A prompting procedure for increasing sales in a small pet store

A simple prompting procedure involving index cards was used to increase suggestive selling by the owner/operator of a small pet grooming business. Over a year of baseline data revealed that no sales prompts were given and few pet products were sold. When the owner was prompted by an index card to ask customers if they wanted to purchase pet products, sales tripled and increased four-fold by the end of the year. This study is part of an increasing interest in the behavioral analysis of consumer choice and addresses both management and marketing concerns by demonstrating how a simple, well-replicated prompting procedure can modify a key employee behavior that in turn changes customer behavior, and results in an important organizational outcome. KEYWORDS. Prompting, sales, small business, self-management