There are two sorts of product lines where you are especially likely to realize sales increases when you augment variety.

1. Product categories in which you're seeing a dramatic increase in sales. These increases are a sign that you could be a destination location for that sort of merchandise. If you're selling lots of soccer equipment, expand the merchandise assortment to draw even more soccer equipment buyers.

2. Product categories that are underperforming in sales, compared to what you'd expect. If you've got evidence that other retailers are selling more baked goods than you, per square foot of merchandise space, consider expanding the variety of baked goods you offer in that merchandise space.

It's not enough just to load on variety. It's essential that you give the shopper a way to smoothly sort through the choices. Otherwise the abundance of alternatives will overwhelm and immobilize the shopper. As you introduce expanded alternatives, give the shopper meaningful categories to use.

Researchers at Stanford University and Columbia University find that categories enhance the sense of control by allowing the consumer to give reasons to themselves for the choices they're making. For foods and beverages, the categories might be by taste (coffees are mild, dark roast, or nutty). For clothing, the categories might be by usage occasion (leisure, office, party). For power tools and sports equipment, the categories might be by level of expertise recommended.

Bruce D. Sanders
Consulting Psychologist
RIMtailing
Vacaville, Calif.

Researchers at the University of Virginia found that if a customer again encounters the same sort of problem, repurchase intentions drop sharply. The customer might not even bother to return to your business to complain, choosing instead to shift purchases elsewhere.

This means you might not learn why you've lost customers. Whenever you think you've resolved a complaint, ask them if they are fully satisfied. If they reply that they are not, see what you can do to change it to "yes." Then when you get the "yes," say: "If you ever have a problem like this again, please be sure to let me know. Here is my business card."

Use "I," "me," and "my" instead of "our store." Take personal responsibility. Then be sure all staff know that if a customer calls or comes in asking for you by name, staff should either get you or say you're not available at that moment and then add: "May I please see if I can help you?"

Also, if you have a frequent-buyer program that allows this, look for regular customers who have not come to your store for a while. Contact them to ask if there are any problems that you can solve. Ask, "What might I do to make it more likely you'll shop here again soon?"

Bruce D. Sanders
Consulting Psychologist
RIMtailing
Vacaville, Calif.

1. Keep improving your site. Out of fear that something might break on their websites, too many retailers freeze their site for the last two or three months of the year. While playing it safe might be comforting, it's not conducive to achieving high conversion rates. Make sure your digital teams are digging deep into website analytics to identify what updates will offer the highest strategic advantage. Then focus on rolling out those updates in a way that will resonate with your customers. Hold off until January on updates that won't move the needle in a big way.

2. Embrace a different form of personalization. Traditional forms of personalization that focus on the individual, social profiles, and past purchasing history are going to be substantially less effective during the holiday. This is because people are shopping on behalf of husbands, wives, sons, mothers, friends—often, everybody but themselves. Personalization approaches that take into consideration a site visitor's current intent will be much better suited to the holiday buying environment.

3. Highlight relevant gifts. Retailers that make it easier for shoppers to find gifts will reap substantial benefits during the holiday season. The key here, however, is relevance: Merely offering up a fixed set of products that aren't great gifts won't get you far. Creating relevance for your customers becomes a crucial balancing act between your interest in moving certain products and serving up the products your customers want and need. The savviest retailers will keep this in mind when crafting their sites for the holiday season.

4. Think social. Saying "social is important" is like saying the sky is blue, but you'd be surprised how many online retailers are still struggling with how to incorporate social into their businesses and drive sales through it. While some see social as more of an evergreen opportunity, a recent study on customers' online experiences during the last holiday shopping season found that 16 percent of respondents purchased an additional product based on their Facebook friends "liking" or purchasing a product. This season, ask yourself how you are making it easier for customers to share your products and their purchases online. If you're drawing a blank, you may be missing a big opportunity.

5. Develop a mobile strategy. Like social, mobile is one area that's likely already on your radar and then some—holiday season or not. Looking back at the previously cited study last year, 13 percent of the respondents said they used mobile phones to make holiday purchases while 18 percent used them for comparison shopping. While mobile shopping has not yet hit the mainstream, it's certainly emerging as an increasingly effective way for you to engage with your customers. With just months until holiday buying hits full swing, there is no time like the present to get your mobile strategy sorted out. Your more digitally savvy customers will thank you.

