Most retailers spend a great deal of time making their stores visually appealing. Whether your merchandising style projects an opulent, prestigious image, or a carnival of bargains, you're no doubt attempting to attract customers.

Sometimes, however, areas not considered display areas that are plainly visible to customers are overlooked. Unfortunately, there are times when these unintentional displays make a greater impression on your customer than your most magnificent strokes of merchandising genius.

Let's begin with the register area. This is perhaps the most crucial area because of the amount of time the customer spends standing at the counter. They have little else to do but read all the little signs and notes. In fact, it's often impossible to not read them.

One customer reported noticing a sign that used SMILE as an acronym, clearly meant to inspire the salespeople as they were completing transactions. It was a reminder of all the fine elements of customer service they were supposed to lavish upon the customer. The customer hadn't actually thought about whether she was satisfied with the store's service until she saw the sign and noted that her salesperson wasn't doing any of those things. She wasn't even smiling.

It's a great idea to slip on the customer's shoes and take a stroll around the selling floor on a daily basis. Anything that's not intended for the customer's eyes should be out of their sight!

This is one simple thing you can do to ensure that nothing detracts from your customer's great experience in your store.