HUMAN RESOURCESBonuses? Let them Eat Cake
Bonus season is on the way in many parts of the country. If that includes your business, something to think about: When unequal rewards are given out, there will be less dissatisfaction if they aren’t actually countable, says Kellogg Management professor Neal Roese. Research showed people who received less cake than counterparts weren’t as dissatisfied as those receiving less cash, focusing more on what they received rather than what they didn’t, he writes in Kellogg Insights.
SALESFlip the Script
Instead of asking your customers small-talk questions, such as “How’s work?” or “How are you?” try big talk, says Judi Holler, author of Fear Is My Homeboy and a speaker at the recent Jewelers of America National Convention. She recommends questions such as, “Are you working on anything exciting lately?” or “What was the highlight of your day?” It will make you memorable to your customer. You’ll engage your customer more personally and learn something new, too.
PROMOTIONSAvoid December Sales
Don’t plan a big sale for December, says Deric Metzger, owner of DeMer Jewelry in Carlsbad, CA. Customers have depleted their holiday funds by then and you’ll have no time to complete a custom order should you get one. His advice? Get in early. “We offer our final sale of the year in October (and advertise it as such) to give people a jump on the holiday season,” he says. “It relieves the stress of the last-minute rush for them and us. Plus it eliminates most of the haggle-over-every-dollar attitude that frantic shoppers seem to get the closer it gets to the end of the year.”
EXPERIENCECreate a Virtual Storefront
Include a photo of your storefront on your website, along with text-based directions. It makes it easier for shoppers to find your store and eases threshold resistance, participants at the recent Stuller Bridge Conference heard.
PERSONALRekindle the Joy
Do one thing every day that you loved as a kid. “This is usually the fuel that can power your life,” writes entrepreneur and business author James Altucher on his blog.
PRODUCTIVITYThe Decision Hour
Once a week, spend an hour making 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. Many can be made instantaneously; the notion that you need to gather more information is often an avoidance technique. Make it a game: challenge yourself to make as many decisions as you can in an hour, and see how many items you can nuke from your list. It’s weirdly energizing, he says.
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