Bill Hustad
Chief Customer Officer
Baynote
San Jose

1. A collaborative management style. Engaging the team and stakeholders in problem-solving and decisionmaking is critical for management success. I'm not advocating anarchy or a lack of leadership, but I am suggesting that those closest to the work probably know it best and should be invited to collaborate on how it is done.

2. Adaptability. Project teams and individual projects are always different. Successful managers are able to adapt and overcome the challenges new projects present. A fluid project-management approach is a very effective method for managing project-based work.

3. Resourcefulness. This implies creativity and occasional out-of-the box thinking to solve problems, along with a tenacious, never-give-up approach to overcoming obstacles and resource-allocation issues.

4. Communication skills. It is paramount that you are able to effectively communicate with stakeholders, project teams, and their peers. If you are unable to customize their communication style to the appropriate audience, success will be elusive.

5. Flexibility. No matter how well a project is planned, there will always be something or someone to throw a monkey wrench into the works. Flexibility is the genesis of creative thinking, which is critical for project success.

Ty Kiisel
Manager of Social Outreach
AtTask
Orem, Utah

1. Claim your business in services such as Facebook Places and Google Places. This ensures that your business is correctly listed and can be found by consumers. Check out their location-based merchant services and gauge the fit for your business.
2. Reach out to the deal services such as Groupon and Living Social and ask specifically for ways to participate in their instant deals.

3. Acquire consumer information when they enter your store so you can reach them beyond the first purchase.

4. Try out a promotion or two and measure the increase in foot traffic, as well as the ROI.

5. Use the features that encourage repeat business—loyalty is what you are after, not one-time deal shoppers. This means rewarding customers for repeat visits and sending them new offers after a visit, rather than just offers to get them in the door the first time.

Since many of these mobile marketing services are new, they are priced at what may seem like a low cost, compared with other marketing platforms; this is because they want to give an incentive to businesses to try them. The highest ROI for businesses will come to those that combine a number of social media and location-based services to reach their audience in the coming months. In other words, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Experiment with different services and find out which work well for you.

Alistair Goodman
Chief Executive Officer
Placecast
San Francisco

1. Know your target customer. There are significant demographic differences among each mobile carrier's users, which brands should consider in their campaigns. If your business requires credit-card purchases, you are better off targeting carriers such as Verizon that bill monthly over prepaid carriers such as Metro PCS. Trying to reach a younger demographic? Try Virgin Mobile.

2. Use click to call. The great part about mobile is that your customers have tools in the palm of their hands to call you, go to your website, and buy your products directly. Use that to your advantage. Most mobile ad networks allow you to spend your daily budget over a defined period of time, which helps to prevent small businesses from getting overloaded with short bursts of calls.

3. Determine appropriate locations. Mobile offers a broad array of possible placements for your ads. Your ads can go in apps, games, or be delivered as a message, to name a few. Think about what makes the most sense for your brand and your campaign. For click-to-call or form-submit lead generation, avoid games: The last thing game players want is to be pulled away from game play. Game placement can work well if you're promoting entertainment downloads.

What should you expect from mobile advertising? For one thing, don't expect your first mobile ad campaign to perform well. Make sure you sign up for an advertising network with metric-tracking characteristics, so you can see what's working and what isn't. Don't be afraid to try multiple networks and see what works best for your brand.

Shawn Scheuer
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Moolah Media
San Francisco

1. Asset-based lending. These loans, often in the form of lines of credit, are based on a percentage of the value of a company's assets, including inventory and accounts receivable.

2. Factoring. This financing alternative allows businesses to borrow against outstanding invoices. In a sense, a company sells its accounts receivable at a slight discount.

3. Hedge funds and private-equity funds. A growing number of funds, flush with cash, are lending to midsized businesses, but often charge relatively high interest rates.

4. Your 401(k). Although somewhat complicated, business owners can tap their retirement account for up to $50,000, or 50 percent of the value of the retirement account. You'll need the help of a financial planner or retirement-plan administrator to do this.

5. Vendors and suppliers. Not all vendors or suppliers will be interested or in a position to help, but these companies have a stake in your success. The right ones may be interested in providing financing to good customers.

