once you get your customers through your front door, how do you get them to buy? what you can do to change your customers' shopping patterns. and they can ruin your business if you don't deal with them, small business owners tell us the most effective ways to deal with negative online reviews. that and much more, coming up next on "your business." small businesses are revitalizing the economy and american express open is here to help. that's why we are proud to present "your business" on

msnbc. hi, everyone, i'm jj ramberg and welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping your small business grow. if you're in retail, you know this feeling. you see people walk through the door, they look around and then they walk right out without ever buying anything. it is frustrating. but there's a bit of science to changing this. and one boutique owner in geneva, illinois was intent on figuring it out. she hired two retail experts to come in and mix things up in a way that would result in more sales. in 2010 sherri opened peaceful parlor, an eco chic boutique on the picturesque main street of

geneva, illinois. it's the go-to looking for a custom blend of tea or an environmentally conscious gift. she wants to expand her customer base. with hundreds of tourists expected to come into town for an annual festival, sherri's hoping to convert visitors into repeat customers. >> thank you. >> she called in retail strategist rich keiser and georgian bender to help her get the store ready for the influx of new customers. >> sometimes we still have people that come in, make a loop around and walk right out the door. >> if you have people making a loop and walking out, they're not understanding what you sell. all of those things that make you different we want to help make you stand out. >> ready to get started? >> let's get started. >> let's do it. let's go. >> sherri, this area is really important. it's a key area and it needs to stay open. >> okay. >> the first five feet, square feet inside the front door of a store is no man's land because anything you put there, people won't see until they're at least five feet in the store.

that's where we stop. >> this space is open space allows them to slow down. now we're going to romance here. >> you're not giving people enough space to walk in and actually take in the breadth of the product you have. by the time they hit their five feet in the door, they're almost hitting this table. >> what i'm seeing is it's almost look a tidal wave of merchandise more than it is a tide. what i mean by that, within i saw those when i first walked in, i had no idea what they were, quite frankly. creating a way to not show so much but tell stories, make sure there's a sign that explains it. >> from that display i wouldn't understand these are head bands. if we're going to show this many bright colors and grouping of colors, need to make sure they're separated enough so the customer understands this is not just this folded. >> what is in the back in these rooms? >> okay. right there we have our kids

room. >> then over there we have housewares. >> question, how do i know that? i've never been that before. >> we greet our customers, say hello, be sure to check out our other areas. >> we need to talk about signing for the store. you can't be everywhere. women rely on signing, men depend on it. especially in a store like yours, you have so many unique items and stories to tell about product, you need to tell people this is what this is, this is where we are. constantly as we go through the store. >> don't use all capital letters. you want upper and lower case. it's harder for older eyes to be able to read upper case letters. take the average age of your oldest customer. >> okay. >> and divide it in half. that's the smallest size font you can use in any of your store signs. >> oh, wow. >> the prime item that draws people into the store or that

you're known for is teas. >> yes. >> one of the things we do here that's a little different is we hand blend the teas. we have a working station back here. it fits to have the tea back here as far as logistics for us to move things and package things. >> logistically, it makes sense. could we bring some of the teas to the front of the store? >> so there's a major location and minor locations. we need to make sure we're using minor locations outside of this area, showing the major items in the store. >> with a laundry list of changes to make, georgeann and rich got the store ready for the first day of the festival. the next day was the big reveal. >> we made a couple changes. >> it looks fantastic. ♪ >> so we gave you the five feet of space here so that people have a chance to walk into the store and they have a little bit more room to shop. we took your table that had the toys underneath, brought this one on top of it, combined the two. now you have multilevel. it's easier to shop for people

to see. we've cross-merchandised still but you know, it's easy to understand this is a flowered headbanned. >> it's time to put the charges to the test. ♪ >> all right. so what did we learn today? we learned that when customers walk in the front door because we gave them that extra space, they felt more comfortable shopping. >> not only did we see that but we watched everybody go with the flow. we created this path and they came to the right, looked at the focal wall. instead of seeing the radiator, they saw the product and they were handling it, on top of it and on top of that they looked at the tea. they all started talking about the tea, driving them further into the store. >> the third thing they said, wow, she has jewelry in here. i didn't know she had that much jewelry. we took jewelry away from this space but because of the way it's merchandise, they thought you had more. less in a display is more. a couple of weeks later we checked in with sherri to see if

