Harvard Business School may not be where you learned how to run your widget shop, but its online Working Knowledge forum pages offer some lessons that can apply to whatever you’re selling.

This particular forum is about something called “deep metaphors,” which are “basic frames or orientations we have toward the world around us.” It’s pretty heady stuff but worth perusing to apply to your business. The authors of Marketing Metaphoria: What Deep Metaphors Reveal about the Minds of Consumers (HBS Press, 2008) say some pretty interesting things about customer loyalty, which is what I’m always harping about. For example:

“Connection is a two-way street, and consumers are most apt to feel loyalty to brands and companies if they feel those in charge have a commitment to them.”

To me, that means you have to show your customers that everyone in your store – from the owner to the newest salesperson – treats them with the courtesy and respect they deserve. You need to look out for their interests by offering the best merchandise at the best price. You also must maintain a regular channel of communication, whether its email blasts, online or print newsletters or occasional phone calls to say you have something on the shelves that may interest them.

“Companies must convey that they have the consumer’s best interest at heart. This is one reason consumers use their perceptions of how firms treat their employees as a proxy for how firms value their customers. As one consumer put it, ‘If they don’t treat their staff well, you can hardly expect them to care about us.’ ”

I’ve blogged frequently the importance of having well-trained staff. But I haven’t said much about how well you treat your staff. If customers see you berating, chastising or interrupting a sales associate for any reason, it makes them wonder about your skill at treating customers. Compliment your staff often for jobs well done; save any criticisms for informal, relaxed post-mortems.

I’m no Harvard professor, but I think the authors of Marketing Metaphoria have some good information for those of us down in the trenches. I would invite their critiques anytime.