Scott Rutter
Partner
Citrin Cooperman
New York

1. Smart people know how to communicate their strengths. The best cover letter I've seen recently was from an Ivy League graduate who focused on her waitressing background. She started working young, fought for her first job despite a lack of experience, and sustained that perseverance as she completed her education. In her description of her blue-collar job, the applicant illustrated the qualities I want to see in my employees.

2. Smart people are efficient and proactive. We have a project manager who strives for a work-life balance and who, with our support, discovered tools and collaboration strategies to achieve that balance. By actively finding ways to work more efficiently, she achieves as much, if not more, than someone whose definition of working hard is working long (often unproductive) hours.

3. Smart people don't limit themselves to their job descriptions. The most successful people in our company not only handle the tasks outlined in their job descriptions, they perform as if they're in the job above them. People who anticipate their managers' needs and execute according to those needs are the ones who get promoted. Smart people don't say "no" when asked to go above and beyond. Smart people realize their most important job is to help the company expand.

4. Smart people challenge their bosses. When an employee questions the way something is done (or not done) and then offers ideas, the company benefits. Smart people ask challenging questions, have answers ready, and push everyone around them to do better.

Liz Elting
Co-Chief Executive Officer
TransPerfect
New York

Business owners should explore additional options to secure their retirement savings, such as fixed indexed annuities. Added to a business owner's portfolio, these can help protect personal income and cash flow. Small businesses benefit from fixed indexed annuities for three reasons:

1. It's Safe Money
Unlike other risk assets, fixed annuities are guaranteed not to lose money. Some fixed annuities increase in value each year, based in part on how the stock market performs, but still have a guaranteed minimum return, which is not a bad strategy given today's uncertain and volatile markets. And with all the uncertainty business owners face, it's nice to know that some of their money can be placed in a safe harbor from the current economic storm.

2. It's Guaranteed Income
Business owners don't have the benefit of pensions from an employer. Annuities can be structured to provide a guaranteed income for a business owner and spouse they will not outlive. Even after the owners sell or close the business, the checks will keep coming to their mailbox as long as they are around to pick them up.

3. Tax Benefits
Annuities let business owners defer tax on income that is not currently being used. The deferred income doesn't show up on their tax forms until they begin to use it. That can provide some beneficial cash-flow planning that every business owner needs.

Ryan Peterson
Certified financial planner and president
Wisdom & Wealth Solutions
Raleigh, N.C.

1. The first step is awareness. Use a bid mining and notification service that provides opportunities on a daily basis. You can get access to thousands of bids that government entities release across the nation, without having to engage a full-time employee to find these opportunities.

2. Increase your potential target market. The more your company works with and responds to public bidding opportunities, the more likely it is that government agencies become aware of your offerings. Your company just might be able to provide a superior product at a lower cost than the current vendor.

3. Showcase your company's competitive advantage. Many government agencies are more apt to provide a significant preference to a local vendor, a woman- or minority-owned business, or a small business. These types of certifications allow the government entity to demonstrate that it is providing equal opportunities to all businesses.

4. Once you contract with a government agency, build a trusting relationship. The agency is more likely to designate your company as a preferred vendor, which can lead to more business.

Sabrina Stover
CEO
BidSync
Salt Lake City

1. Tighten up your books. The value of good financial reporting cannot be understated. By being able to demonstrate profitability and a strong balance sheet, you reduce the ambiguity that is often present in a small business's financial statements. Banks look to manage their risk and increase their predictability with the loans and lines of credit they give. Owners who can do that for them will stand a better chance of getting approved.

2. Showcase your strategic thinking. Give financial institutions an idea of how your strategy will help your bottom line. Broad brush strokes won't cut it here. Provide specifics as well as the quantitative and qualitative reasoning behind it.

3. Get some help. Although most small businesses don't require a full time chief financial officer, many should consider hiring a reputable, outsourced accounting firm. The right one will give you a better understanding of your company finances.

Eric Basu
Founder, president, and CEO
Sentek Global
San Diego

1. Identify Long-Term Goals

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make when planning for mobile is thinking short term or rushing to deploy a single mobile app or website. They often don't realize that by planning ahead, they can deploy a comprehensive mobile offering across more than 9,000 devices using a single code base. Creating a strategy that identifies all the key devices helps reduce the development costs of building one mobile app or site at a time.