anything changed. we are happy to tell you, thanks to the adjustments, her sales were up 44% from last year. like it or not, we are living in a world where everyone can voice their opinion on the internet, whether you sell a product or a service or whether you're e-commerce or brick and mortar, your business is at the mercy of online reviews. if some of the reviews are negative, it can severely impact your sales unless you understand how to deal with them. we solicited advice from small business owners and experts about what you should do to turn a negative review into a positive experience for your company. word of mouth is the life blood of many small businesses. but in the digital age, your company's reputation is now at the mercy of online customer reviews. >> having a reputation trashed after 25 years of work, it's an awful thing. >> those customer reviews on sites like yelp, amazon, angie's list and trip adviser can make

or break a small business. it affects how the public perceives your handling of customer service. >> you've got to be engaged you can't bury your head in the sand. >> what can and should an owner do to combat harsh critiques? the key is engagement. doing nothing is generally not a viable option. remember these three key points. one, take a breath and don't react out of anger. >> take a breath. wait, do not respond for at least, i would say, 12 hours. you really need time to calm down. >> number one is you don't take it to heart. don't let it bum you out. number two is if you're going to respond and you should always respond, always take the high road. >> two, don't argue and remain positive. >> i just simply tell them they're wrong and crazy and they should just get out of here. no, no, with negative reviews, you know, everyone, no matter who they are and where they're coming from have a reason for saying what they're saying. >> you don't want to start any battles or anything negative. if you try to be negative about

somebody else's comment, all that really ends up doing is causes other people to come in there and start trying to fight and battle you. >> you don't defend the customer. i believe in the old adage, the customer is always right even when they are wrong. you soften their complaint, turn it around in term of my reaction to that. >> finally, offer an apology if warranted and a real solution. >> correct it with a better product and fix it, make sure they receive a refun or replacement product as soon as possible. >> i've put my phone number on my product so people can contact us. very often in a world where everything becomes an 800 number or everyone wants to go to a website, it's wonderful to be able to pick up a phone and actually talk with a management or a manager or owner of a company. >> because at the end of the day, not everybody will like your product. if they can like your customer service, you've made a lasting

impression on them. >> by reaching out to resolve customer reviews, you're showing the public you care about your customers which could result in increased loyalty. sometimes mended fences are stronger than those that were never broken. >> i think it's all an opportunity, even though maybe when you read it, you want to find that person and say what are you doing to me, how could you do this? if you take it in the right vain and try and use it to make it better, i think it's all good. i really do. it is incredibly important but also incredibly hard to find the right people to hire. step one is generally posting the job. so check out these five sites that may be useful in your search for candidates courtesy of inc.com. one, pinterest. create a board for the position you're trying to fill. two, mogul is a platform for woman worldwide that connects

users to wenting c icontent. three, recruiter is geared towards employees that have jobs but are open to a move. after potential workers create private profiles, you're sent e-mails of the ones you might be interested in. four, check out dice, a site that focuses on hiring for tech jobs. with over 2 million users, they pull in social data from more than 100 different sites to give you access to skilled tech tall enfor your company's openings. and five, ziprecruiter is ideal if you want to cast a wide net in your search for top talent. from your account post a job to more than 100 of the top online job boards with a single click. hiring isn't the only part of your business that can benefit from some of the resources on the web. so let's find out from our viewers what online tools and apps they're using to run their small businesses more efficiently.

