Love For Sale
An out-of-work newlywed took a temporary job in jewelry sales. After three days of intensive training, the sales manager told him to go home and practice his pitch on his wife. The next morning, the manager asked the novice how he made out. “Well,” the man began, “I did what you said, and after I finished, I asked her if she would buy the ring from me. She said ‘Yes.’ Then I asked her why. She replied, ‘Because I love you.”
[componentheading] About our Jokers [/componentheading]
“When you sell diamonds, you become a friend, a confidant, even a psychologist!” says MJ Chanski, manager of Hannoush Jewelers in Rutland, VT. Chanski has bachelor’s degrees in professional writing and publications and in management, but she claims that neither has taught her as much as 12 years in the hospitality industry did. “The ability to read your customers and anticipate their needs in the first few moments is nothing you can learn in a book.” In her spare time, she takes GIA courses online, loves her boyfriend, Bob, and takes care her “children,” a boxer named Vito and an American bulldog named Ellie Mae.
[span class=note]This story originally appeared in the September 2011 edition of INSTORE. [/span]
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Four Decades of Excellence: How Wilkerson Transformed a Jeweler's Retirement into Celebration
After 45 years serving the Milwaukee community, Treiber & Straub Jewelers owner Michael Straub faced a significant life transition. At 75, the veteran jeweler made a personal decision many business owners understand: "I think it's time. I want to enjoy my wife with my grandchildren for the next 10, 15 years."
Wilkerson's expertise transformed this major business transition into an extraordinary success. Their comprehensive approach to managing the going-out-of-business sale created unprecedented customer response—with lines forming outside the store and limits on how many shoppers could enter at once due to fire safety regulations.
The results exceeded all expectations. "Wilkerson did a phenomenal job," Straub enthuses. "They were there for you through the whole thing, helped you with promoting it, helping you on day-to-day business. I can't speak enough for how well they did." The partnership didn't just facilitate a business closing; it created a celebratory finale to decades of service while allowing Straub to confidently step into his well-earned retirement.
