"When we decided to build a new gift shop, I called Williams Associates Advantage Program. Linda was a life saver. She walked us through the whole process starting with our architect's drawings to our grand opening. Thanks to Linda's extensive knowledge in design, layout, vendor selection, merchandise mix and presentation, we now have a highly successful gorgeous new gift shop".

"I am very impressed with the Advantage Program Back Office. Your Back Office CD is very straightforward and easy to use- sometimes the simplest approach is best.

Even though we use Retail Pro Point of Sale, I use parts of the Back Office, because POS systems generally don’t come with any of the information that you are putting out there. Congrats on a great product."

"Hospital Gift Shops exist in a world of their own. It is difficult to find someone such as Linda with the education and experience to lead you to the right business decisions through training and knowledge…Thanks, Linda."

Linda Williams is a talented and knowledgeable retail professional. Her creativity, enthusiasm and willingness to go the extra mile to make your store the absolute best it can be made hiring her the right choice. Linda’s background in the hospital retail niche was the experience we lacked to create the "right" mix of merchandise and store set-up. We were very pleased with our decision to go with The Advantage Program!

"Linda Williams provided a very thorough and insightful assessment of our total operations, identifying both our strengths and our opportunities for improvement. Her Action Plan for our opportunity levels placed focus on solutions that were based on sound gift shop principles, which were attainable and measurable. Linda was a delight to work with throughout the process."

"Linda was (and still continues to be) a fabulous resource for our gift shop remodel. I do not have a retail background, and was unsure about how to design the shop for our remodel next year. Linda came out and gave us advice about how to rearrange our existing shop to increase sales; and then also came up with a plan for the new shop, based on our sales and how many square feet should be dedicated to what merchandise, in the new shop."

"I have been Director of Volunteers for two years, but was managing the shop mostly by guessing at what would be successful. And though we have been pretty successful, Linda’s suggestions made a lot of sense from a business and retail standpoint… Another benefit of her expertise is that she will look at the floor plan and tell the architect "what will not work and why. For instance, our architect wanted to build our cash and wrap counter in a certain way… Linda looked at the plans, and was able to articulate why it would work according to traffic flow, etc. Without Linda’s advice, I would not have realized it, and probably would have ended up with a dysfunctional cash and wrap…"

"I highly recommend Linda’s ability to help your shop increase its sales…"

I also want to once again thank you for laying the perfect
foundation that has led to most of our success. I have diligently followed your seven steps and have learned so much within the last three years of being in this role. Carilion, as you may or may not know, is constantly forging ahead in the healthcare industry, and I'm glad that our Gift Shop operation will be a part of the organizational success.

I handle front line accounting issues for two the gift shops in two major hospitals.  I have found that because of the Advantage Program Back Office software that my procedures are much easier and much less time consuming.  This program is easy to understand and follow and due to the program design, I simply “plug in” the numbers and let the program work its magic!  I have also found that I am able to easily customize the software to fit my departmental needs!

The Advantage Program, along with Linda Williams, has been exciting to work with and, thought I never thought I’d hear myself say it, my accounting practices are now the least of my worries!!

We appreciate all the great merchandising strategies and tips you’ve taught us, and how to effectively work at meeting our monthly sales and profit goals.  I was really impressed with your Advantage Program Back Office program, so user-friendly. Our time with you has genuinely provoked our own good sense of creativity and logic in running our business.  Thanks for making us successful for the long term! 

The Advantage Program Back Office Open-to-Buy Plan has helped immensely!  It has given me a tool to track what is coming and going and to know what I can take in each month.

I thoroughly enjoyed your Advantage Program workshop, Calculated Buying at the Homestead last October.  I am a new buyer for a hospital gift shop and I found the information very well put together.  We only had a short time with you and yet a vast amount of material was covered and I didn’t have a hard time following the program as it was neatly and logically laid out for us.  I have found the handouts to be a valuable tool, and a great reference.  I greatly appreciate your response to the e-mails I have sent with questions that you took time to address and reply to.  Thank you for your time teaching, your well thought out and prepared program, and your gracious responses.

Linda’s knowledge of the subject was wonderful.  She provided and facilitated ample opportunity for discussion among the attendees.  We are already implementing many of her suggestions in the gift shop.

We heard many positive remarks about your session and think the evaluations demonstrate the participants found it valuable.  Thank you for bringing your talent and expertise to our program and your assistance in making our event a success.

You were wonderful to work with. Word of mouth at the event... your materials, style, and presentation were superb!

I attended your session at the ASDVS conference with a friend and we both felt you had one of the better presentations.  Your information is extremely helpful and exactly what I was looking for.  We both gave you excellent reviews on the evaluation!

Hiring Linda Williams was the best decision we made for our hospital gift shop.  Her Business Assessment report was clear, concise and to the point.  The turn around time was prompt.  Following Linda’s suggestions, our sales year to date have exceeded sales for the same time last year by 233%!  I recommend Linda as the consultant to bring your shop to the next level.

We hired Linda, and never looked back.   She is a seasoned and successful retail professional who quickly embraced the healthcare culture. Under her guidance, our gift shop was designed and built, smartly and under budget by $100,000.  Our merchandise mix was new and exciting, and the shop quickly became an amazing oasis for all sectors of the MGH community.  Record-breaking sales and profits were realized, and our MGH Auxiliary began to fund new and exciting projects at levels they had only dreamed about in the past. Linda Williams is not an ordinary consultant.

 “Part of Linda’s success derives from her ability to properly assess her client’s needs and then deliver over the top service.  She drafted a proposal that exceeded our expectations in the space we had available.  She proved to everyone on my team she had the skills to get the job done.  She made suggestions on what categories needed to be further developed, and my customers were thrilled to see the new merchandise she introduced to our shop.  We have a small shop and Linda showed us how to create an effective presentation without having it look cluttered.  Her suggestions simply make sense!

I met Linda Williams when she was presenting at a seminar sponsored by the Ohio Hospital Association.  I was so impressed with the seminar that I asked Linda to come and assist us with the buying plan for our new gift shop.  I have received numerous compliments regarding our new gift shop both from employees and visitors, which has also been demonstrated by increased sales.  

Our gift shop had been declining in profit over the past few years.  I contacted Linda to do an assessment of our operation and Operations Improvement Engagement.  Within one month she had our shop turned around!  She liquidated old merchandise, analyzed our books, put together a buying plan for our new manager and gave our shop a whole new look.  She continues to work with our shop and field questions.  We are thankful we found her and highly recommend her for your gift shop.

Please know that I have the utmost gratitude and respect for all that you have brought to the project. I appreciate your intelligence, kindness, flexibility and firmness, always applied exactly in the right quantity.

Not a day goes by that I don't refer you your book for some reason.  I aspire to be a complete "7 Step Manager" Thank you, Linda.

"7 Steps to a Highly Effective Gift Shop" is a tool I use every day to achieve our goals.

It's a great tool.  It's taught me how to use plans and reports to make informed buying decisions, and improve our shop's profit.  I use 7 Steps to a Highly Gift Shop all the time, it's an excellent reference!

Linda is a wonderful teacher, and her book is outstanding. It has absolutely everything you need to know about running a gift shop!