Turn walk-ins into regulars.
A sales system for stores run by people who love games and never came from sales. Your staff become stewards of your community instead of pushy salespeople, and the store builds a revenue snowball of loyal customers.
You love games. Nobody handed you a sales playbook.
Most of us didn't come from sales
You opened a store because you love the hobby. So did most of your managers. That's your edge with customers, and it's also why nobody ever taught the team how to sell.
Coaching runs out without a system
There's only so much advice you can give between restocks and events. Without a written standard, every shift sells a little differently, and every new hire starts from scratch.
A seminar alone fades in two weeks
Staff come back from a training day fired up. Two weeks later the floor runs the way it always did. A seminar on its own changes nothing that lasts.
A regular is worth far more than one sale.
Lifetime value, in plain terms: a regular isn't one purchase. A regular is every visit, every event and every friend they bring, for years.
When staff treat each walk-in as a future regular instead of a single transaction, the store stops starting from zero every month. Every regular you keep makes next month a little easier than this one. That's the snowball.
“A walk-in is one sale. A regular is every visit, every event and every friend they bring, for years. The stores that grow are the ones that stopped treating the two the same.”
Four steps, about four months.
Discovery
Remote. Owner and manager interviews, a pull from your POS, each store scored against the Sales Standard, and one agreed number: what a regular is worth to your store.
Launch
Owners and managers first, then all staff. Two ways to run it, see the packages below.
Coaching
A weekly 30-minute manager huddle in month one, biweekly after that. A monthly 30-minute staff clinic by video. The scorecard is live from week one.
Re-score
Every store is scored again at day 90, with a written before-and-after.
In the room, or by video.
We recommend On-Site for multi-store teams: one day with every manager in the same room is what makes the standard stick.
Pricing: set on the call once I know your stores. Both options are fixed quotes, not estimates.
Sales Standard Plan
Three-month minimum, then month to month with 30 days' notice.
I built this system on a real sales floor.
I'm Mike DeBoard. I built and ran this system at Silver Dragon Games in Peoria, Arizona, named GAMA Retailer of the Year in 2026.
What store owners ask first.
Is this only for Magic stores?
No. It works for any tabletop or card store. The system is about people, not product: how your staff greet, talk to, invite and keep customers.
Do you work with single stores?
Yes. The call sets the price for one location.
Will this pull my staff off the floor?
Very little. The on-site day runs around your shifts, and the 90 days are 30-minute calls.
Where are you based?
Phoenix, Arizona. Launches travel anywhere in the US, and everything else is by video.
What do I need to have?
A POS that can show sales by customer helps. A loyalty program is a plus, and if you don't have one yet, setting it up can be the first fix.
Book a 20-minute call.
Tell me about your stores, your staff and where sales stall. You'll leave with a straight recommendation for your stores and what it would cost.
Prefer email? Write to Mike@theoperatingstandard.com.
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