>> it's a website where you can produce graphic design, do graphics for facebook, twitter, instagram, social media, icons, whatever it is you're looking to do and have it come across as quality work. i use canva for my facebook cover, my twitter cover, for specials and different things i'm doing and it also has a social media feature so you can share your designs with others and they can follow you so they see the work you've done. >> one website that i absolutely love is nonprofit marketing guide.com. this woman, kitty larue miller has transformed my marketing from all over the place to clear and concise. she is speaking to an audience that is working for a nan profit but this applies to the small business as well. she has many free products, free webinars, how tos and graphics.

it's great. >> mighty bell is a website, turning into an app that allow you to build mini social networks. you can build an entire community of members or customers where they can interact or access content you make available for them. it's free to use, free to start. and a really, really awesome way to both distribute corn tent and put all your members and community members all in one place and interact with each other and learn from each other. as a business owner, you have got to keep on top of your finances. which seems obvious but it's a part of the job that too many people seem to ig no are. our next guest is here to simplify it for you. according to him, there are five crucial numbers you need to know. justin crane is the founder of crane financial solutions. he teaches business owners how to plan their cash flow and be strategic with their business finances. hey, justin. >> how are you doing? >> i like that you are simplifying it to five. it's sort of like the big, bad,

scary thing for a lot of people. they don't know where to start. >> yes. >> if you can say here are these five, if you get those, we're off to a good start. >> absolutely. >> let's start with the first one. sales. >> we have to track our sales. sales are the life blood to our businesses. we need to know how much money is coming in and where the money is coming from. >> do you find a lot of people who don't know that number? >> yeah, a lot of business owners don't know what their sales are. the thing that i recommend is that why don't we write down whether we're a service-based business or a product-based business. the top three things that we sell. make a list of them and write them out and figure out what is product "a," what is service "b," whatever and start tracking that, that way you can know where the money is actually coming from which can help you get clearer with your finances. >> perfect. next one, marketing. >> yes, marketing is a big one. the average business owner invests 2% to 3% of sales in marketing. i want people to consider doubling that if not getting to 10%. because marketing is the life blood of our business.

>> but first you have to understand what you're spending because you have some social media here and e-mail marketing and suppliers. >> yes. >> and put it together. >> yes, absolutely. you have to make a list of where you want to invest in marketing. >> right. >> because we need to think about it as an investment. we want to the money to come back, make money. >> right. >> we want to mack a list of what we want to invest in, come up with a plan. the most important thing a lot of business owners done the do is have a marketing campaign, a calendar. >> sort of do willy-nilly stuff. >> yes, you have to plan out your year, think through it strategically. >> then profits? >> yes, everyone knows that, yes, you have sales but if you don't make money in your business and if your business model doesn't allow you to make money easily, then you're going to be out of business in a few years. you have to make money. >> cash, we found so many companies 2008, 2009 doing well but they ran out of cash. >> yes. it's very, very important to track your cash flow.

as soon as i say the statement of cash flow, a lot of business owners roll their eyes and stuff like that. you can easily tell your bookkeeper or accountant to tell you what were the top two drivers of cash, where did the money go, how did the money come in, how much money did you make? having cash in the bank, money in the bank, allows i don't you to say no as a business owner. a lost business owners take on projects they shouldn't do just for the money. >> then finally, taxes, you don't want to be surprised. >> taxes are huge. it's a big thing that business owners into ed to plan. are you an s-corp, do you have withholding, do you have to pay estimated taxes? a lot of business owners wait until the end of the year. that's okay. i would rather have you pay as you go. pay the taxes as you make the money so you won't have a big surprise. >> if you have good accounting software it's easy to get all of these numbers. >> yes. the thing is if you're a

business owner and get overwhelmed and stress out when it comes to money, tell your bookkeeper or account and the to give you these five funs. that way you're on a need-to-know basis, what you really, really need to know and you'll feel more empowered with the information. >> that's the point. set it up, right? set it up so these numbers are easy to get and get in the habit. >> yes. >> of looking at these numbers every morning or every week, whatever works for your business. >> tracking is a big thing. and it's understanding that you can have people help you with it, that you don't have to do it all yourself. >> great. thank you, appreciate it. >> thank you. you want more advice to help run your business? when we return we talk about growing your brand without losing your identity. and how to know when to start playing yourself a salary. in today's elevator pitch came up with a way to wirelessly or remotely open locked doors.

