V.3.2 Merchant Engagement
V.3.2 Merchant Engagement
Action
Improve engagement with your district’s merchants.
Why
Merchants are critical stakeholders in your downtown district. In the ideal world, merchants are partners and collaborators. Negative or apathetic merchants can be detrimental to the progress of a district. The goal here is to develop strong relationships with your merchants. You want to engage with them regularly and consistently, not just when you want something or have a problem.
How
Tactics to help build relationships with your merchants:
- Send a quarterly newsletter specific to merchants
- “Walk the streets” to meet with merchants one-on-one on Main Street
- Have a least one merchant be on your Board of Directors or Advisory Board
- If you have a star merchant, work them to influence other merchants
Resources
- From Problems to Partners Training Recap [Blog Post]
- Supporting Small Businesses on Main Street [Webinar]
- Specifically starting at 41:33 on the Kick-Ass Entrepreneurs segment
