The Christmas and holiday retail season easily outshines any other time of the year in terms of sales. But all those shoppers and sales transactions can be exhausting for owners, managers, staff and certainly customers.

Here are some planning and preparation tips to make sure the season is not only successful and memorable, but also enjoyable.

1. Have all salespeople read company ads, catalogs and distributed literature before customers come in with questions and inquiries. An uninformed salesperson is bad for business. Also check out the ads of the competition.

2. Establish dress codes for employees and enforce these dress codes. Employees are the representatives of the store and should project the image the store wants to convey.

3. Greet everyone who walks through the door. And come up with five different greetings, so customers don't hear the same greeting over and over when shopping in your store.

4. Have employees identify themselves when answering the phone. This adds a professional touch and provides the caller with a person to identify with on the other end of the line.

5. Clean up the cashwrap area as you go and put everything in its place. Customers will be concerned about transaction accuracy and your services, such as shipping, if this area is a mess.

6. Listen, really listen to customers. If you don't, you could show customers the wrong merchandise and they’ll assume you don't have what they are looking for and leave.

7. Stock and clean when the store is not open. Doing these chores when the store is open is inconsiderate to shoppers and doesn't convey a professional image. And don’t try to get a start on after-work duties before store closing. Vacuuming while the store is still open is rude.

8. Get everyone on board. Make sure that everyone in the organization understands what the winning advantage is and what their role is in supporting it.

9. The customer in the store should take precedence. Helping phone inquiries while other customers are in the store waiting to be helped is a no-no. Take a message and call back the customer when the store is less busy.

10. Make sure you won’t run out of sale items or advertised specials early on the first day of the promotion. A product should not be advertised unless there is sufficient stock.

Barbara Wold is an international speaker, author and business strategist, presenting topics from sales and marketing to customer service and tourism. She has spoken to audiences in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Guam, Canada, Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, India and the United Arab Emirates.