american express for travel and entertainment worldwide. just show them this - the american express card. don't leave home without it! and someday, i may even use it on the moon. it's a marvelous thing! oh! haha! so you can replace plane tickets, traveler's cheques, a lost card. really? that worked? american express' timeless safety and security are now available on apple pay. the next evolution of membership is here. this week's your biz selfie is from david salsman from ports myth, new hampshire who owns fun to eat fruit. that's a nice gift to give. anyhow, we'd love to see yours as well. please send a selfie of you and your business to

yourbusiness@msnbc.com or tweet it to @msnbcyourbiz and use the #yourbizselfie. this week's elevator pitch had an idea. tania yuki is the owner of sharably and nisha is with new york angels. >> i'm the founder of keyscy. keasy. did you ever think about how many other people had been given that key? this creates an easy tune toot for unauthorize d. i created keasy.

we have a patent pending keyless app and smartphone app. our technology is based on light transmission of data. it's safe, secure, device agnostic and exactly what real estate professionals are looking for. we have three large management companies in each of our target markets on board for testing. we are looking for an investment of $200,000 for testing of our beta locks and staffing for our customers. >> congratulations. good job. i'll give both of you these two numbers. one through ten, how do you think the product is and the second one is how was the pitch? >> i would like this for my house. forget property managers. the number of times i've lost the keys to my house, i'm calling my husband to send him home, this would be good for me. >> i think i could get you one.

>> let's start. >> i gave her an eight for the pitch and a six for the product. i think you were great. you covered all the major points, you had enthusiasm. i think maybe, you know, if you could speak more about the competition, that would be helpful. on product side i do see the need for this. i think there's also a lot of other technology already on the marketplace and so if you could maybe articulate more clearly why it is that this is different and safe and not hackable and i think that would, you know, go a long way. >> perfect. those are kind of related. the 8 and the 6 there. tania? >> i gave you an 8 on the product and a 9 on the pitch. i'll talk about the product. i agree. it sounds like i was there with you, i didn't know i was nervous about that, i am now that you tell me about it. it sounds leak something that is necessary and anything that starts to leverage technology over physical product has a really great runway. i would have liked to have known more detail about how you're

pulling off the tech and how you're going to really reverse engineer against any unauthorized access. so that was what was going on there. now, the pitch itself, i love that you came from your own personal experience. i think the one thing i would say is there was also an opportunity to think about the use case beyond property management because that gives me thought about how big is the addressable market? you want to really think about how could this actually be solving problems for every person? who has a lock, not just a property manager. >> all right. great. thanks both of you. good luck with your company. thanks for stopping by and pitching it here. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> absolutely. if any of you out there have a product or service and you want feedback on your chances of getting interested investors, just send us an e-mail, send it to yourbusiness@msnbc.com. don't forget to tell us what your company does, how much money you're trying to raise and what you'll do with that money. you never know, somebody out there watching the show might be interested in helping you.

it's time now to answer some of your business questions. tania and nisa are here to help us out. we're planning on expanding to meet a new marketplace while still catering to existing clientele. how do we grow our brand without losing the soul of our company. interesting question. >> when you talk about the soul of your company, you talk about the cull tire and what you stand for when dealing with clients. three quick tips. the first is to really get clear on what your values are as a company. how do you treat your company, how do you treat each other and what does the customer stand for? the second thing is to make sure as you're going through this growth to hire people who believe what you do. and who share those values. they're going to treat your customer in the same way even as you're experiencing this growth. lastly, i would say please keep checking in. you'd be surprised how quickly the values slip, particularly when you're adding lots of new people who may or may not know

truly what you stand for. >> i agree completely. the soul and the culture of the company is important. if you're making any kind of change to the brand you need to communicate with the customers, way ahead of the time that you plan to make the change. you need to explain why you're making changes to them. thattette goods them loyal to you, even more loyal than they already are. it macs them brand ambassadors for you. that is really important if you're making changes, not to lose that customer. that existing customer there. >> if you're expanding your brand, hopefully you're doing it in a way, offering something that these people will like, too. >> exactly. >> these are the first point of contact, your evangelists. >> let's move to the next question about getting paid. >> how do i determine when do i pay myself a full salary? >> i imagine you must get this question all the time as an investor. >> all the time. absolutely. i think as a general rule you pay yourself a salary when you have some traction, you have revenues, you can meet all your

