A PLACE FOR COOL HEADS
Buy Smart at Shows
Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A restaurants and a member of the Forbes 400, says one of the secrets of his success was: “Don’t get overexcited by what you are doing.” Reason: You’re likely to borrow yourself into debt, give yourself sleepless nights worrying about how you’re going to meet repayments and generally make life miserable for yourself and family. What’s that got to do with Vegas? Everything. Our No. 1 show tip every year is: Buy smart, buy based on your data and best sellers, and leave just a little left over to splurge on your hunches. Such advice made Cathy a billionaire.
Press Play
Be a Pundit
We can see the intro now: “Jewelry purchases may not be on top of most people’s minds right now, but Janie Johnson, just back from the world’s biggest jewelry show ….” Before you leave, get in touch with your local newspaper and promise to come back with something interesting from the wider world about recession-era fashion trends.
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Serious Business?
Ready a Store CV
Prepare a portfolio to present to prospective vendors. Inside should be a letter of introduction that contains information about your store’s history, the demographics of your market, other brands you carry, and your business’s credit ratings. Also, include marketing and promotional campaigns you’ve carried out and copies of magazine articles that mention your store or staff. (Another reason to join the Brain Squad, hint, hint). And if you really want to go the extra yard, prepare a detailed report of your inventory. That should tell the vendor you’re serious.
No Bluffing?
Tell the Truth
Deception tactics, such as bluffing or falsification, may do more damage than good in the vendor-negotiation process. Lying is not only unethical, but it can be difficult to maintain. While being honest, be careful not to give away your bargaining power. It’s not necessary to tell everything you know, but when you do tell… tell the truth.
Profits All Around
Be Ready to Compromise
Just like the retailer, the vendor must make a profit to stay in business. Vendor relations should be treated as collaboration rather than conquest. As you negotiate a good deal for your retail business, consider the outcome for the supplier.
Phone Smarts
Go High-Tech
Whether you just don’t like taking notes, or your pen runs dry during a meeting with vendors, your phone could come to the rescue. In addition to using its camera to take photos of merchandise (always ask first), a high-resolution camera will allow you to take snapshots of brochures, notes, displays and other documents. If you want to take that to another level, services such as Qipit or Scanr allow you to convert those pictures to a clearer PDF form. You can save the images online or deliver them as e-mails or faxes back to the team in the store to get their feedback.
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Trend Spotter
Share the Wisdom
On your return, mail or e-mail a trends report to customers based on your show buying. The Jewelry Information Center offers its retail members two seasonal trends reports that they can customize and use to send out to customers, with a headline something like: “Hottest Trends Straight From the Las Vegas Jewelry and Watch Shows.”
Post-Show?
Re-Evaluate
Just because you ordered it at the show, it doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it. After the show, go over your orders, reevaluate them and adjust them if needed. Vendors understand this is just good business.