Get Ready for Halloween
Are your candy jars fully stocked and ready for Halloween (or just about any time of year there might be kids in the store)? Check out the jars at M. Flynn Boston to see how it should be done.
Foster Vendor Ties
As traditional vendor reps make fewer road trips, it becomes more important to visit a company’s main office or seek them out at trade shows. “It’s important to nurture relationships with vendors,” says Allison Leitzel-Williams, Leitzel’s Jewelry, Myerstown, PA, “Just like we are trained to keep an open relationship with our banker, we should keep open relationships with our vendors.”
A Different Kind of Gift
Looking for a new way to give back to your community this season? Take inspiration from Borsheims’ Giving Tree, which allows customers to buy $10 Borsheims boxes off the Giving Tree. Each box contains a surprise — from jewelry to serving platters to gift cards. All the money raised goes to charity.
Go With the Employee’s Plan
When an employee comes to you with an idea, particularly if he is suggesting a change to a plan you made, adopt this useful bias: if the plan is at least 60 percent as good as yours, go with the subordinate’s. He or she will execute it twice as well, just through feelings of ownership, write Timothy Saint and Nicholas Smith, two former Marine lieutenants in a Business Insider post titled “11 Business Lessons from the Battlefield.”
In Reserve
Just because you have it doesn’t mean it has to go on display. Cindi’s Diamond & Jewelry Gallery in Foxboro, MA, uses a rotating inventory system whereby all old inventory is tagged and ready for sale, but 80 percent of which is kept in the vault for when “that customer comes in looking for yellow gold and older traditional items,” says owner Cindi Haddad-Drew. “We always present it as though it has just come in and we did not have time to put it out yet.”
The Son’s Pay Doesn’t Always Rise
Kid asking for a pay raise? Take a tip from Dan Geller, owner of what was once known as “D. Geller Jewelers,” who added the words “& Son” to the name when son Mike asked for a raise in 1974. That was his new compensation package.
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All Panic, No Anxiety
Doing a Panic Party this year? See above for a great, guy-friendly spin on such events from Andy Koehn, owner of Koehn & Koehn & Koehn Jewelers in West Bend, WI. Pairing a ladies’ wish-list event with a men’s night shortly after makes for a great one-two combination. A few things to keep in mind, as learned by Woolard’s Custom Jewelers in Burleson, TX, from their recent experience: For the women, buy more beverage ingredients, less food and don’t expect the ladies to do much shopping that night. For the men, you won’t need much food; men aren’t big on hanging around jewelry stores. A 20 percent discount for shopping off their lady’s Santa list “does wonders” in closing the deal, say owners Bobby and Caryl Woolard.
Meet Decisions Head-On
Work piling up? It’s time to make some tough choices. A lot of things masquerading as “things you have to work on” are really decisions you need to make, notes Steve Chandler in his book Time Warrior, adding that the notion that you need to gather more information is often an avoidance technique. He recommends making it a game with a strict time limit such as 60 minutes. Challenge yourself to make as many decisions as you can in an hour.
