it’s the buzz that comes with having people in your store, or maybe it’s just the movement, but for some reason, people beget people, so always have a reason for people to come into your store. It’s all about the packaging When a child is handed a new package, they don’t know what’s inside it. They can’t read. They rely on the packaging, to get them excite about what MIGHT be contained inside. As adults, we’re drawn to a products packaging. So if you manufacture your own products, the one thing you should never skimp on, is the packaging. And as a retailer, analysing a products packaging, how it will sit on the shelf, how it will hang, whether you need to provide your own point of sale displays, all affect the value that stocking that product will have, on your store’s bottom line. music sets the scene Go to any preschool, and you’ll hear music playing. Why, because music affects our mood. Upbeat music will have you bopping along, and soothing music will slow you down, allowing you to take time browsing. Think about how you want your customers to feel when they come into your store, and adjust your music, and the volume, accordingly. You don’t need more items, you need to curate At some stage of your life, you’ve either heard, or said the words “you’ve got too much stuff”.The same happens in retail. Old stock, new stock, over ordering, not paying attention to what’s selling and what isn’t, all of these add up to having a mound of stock that just doesn’t move. Instead of ordering more stock, look at curating what you have. What works well together, which products compliment others.Department stores are always moving things around, so take a leaf out of their book, and curate before you buy more stock. Money is irrelevant, when it makes you feel good There’s a difference between a need and a want.Wants make us feel good. And in case you haven’t worked it out yet, you are selling feelings to your customer. Whether it’s convenience or luxury, feeling healthy or taking care of ourselves, when you customer buys something from you, it’s to make them feel a certain way. We can learn a lot from children, when we take some time out and actually observe what they’re doing, how they behave, and how they interact. Children, especially the little ones, don’t have the weight of the world, the responsibilities and the stresses, that constrain us as we get older. And a lot of what we see, can be transferred into the business world, and in this case, help you make more sales.

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