As the Chairperson and emcee of a monthly business women's lunch, I am constantly on the look out for interesting speakers who will draw a good crowd.

With Valentine's Day around the corner, I booked Jennifer Downey, president and co-founder of Ambiance, the Store for Lovers, as our guest speaker today. Her topic? "The Business of Selling Sex and 10 Things You Can Do Today to Spice Up Your Love Life."

Imagine my surprise when several women signed up to attend that don't normally and 20% of the attendees were walk-ins that forced us to scramble and add additionally seating. It was a full house!

"I guess our group likes a juicy topic," one of the regulars commented.

Jennifer, an accomplished speaker and extremely successful business woman, held us spell bound with the secrets of her success. There was an under lying theme of INVESTING in her business:

• Trademarking her tag line "The Store for Lovers"
• Listening to her Customers to select the right locations, stock the appropriate inventory and offer a comfortable, safe environment for a experience, that for some, might be uncomfortable.
• Designing a store layout that looks like a nationwide company starting with her first store
• Hiring the right people and then investing in a 30 day training program to ensure they truly understand the customer experience and the product line
• Ensuring that every customer receives excellent customer service by investing in monthly secret shoppers
• Rewarding sales performance; individually and collectively
• Writing down the policies and procedures for associates and managers
• Staying on top of the latest industry trends

She has created a business model that works regardless of the product.

I was able to pack the house with sex as the topic - but more importantly, we all walked away with information that can help us in our business: listen to our customers and invest in our business.