You know, the holiday sales season game is on! You should be straight up in sell, promote; sell, promote; and more sell and promote. This season is retail’s Super Bowl! This is where we get to focus on putting out great displays, promotions, or at the very least, communication to customers new and existing and sell our you-know-what’s off!

If you’re a powersports dealer, you should already be preparing for the holiday season.

For many of powersports retailers, now is the time to start marking down unsold spring/summer 2011 apparel and accessory products. No retail business can afford to hold on to its “dogs” (basically, any unsold seasonal merchandise).

Basically, merchandising is marketing (in other words, in-store marketing), and your store is a form of tactile media. Put the two together and combine them with traditional outside marketing, and you get a strong link to grow your store’s sales.

There are always some of the most ridiculous rules applied to the stores’ visual merchandising planning – and consistently too. So please, sit back, take a moment of your time, and let me share the rules you have set and why they cost you sales.

This season has presented our industry with a big challenge: poor weather. For us Northerners, it’s been cold, wet and just plain gray and dreary. Customers are very reactive to this.

Last month, I attended the Global Shop retail solutions trade show. Each year I have two missions: one, to seek out new products and systems to aid visual display needs, and two, seek information and hear the talking points the retail industry is discussing.

There's nothing about pricing and promotions that creates loyalty. All it does is train customers to shop for the lowest price, and customers have become well trained to do so.

Another season is coming and this year is going to go one of two ways: Really, really well or slightly better than last year.

In 2011, things are heading in a better direction. What small things can you do for big change?