Retail veteran and best-selling author Bob Negen has been training in an indoor tanning business near his West Michigan home to better prepare himself for his first appearance at Smart Tan Nashville this October. He’s worked with salon management to master the peculiarities of the business side of tanning – upgrades, equipment mix, lotion prices, EFTs, etc. Negen has  spent his entire adult life developing his reputation as an authority in the business of retail, and while this gives him unique expertise in any retail environment, he wanted  to make sure he took the time to really understand the specific challenges of the indoor tanning market.

“No matter what the business, it’s all about giving your customers the kind of experience that makes your business memorable and parlaying that first experience into a highly profitable long-term relationship,” Negen says.

Negen started his path on the front lines of retail, starting his own small business at the age of 23. Over the next 20 years, Negen took Mackinac Kite Co. from its $17,000 first annual sales to a multi-million dollar company. Then, while the success of his business continued, Negen turned his attention to helping others success in retail.  In 1999 he and his wife Susan founded WhizBang! Training to help independent retailers thrive in today’s super-competitive market. In 2006, Bob and Susan released their best-selling book “Marketing Your Retail Store in the Internet Age” with global publisher John Wiley & Sons. In 2008 they launched their flagship product, the Retail Mastery System, a complete training system in the retail industry that teaches the 11 essential skills for running a successful retail store. And he’s become a highly-sought after public speaker and consultant on retail, having presented at numerous trade shows, corporate events, and for chambers of commerce and downtown organizations. In Nashville, Negen will instruct two breakout sessions and host a pre-conference Maximum Bang seminar on Friday, Oct 3. This all-day event is packed with retail and marketing advice that will help you bring in new customers and get them spending more money. Bob Negen, retail expert and best-selling author, will spend the day sharing a comprehensive plan that has been proven to get maximum results. Negen covers everything a retailer needs to know to succeed, including:

• Getting new customers for little or no money
• How to turn first-time customers into lifetime customers
• How to find and train a team of retail superstars
• Turning your team into selling machines
• 5 ways to immediately build your average sale
• How to build your customer database with a simple loyalty program
• Using electronic and social marketing to dramatically increase loyalty and sales

With Negen’s upbeat and humorous approach, Maximum Bang Retailing will change the way you approach your business and set you up for the most profitable year you’ve ever had. If you can’t get enough of Negen’s action-oriented, no fluff advice, you can check out his breakout sessions on Saturday and Sunday. Here, he’ll cover two topics not discussed extensively in the pre-conference seminar: Staff-building and retail training. In Building a Staff of Retail Superstars Negen teaches tricks for finding the best, most qualified candidates for your salon. A top-notch staff is an independent retailer’s biggest competitive edge. A great staff does not happen by accident; it is created by recruiting the right people, disciplining them fairly, and motivating them constantly. He’ll also explore how to develop effective interview questions, how to successfully coach, how to motivate employees to do what they need to do and much more! This is a session no manager should miss! At Building a Retail Training Program, you’ll learn how to get the most out of those retail superstars. Whether you have one location or 20, effective employee training is crucial to your success as a salon. Great employees are a result of great training. In this session, retail expert Bob Negen teaches how to properly build and execute a training program that gets everyone on the same page, gets them doing things the way you want them done, ensures that your customers are getting a great experience, reduces your stress level and helps make you a lot more money! Come to this lively session and learn exactly how to build a training program customized for your salon. You’ll leave surprised at how simple it can be and inspired to create one right away for your store. You won’t want to waste the opportunity to get a full 9 hours of Negen’s action-oriented, expert advice.

Click here to register for Smart Tan Nashville, Oct. 3-5 2014.