2. Consider Every Mobile Channel

Too many companies pick one or the other: mobile web or mobile app. First, identify your target audience and find out how they like to get their information. What you'll likely find is consumers want to be able to access a brand's information across a variety of different options, for different reasons. A truly integrated mobile campaign should be accessible through mobile websites, smartphone apps, tablets, and text messaging.

3. Leverage Partners

A mobile strategy that hits all the mobile channels may seem daunting, and for a small business it's often not something that can be handled using internal resources. Instead, find a vendor that can help with everything from developing the strategy to testing and reviewing your mobile portfolio. Selecting a vendor who can offer technology to "future proof" your offering is essential for being prepared for changes in mobile technology. Some vendors even offer agreements to include support for new devices and operating systems within 30 to 90 days of their release, ensuring you can support a multichannel offering now and in the future.

Bjorn Hildahl
Vice-president, Product Management
Kony
Orlando, Fla.

The tools for engaging your audience include both social media and e-mail. It's not a question of which channel is better. Your customers want and expect choices. Some prefer to connect on Facebook or Twitter, and others through e-mail. That's actually a good thing, because e-mail and social media go hand in hand.

E-mail remains the best way to get your message heard, but social media are the best way to get your message to spread. Why not leverage both? You can expand the reach of your e-mail campaign beyond the inbox by simply sharing a link to the campaign across your social channels. Additionally, adding the "Like" and "Tweet" buttons in the body of your e-mail will make it easy for your subscribers to share your message with their friends. Another approach is to use a strong social call-to-action to draw your readers to Twitter or your Facebook page to continue the conversation.

It's no longer enough to just broadcast a message. Now you must listen and respond to your audience. These are the key factors to effective engagement marketing, and both e-mail and social media are the tools to make it possible.

Mark Schmulen
General manager, Social Media
Constant Contact
Waltham, Mass.

Ultimately, each product will either evolve to include connectivity as a fundamental attribute or it will perish. In this new world of "connected products," a significant part of the user experience must be driven from the cloud. However, for many companies, the shift to connected products and leveraging the cloud won't be easy.

Here are a few tips on how companies can transform their businesses and get connected:

1. Keep your eyes on your business goals. When machines start talking, they don't stop. With literally millions of bits of data flying at you, it's easy to lose sight of why you got connected in the first place. Use a solution that captures only the data you need and presents it to you in a digestible manner.

2. Don't go it alone. If you knew what you didn't know about developing a connecting product, your jaw would hit the ground. I can't tell you how many times I've seen a company spend years and millions of dollars trying to connect their products, only to be stymied by security or scalability problems. If you leverage proven cloud-software platforms instead of trying to build a custom solution yourself. It will save you time and money and let you focus on your core area of expertise, rather than technical issues.

3. Be creative. When one forward-thinking traffic-sign manufacturer got connected, its leaders thought: "Let's make the signs' messages adjustable online." Once the ideas started flowing, they came up with layers of new, dynamic services such as tracking and transmitting traffic data, measuring power levels, validating location, and managing issues of tampering. In a short period of time, connectivity has successfully transformed the company from a hardware manufacturer to a solution provider. They no longer compete on the speeds and feeds of their signs, but rather on the value-added services and information they can provide to municipalities they serve.

Dale Calder
Founder
Axeda
Foxboro, Mass.

The Exchange can help you do that. It is a four-stage, structured conflict-resolution model used successfully by mediators at the National Conflict Resolution Center for more than 25 years. It includes constructive techniques to use in face-to-face meetings with disputing or disruptive employees.

The following tips—based on The Exchange—will teach you how to turn your next meeting with conflicting employees into a productive conversation.

1. Start with an icebreaker. An ideal icebreaker asks for a person's take on something that's both work-related and positive.

2. Listen. Being an active listener sends the message that you are genuinely concerned about both parties in the dispute. Showing each that you are willing to see both sides of the story will help you set the foundation for working toward a solution.

3. Use and encourage positive language. Always think before you speak. When you keep things positive, you can work toward great solutions efficiently and effectively.

4. Work toward sustainable solutions. They should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed.

Disputes cause headaches in the workplace. The good news is that when you're armed with the tools you need to work toward productive resolutions, you and your employees can use them to strengthen your organization, rather than harm it.

Steven P. Dinkin
President
National Conflict Resolution Center
San Diego, Calif.