First off, it's about being seen, and all businesses can benefit from verifying their Google listing as it increases your search ranking with local search.  This means that when a buyer searches from his home, he will see your listing at the top of all your national competitors.  Furthermore, claiming your listing while your competitors do not almost always ensures you will rank higher than they do.  No matter your industry or business, Google Places is an easy and free way to immediately increase your local search rankings.

Once your Google Places page is claimed, start with these 5 tips:

1. Keywords- Do a bit of research via Google keywords to determine which keywords are most relevant to your industry and specific business.  When writing your content, one of the best tips is to be sure to build it keyword-rich by dropping a keyword into Google Places (<--perfect example) anyway you can.
2. 1 Page per Location- Each location of your business should have its very own Google Places page.  This tip is important because the criterion for owning a page is an address (although you don’t always have to show it).  The more Google Places pages the better your local search ranking per geographical location.
3. Vigorously Encourage Reviews- each review adds points to your listing so encourage as many people to leave Google Places reviews as much as possible.  A bonus tip here is that Google Places recognizes other local review sites like Yelp and Yellowpages, and although you no longer see them listed in your Google Places page, Google calculates them into your total rank.  Note that Google users must be logged in to make any comments or changes.
4. List with Directories- listing your company with other business directories lifts your ranking with Google Places.
5. Analyze- keep track of your visits and keywords etc to determine where changes are appropriate, thus ensuring a #1 Google Places ranking for your business.

Keep in mind that the rules are forever changing and enlisting the help of marketing firms specializing in such work can lessen your stress in reviewing the rules and implementing the changes. Use these tips as a starter to your Google Places and watch your ranking rise.