If we become numb to you, annoyed or irritated…if we feel shopping is a chore where not only do we have to take the time to go up and down the aisle, but we also have to navigate through all the “deals,” we’ll go elsewhere where we’re treated like humans, not like rats looking for the cheese.

So many times business, particularly downtown areas know they want to do “something” but do the tired, the tried, the boring. You can hear the customers as they open the paper, grab the mailer or click the link, “Yipee – another junk sale where everyone puts their last year’s castoffs on racks, drags them out to the front of their beautiful stores and cheap people paw through them looking for “bargains.’ Pass.”

The recession and bailout are just vehicles to hang your message on because they are topics in the news. Yes there has to be value there but these merchants are creatively looking at engaging their customers who might pass them by – and results have been very good.

But small business owners can not only make it through the downturn, but capitalize on it. Join Karen E. Klein with BusinessWeek as she questions Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor.

As a retailer, once you market to the people who know you, do you try to understand why others don’t shop with you? Perhaps you should. Maybe it is the way your store is arranged – it doesn’t seem welcoming. Maybe your employees give an off-putting air to shoppers. Maybe your product offerings are seen as lacking or inferior. You won’t know until you try to engage them. And once you do, you might find some easy ways to address their needs that results in higher sales.