other expenses. the real question here is do you pay yourself the min to cover your living expenses 0 are what you're worth? i think investors like to see some kind of flexibility here, maybe build in a ratchet-up system, if you meet certain milestones and numbers, you pay yourself more. if the business is flailing, then you pay yourself less. i think that's important, also consider your corporate structure, whether you're a c-corp, llc or sole proprietorship. there are certain tax implications that go into drawing a salary. >> my perspective here is pay yourself as soon as possible. there's a couple of reasons. the first is you've got to cover your bills. it's super hard to stay really committed to a company if you're not making ends meet. for any business owner, feel guilty about it, lake you shouldn't take it out of the company but if you're working 24/7, you have to do it.

the second reason why this is so important, it gives you a much more realistic picture of what your business actually looks like. your books can look great because you're getting free labor from you but it doesn't give you a really clear perspective on what it's going to take to get your business to the next level. it's good for investors because it means you can really start to learn how to scale. >> okay. let's go to the last question about getting your name out there. >> as a small business, how do you find innovative ways to market your product with using very little cash? >> all right. i'll start with you, tania. you do a lot with social media. here's a free, at least money-wise way, if not time. >> i'll take it as a give than your product is good. when you have a great product, the biggest thing that's going in your favor is customers who can try your product and get in their hands so they can become advocates. social media is by far the best passageway to get your product out there and enable your customer to tell your story.

as soon as you find people who like their product, you want to give them an opportunity to post to social pages or give them case examples of how you've succeeded. people will trust something that comes from their friends or trusted network way more than they're going to be based on advertising dollars. the trick is to make it easy for people to tell your story. >> people try something in social, it doesn't work and they give up. it doesn't work for me. it's free, it didn't work, it's not worth my time. >> no. you have to timpger. i mean, facebook ads, google ad works, twitter. you need to have everybody touching your company doing this on your behalf so you create this. you can create a blog or a funny video that gets a lot of attention, it's really inexpensive and really effective at making things go viral. i would say there are guerrilla

marketing tactics as well. people paint logos on their car and drive them around. or go to an event and offer something free. people love that. thank you both. if any of you out there have a question for our experts, please send them in. we answer them every week. get free advice. send is an e-mail, yourbids@msnbc.com. thanks so much for joining us today. if you want to learn more about the show, head on over to our website, openforum.com/yourbusiness. you'll find today's segments plus web exclusive pieces with a lot more information to help your business grow. we're also on twitter, @msn twitter, @msnbcyourbiz. we're on facebook and instagram, too. next week, ever how santa

claus stays busy for the summer? >> people love christmas. what's not to like about christmas? >> most everybody is in the christmas spirit when they're here, whether it's june, july or august or the first of december. >> we'll tell you why santa's village is still such a popular destination for generations of families after being in business for 63 years. till then, i'm jj ramberg, remember, we make your business our business. american express for travel and entertainment worldwide. just show them this - the american express card. don't leave home without it! and someday, i may even use it on the moon. it's a marvelous thing! oh! haha! so you can replace plane tickets, traveler's cheques, a lost card. really? that worked?

american express' timeless safety and security are now available on apple pay. the next evolution of membership is here. >> a few minutes ago in norwood, massachusetts a half hour south of bostons, donald trump wrapped up a rowdy speech and press conference. he talked about gun violence, how many jobs he is going to create, his feelings for quarterback tom brady, and his fellow republican candidates for president. >> you have a problem of mental health in this country. and we have to take care of people and we have to find out who these people are. we also have an illegal immigrant problem. a lot of the gangs -- it's true. a lot of the gangs in st. louis and ferguson, a lot of the gangs in chicago and the toughest and