Hurry, hurry, hurry…everyone is, or at least feels like she should be…pressed for time.

And that includes your consignment shoppers, your resale customers, your thrift store browsers. Not to mention consignors, sellers, and donors.

And chances are, they’re more concerned with time than with a few bucks here and there.

If you can save them time and aggravation, they will buy more freely and be willing to pay more for your services and merchandise.

For example:

Be effective on the phone. Does every single person who answers your phone know how to clearly and simply give directions to your shop? Can they give your supplier-spiel easily and with a smile in their voices?

Keep waiting to a minimum. Or at least, give them something to do while they’re in line. (At the NFP where I volunteer, the unavoidable check-out lines during the year’s big blow-out sale is mollified by The Cookie Man: a personable gent who carries a tray of cookies down the line and makes jokes and generally distracts folks.)

Avoid mistakes. Get in the habit of checking zippers on items you’re selling, verifying that all 3 included throw pillows get delivered with that couch,  that all sold items actually make it into the buyer’s bag. Simply keeping your sales counter area will forestall most goofs.

Anticipate their wants and needs. If you know a specific customer is coming in, prepare for her. Take a brisk walk through your sales floor and spot merchandise that might appeal to her. Add a note to a regular’s layaway about the orange handbag that would be so rad with the purple dress she’s placed a deposit on.

Make it easy to shop. Infant items near maternity. All the “seaside cottage” accessories grouped in the casual room vignette. A pair of slip-on neutral mules at the dressing rooms, so she doesn’t have to judge how that cocktail dress will look if she didn’t have sneakers on.

Be open when they want to shop...not when you want to work. If you’re a nonprofit thrift shop which relies on donations: be open when they want to donate.

Don’t waste their time on the web. Consider where Internet seekers will land on your web site, and make sure that whatever their question is, the answer is truly obvious at first glance. If they have to search, they will leave.

All of these strategies will make it easier to deal with your business. And value the services and goods you offer more highly.

How do you help your clients save time…and help your business make more money?