Editor’s Note: Choose a Path

Published

8 years ago

January 20, 2015

Is it better to demand to be paid for every minute, or should you bet on a fuzzy future return?

BY DAVID SQUIRES

This article originally appeared in the February 2015 edition of INSTORE.

What kind of retailer are you? It’s a question you should ask yourself every few years.

You read one set of business books that advocate going the extra mile for your customers — with titles like Wow Your Customers!, Raving Fans and Knock Your Socks Off Service. (How far can they go with this aggressive titling? Will we someday see a business book with the title Create Frothing-at-the-Mouth, Offering-To-Bear-Your-Children Customers … For All Eternity!) Then you come across a different set of business books with titles like It’s Time to Make Money, Up Against the Wal-Marts, and Profit First. These emphasize doing your job well, but making sure you get paid for Every Second of your time.

So what do you do? Whose star do you follow? That answer can only come from you. But our advice is: Whatever you decide to do, do it all-out, with total commitment. If you emphasize service and nurturing long-term “raving customers,” then do the small stuff with a gigantic smile on your face and keep your hands in your pockets when the job is done. You’re betting customers will be so impressed, they will return again and again. And if you do your job well enough, they will. On the other hand, if you emphasize making money for your labor, then make sure you really get paid. Don’t charge $3.99 for a watch battery replacement because that’s what Walmart charges. You won’t make money, and you’re not gonna impress customers either.

Make a choice. Then go all-out. It’s the right path to follow.

Wishing you the very best business,

one quick question for jewelers

Time to Do What You've Always Wanted? Time to Call Wilkerson.

It was time. Teri Allen and her brother, Nick Pavlich, Jr., had been at the helm of Dearborn Jewelers of Plymouth in Plymouth, Mich., for decades. Their father, Nick Pavlich, Sr., had founded the store in 1950, but after so many wonderful years helping families around Michigan celebrate their most important moments, it was time to get some “moments” of their own. Teri says Wilkerson was the logical choice to run their retirement sale. “They’re the only company that specializes in closing jewelry stores,” she says. During the sale, Teri says a highlight was seeing so many generations of customers who wanted to buy “that one last piece of jewelry from us.” Would she recommend Wilkerson? Absolutely. “There is no way that I would have been able to do this by myself.”