This is the fourth of 10 articles to help you increase your retail or restaurant sales or profits by 25%. These ideas are in no particular order.

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Tip #4 Pay More, Fire More, Train More.

You have already picked the ideal product to sell or have the restaurant with the greatest food.

You have found the ideal location for your retail store or restaurant.

Why are sales lower than expected?

Your employees can make or break you. You are the boss. It's your responsibility to retain and train the best employees.

How much should you pay your employees? My answer is always $1 above the employee who works for your competition.

Salary is very complicated. Your business is not a philanthropic organization or a government agency. You want to make the largest profit possible. That means paying your employees as little as possible.

On the other hand, if you are paying a lower salary, you are likely to have substandard employees who cost you and/or your business lots of potential profits.

If you pay your employees a dollar more than the average local wages in your area, you are more likely to get the best possible employees for your business.

Those businesses with the best reputation for employee wages tend to get the largest number of employees seeking out a position. These businesses have a line of people seeking a position (full or part time).

Treat your employees well and they will treat your business well.

Your employees are hired to serve your customers. You need to train your better than average employees to serve your customers better than any of the competitors.

Having some type of weekly training for all of your employees is a great thing. Make up some situations. Have one employee act as a "disgruntled customer from hell." How will your employees handle this customer? How do your employees handle customers with heavy accents? How do your employees handle customers with endless questions? Are you employees patient? Train your employees to up sell.

Many highly successful businesses have rules. One employee may not talk to another employee as long as a customer is within 10 feet of an employee.

You don't need to train your employees to be pushy. Train your employees to be nice, pleasant and go the extra distance to help your customers.

A restaurant server needs to take full control of the tables that they serve. They should always know which patron ordered which food. If the food is delayed, the server should not hide. Just tell the truth.

You will find that the extra dollar you pay, will more than be made up in extra sales.

Do you own a convenience store? The same rules apply. People are much more likely to come in more frequently when your cashier says hello and actually recognizes your customers.

If you have an organization with 10 or more employees, fire one every once in a while. That is, look for your worst employee. Who is your worst employee? If you can answer that question in less than 10 seconds, that employee should probably be fired. Find a new, better employee...If you can't name a worst employee, than you have reached your goal of having a great staff.

Your employees are an extension of you and your business. If you have a great business, make sure you have great employees and treat them that way.

Several readers had comments about my bathroom recommendations.

I made reference to chains like Stewart's that encourage potential customers to stop by and use their bathrooms. The bathrooms are cleaned once per hour. Nordstrom's (department store) and Stop and Shop (Supermarket) are also known for having clean bathrooms.

I voiced my objection to any store or restaurant that posts a sign stating that bathrooms are for customers only.

I get it. Several readers hated the idea of allowing non-customers in their bathrooms. Although I disagree, I can understand it. My opinion is that every business needs to be inviting to all customers and potential customers. Clean bathrooms, like great employees, is just another way to increase your business.

I had one interesting reply from a long time Cash Register Express customer (Catarina One Stop in Texas).  Catarina One Stop is a 20,000 square foot restaurant and convenience store. Robert Ramirez (the owner) says that 80% of people who use his bathroom buy nothing. Many passenger buses stop there.

Robert does not post any signs, but the bathrooms often become a nightmare especially when buses arrive and the lines grow for people waiting their turn. Robert would like to post a sign saying, "We do not deny bathrooms to anyone but please let our customers go first." He also adds that one gender makes a bigger mess than the other gender. I think we'll stay out of that debate.

I would suspect that the bathroom is a big draw to Catarina. Robert says business is booming. It also helps to be in the middle of nowhere (or should I say on a busy highway, not too close to competitors).

Robert's problem related to the use of bathrooms is not too different than the problem that many businesses face. My opinion is, keep those bathrooms open to all who enter your business. A clean bathroom can only increase the reputation of your business and help you earn additional customers. I don't think it would hurt to use your bathroom as a marketing tool. Perhaps add some photos of some of the products that you sell on your walls and encourage your bathroom visitors to shop within your store, eat within your restaurant.

Now, if you really want to get fancy, place your advertisements and specials on custom printed toilet paper. Just go here (no joke):

http://www.printedtp.com/

As for Robert and Catarina or your business, I would suggest that you have more merchandise and ad material in or around your rest rooms to entice "free loaders" into actually making a purchase. Happy customers are far more likely to make a purchase and share their experiences with others.

To read more about Catarina One Stop go to:

http://www.catarinaonestop.com/