Your customers rely on your expertise to guide them in ways that big box mainstream retailers and impersonal online transactions can’t.

With that in mind, it’s as important as always to continue to provide products from quality brands, and continue to educate customers on each one to help enhance their lives.

No doubt you’ve already established long-term relationships with your customers and have learned how to direct them to the products that best help to improve their lives. Of course, that’s not the only important relationship in your business. Beyond your customers and staff, it’s extremely important to work with the best vendors, too.

Build relationships with companies that offer educational materials, webinars and literature that help your staff and your customers better understand the benefits of their products.

The best companies don’t only deliver excellent quality supplements or other natural products, they help you help your customers.

I think that even in these times, a combination of making connections between your customers and the best brands and products is absolutely a recipe for success, and one that you can build on to increase your sales in the months ahead.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Make staff and customer education a hallmark of your store: Every decision regarding what you stock and the training your staff undergoes should be part of the answer to this question: How does this serve our customers and increase their understanding of good health? I think that it’s a foregone conclusion that any product you stock is one that you would have absolute trust in if you used it yourself.

But to develop that trust, you need to know what’s behind it: the science, the ingredients and the clinical studies, if applicable. As I mentioned, the best companies will provide you with ample materials to help you, your staff and your customers learn about their products and how they help.

If you put a focus on education, it’ll be easy to connect customers with products from brands that put a premium on developing an understanding of how their ingredients support optimal health. This helps deepen that lasting relationship with customers and good companies, definitely a win-win situation.

Also, in keeping with your store being a destination even now, in a curbside pickup era, (and maybe even more now), it’s important to update your store’s website content regularly. Make sure you have someone dedicated to this. An updated web site that zeroes in with fresh articles, health insights and advertises store specials (and products unique to your store that aren’t carried in “big box” environments) is crucial. It tells people that you are available, open and paying attention to their needs.

Edit your store selections frequently: If you’ve genuinely tried to promote certain products in your inventory, but just can’t seem to get them to move, it’s probably time to let them go and replace them with something better. As always, make sure that as much as possible, the products in your store can’t be easily found someplace else. In an era of online-everything, this can seem like a tough job—and it is. But combined with stellar service and continual education, your unique offerings make your store a destination, even during a time of virtual events and curbside pickup. And that means that you can’t afford to donate shelf space—or training time—to items that aren’t selling. You always want to only include brands that offer you the most support that you, in turn, can offer your customers.

Take a look around your store, and it’ll be obvious which companies help you promote their products and good health: they’re the ones that supply the posters, shelf talkers, product and counter displays, sell sheets, brochures, ingredient literature and co-op advertising. In short, the companies you want to work with the most are the ones that invest in you and in your customers and help you drive sales.

Ask your customers what they need: Conduct an online poll or simply ask customers what they’d like to learn more about—then, host those events, even in a virtual space through your store’s website, and promote links to online resources: YouTube, vendor sites and trusted news sources that are relevant. Always remember that your customers are not only your employer, but also a remarkable source of inspiration.

Make your store a virtual destination, too: When it comes to freshening up your product offerings or presenting new products, make sure you announce that in your store’s newsletters and any social media outreach. Also, post any educational material, including links to videos and the like that the company may also provide. In light of many of the restrictions in place about gathering in stores, hosting virtual events and even branding your own videos on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and on your own website may be an excellent way to connect your customers with the brands and products that will improve their lives. It’s also a great value add for your store, too—you will continue to be known as experts, even if your contact with customers is often limited to curbside pickups, emails or frequent video chats.

Be Wise in Your Product Selection, Your Recommendations, and the Companies You Keep

You and your store team serve as matchmakers between customers and the products that suit them best. And those products should come from companies that help you do everything you can to further your sales. I know that I’m not telling you anything new when I say that you should promote the trusted brands that work with you and deliver the results your customers have come to count on. It is the best way of doing business. Not only does it help build customer loyalty, which is critical for businesses in good times and bad, but it also accomplishes your core mission of helping people feel their best. And I think that’s a goal we can all believe in. 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.