Are your best people stuck in your store? Or are they out there in the community, making friends and building goodwill?
Barnes and Noble has a huge advantage over Amazon in one way – real people in the community. Each store has a "community relations manager" whose job is to get out there and connect. They will host a book event for you, come to your events and sell books, let you have your community group meet in the store, and handle all sorts of wacky requests. They make a lot of friends.
The lesson: How can you turn your employees into ambassadors?
Kathy Kaysen from Barnes & Noble in Minneapolis talks with me about it:
Thanks, Kathy!