getting a business up

[trudy]

At the risk of sounding stupid... how do you go about getting a sales business up? What do the customers want? Leaving them alone they get frustrated after a while. Dazzle makes them happy sometimes unhappy und other ocasions. Why? How does it work? Something to do with beeing able to afford it?
What is the maximum busines rank? What are the best perks?

I feel ashamed first time i don´t get the trick of an expantion pack.

[Arina]

This is just what I've noticed, not anything official or researched:

To get a sales business up, make sales. Don't just wait for people to buy things, either - make sure you're doing the sales socials on them. Obviously this gets you money, but interactions with staff seems to be what gets the stars, too.

The customers tend to only want what you're selling. I've never had a customer demand an item I don't sell from my staff. Cheap things like plants sell well, as do expensive entertainment things like tvs, stereos, hot tubs, etc., but I'm pretty sure if you sell even just one type of item, sims will buy it - they go to the business to buy things if there's not much in the way of distraction. (Also, you can force them to buy things with a good salesperson )

If the customer stands waving their arms a bit, scratching their head, you need to get a salesperson to do the May/Can I Help You? interaction, in Sales (I can't remember the exact name)

Dazzle won't work if the customer's in a foul mood. It may also not work if they hate the salesperson, but I'm not sure. Either wait for them to do something fun, go to the toilet, eat something before you try it or fill the place with snapdragons (or cheat, obviously)

The maximum business rank is 10. The perks I go for are the wholesale ones and/or the money ones in a shop. Whichever has Manipulate as a top level perk is probably useful, too, though I've never used it.

It's fairly complicated for the Sims, isn't it? XD I had trouble getting to grips with it at first but now I can keep anything but salons and restaurants in the green (seriously, I just don't get how you're meant to even break even with them!) I rarely run straight shops, though - normally they're half entertainment venue. Oh, and always, always have a ticket machine!

[J. M. Pescado]

At the risk of sounding stupid... how do you go about getting a sales business up? What do the customers want? Leaving them alone they get frustrated after a while. Dazzle makes them happy sometimes unhappy und other ocasions.

Dazzle makes them unhappy because they reject it due to combinations of crappy mood, crappy chemistry, and crappy rel. The best way to farm stars in a business is the same as any other business: Jack up the price of some item way too high so that it WON'T sell, then show it to someone compatible with your salesperson and hammer them with hardsell ad infinitum. When they lose interest, show it to them again, rinse, repeat, until you've farmed that one to 5.

[eevilcat]

I found that sales increased once I started working on the sims relationships with the customers. Boost your relationship with them and it increases customer loyalty which makes them more likely to accept sales socials and come back. I normally go for the connections perks that give you an increase in starting relationship, that way you'll be successful with sales socials from the start.
I like to have at least one snapdragon specialist home business in the neighbourhood, that way the shoppers stay longer as their needs are replenished as well as stocking other sim houses with snapdragons. Even if you don't sell them, I'd recommend placing a couple in the sales area.

[trudy]

ah.. chemistry, that sounds logical. So what do I do with the ones that hate my salesperson and think he is ugly as hell. Just leave them alone an hope they don´t get to mad about it?

I have not even startet with restaurants or clubs, i play way to slow and take to long to get bored of the old stuf ;-)

[Flamingo]

Dazzle makes them unhappy because they reject it due to combinations of crappy mood, crappy chemistry, and crappy rel. The best way to farm stars in a business is the same as any other business: Jack up the price of some item way too high so that it WON'T sell, then show it to someone compatible with your salesperson and hammer them with hardsell ad infinitum. When they lose interest, show it to them again, rinse, repeat, until you've farmed that one to 5.

Quick question, how do you go about finding someone that would have better chemistry with them?

[J. M. Pescado]

Quick question, how do you go about finding someone that would have better chemistry with them?

If you don't succeed, kick them out of your store.

[Lorelei]

Tried my first business and never got Dazzle as an option when managing. Wife of owner could make management decisions (could be fun to recreate a job sitch I had with tweo English-as-a-fourth-language Japanese folks, where the husband had business sense and a calm temperament and would set us to tasking away merrily and the volatile and clueless wife would come along five minutes later and make us do totally inappropriate tasks we weren't trained to do. Then the husband would come back and be annoyed that no one was tasking merrily away, but it was his wife's fault for being stupid where business matters were concerned, so he'd go yell at her then get us tasking merrily away again. Good times.

Was reminded of this when I kept telling what I thought was the same employee to go cashier, only to realize belatedly that I was yelling at two nearly-identical-looking Sims with similar names and they were switching places. Laid one off, life for all improved dramatically.

Also having blindness issues trying to discern difference between gold and bronze badges without mousing over. D'oh. I am a bad, bad boss.

ALSO also having issues with unpleasable customers, and no Dazzle or other help commands as manager, and haven't figured out how to get gold badge sales employees to take over. Because I'm slow like that, I suppose.

[trudy]

If you don't succeed, kick them out of your store.

How? Ask to leave never seems to show up.

[jrd]

Business runs you!
It has the option to make anyone leave.

[ZiggyDoodle]

I use the opposite tack and sell everything cheap (except for Servos, which go for $28,000) at first so I can get business perks and a customer base.  Then I raise the prices.

Try WalMart marketing first, then move into Neiman Marcus mode.

Also try the "show item" to the irritating visitor; sometimes they'll buy.

[Sagana]

If you don't succeed, kick them out of your store.

All you actually need is a 0 or positive score. If you're just a bit negative, just tell 'em a joke or something until you make a positive. If they hate you and are furious with you, yeah, kick 'em out.

The "ask to leave" option won't come up while they're actually pondering buying something. You have to wait until the interaction fails and they're not in the midst of something, then the option appears. (Without using BRY, that probably doesn't require a failed interaction at all, I imagine.)