AB Data

In her first year in business, Meyer focused on volume, not necessarily quality and she learned an important lesson from a $6 knife. After Thanksgiving, a customer came into the store with a $6 knife he had purchased that broke. He was disappointed given he had purchased it to carve his Thanksgiving turkey. Meyer decided in that moment to stay true to her desire to provide an incredible customer experience and to give the level of service her upscale urban customers expected. She refunded the customer’s money and made sure he left satisfied with the interaction. 2 years later, he’s still one of her best customers and comes in often to purchase gifts. If she had refused the return, she would have surely lost his loyalty. Meyer also decided she would stop carrying low quality items that engineer database could be a liability for the store, instead refocusing on items that carried a level of brand recognition, prestige and value based on quality.

You Gotta Market Your Biz

Even though Meyer, like most small business owners works 7 days a week and never seems to have enough time, she admits that “you have to market your business – whether you like it or not!” Meyer keeps her focus by using email from VerticalResponse to send out invitations to events at the shop (including the popular Chocolate and Prosecco Night) to her list of about 1,000 subscribers, which she is aggressively growing. Cliché Noe is also active on social media networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Yelp. Meyer saves time by linking her Twitter and Facebook accounts so she can post once and publish the content to both sites. She also takes advantage of SixDoors, an app that aggregates local vendors, and provides them with access to mobile commerce services. Six Doors has 70+ unique stores and brands that represent the very best of what San Francisco has to offer.

So where does Meyer go from here? She’s determined to ma