The most valuable aspect of your business is your team of employees. But, wisely assembling that team, training them, and encouraging them can all too often get lost in the shuffle. You need to ask yourself how, and how often, you show appreciation for your staff. The bottom line is literally that acknowledging the expertise of your team with a good salary, proper training, and a lot of encouragement is critical.

That being said, here are five ways to help your business—and your team—prosper:

1.Start off by hiring the best people you can find: Assemble the best possible team that you can. Make sure that they have a passion for natural health and helping others, too. It’s very likely that some of the best potential employees are already known as some of your store’s best customers. It’s also likely that these candidates may have their own specialized areas of interest that they excel in—maybe creating amazing store displays are one of their talents, or organizing store events, or connecting with customers during a “healthy recipes” night at your business.

2. Place a premium on education and training: Good training is a must here, even for those employees who you’d consider experts before you bring them on board. Being well trained and tuned to a store’s philosophy and approach allows your team members to feel confident when they talk to customers. They feel more invested and more like they’re “in the know”—because they truly are.

3. Instill a customer-focused store philosophy: When we think about it, we know that the customer is our priority in any retail business. But how often does that essential idea get pushed out of our mindset when the day gets hectic or stressful? It is absolutely crucial that nobody on your staff becomes complacent regarding customers. After all, they are the ones signing your paycheck. Your staff’s mission is to always make them feel truly welcome. Every person who walks into your store needs to be greeted genuinely, and your staff, which you’ve hired wisely and helped train, needs to have that in mind at all times. You’ve got to be willing to drop whatever else you’re doing and be there for them. Your customer doesn’t care if your del-ivery truck was late, if your guest speaker for the evening cancelled, or if an assistant manager called in sick. Your customer’s experience needs to be as seamless as possible, whether you are experiencing a perfect day or not. It’s key that your employees understand this, too. Because of their training, your staff should know that they have the freedom to take care of customers and not be criticized for taking time from stocking shelves or other rout-ine business to go the extra mile for customers. They need to know that they have the freedom and support from you and the managers to exercise some discernment about how to best help everyone who comes through your door.

4. Allow in-house experts to shine: Everyone has areas of interest in natural health, and if you have experts on your staff in any of them, consider yourself lucky. Not only will these star-player employees cultivate segments of the store’s business, but their enthusiasm will become contagious for your customers as well. In-house experts are great—and with a little encouragement, even those on your staff who have a more generalist point of view about health may develop their own interest that contributes to the success of the store overall.

5. Pay people what they’re worth: If you pay a marginal wage, you get marginal people and marginal results. The important thing is to hire excellent people, mentor them well, and pay them what they’re worth.

Your team is the most important deciding factor of whether or not your business will thrive. As such, it’s always crucial to reward them and encourage them to be the very best version of themselves that they are capable of being. That may ultimately mean that they decide to start businesses of their own. But that’s okay—after all, it’s a wonderful legacy to inspire others.

And I’m sure that many of you have already put these ideas into practice. But I think that during a time of increased online competition and fickle loyalty, putting a spotlight on taking care of your staff, your customers and your community first will yield great dividends in the years to follow. I believe that when you do what’s right, the rest will fall into place. I’m sure that you’ll agree. VR

A highly regarded leader in the natural products industry, Terry Lemerond is founder and president of EuroPharma, Inc. He also founded Enzymatic Therapy, Inc. and PhytoPharmica, Inc. and is currently co-owner of the Terry Naturally Health Food Store in Green Bay, WI, which recently won its sixth consecutive consumer choice award as “Best of the Bay.” With more than 40 years in the natural products industry, Lemerond has researched and developed more than 400 nutritional and botanical formulations that continue to be top-selling products in the market. Lemerond shares his wealth of experience and knowledge in health and nutrition through his educational programs, including the Terry Talks Nutrition website, newsletters, podcasts, webinars and personal speaking engagements. He is the author of two books: Seven Keys to Vibrant Health and the recently updated Seven Keys to Unlimited Personal Achievement.