Commentary: The Business

Matthew Patton: Christmas Time Is Here Again … for the First Time

Published

9 years ago

November 17, 2015

Abe Sherman

That hard work you put into fostering relationships with customers all year long is about to pay off.

I’m a fourth-generation jeweler and recently left a 70-plus-year-old family business to found my own. Up to this point, my experience of the Christmas selling season has been in the role of salesperson rather than store owner. I’ve been in the jewelry industry for a decade, and every Christmas brings its own unique feel and excitement. But because we are approaching our first year in business as a “retail showroom,” the holiday selling season this year will be very different from last year.

Fortunately, we are much more prepared for the fourth quarter and are greatly looking forward to it. Christmas time for us means getting the store decorated, hosting what will become our annual Ladies Night, possibly an open house, and getting in touch with our clients one more time before the end of the holidays.

Christmas is the time when the rubber meets the road, so to speak. We have worked hard all year long, tweaking everything from the proper selection of inventory to further enhance our product selection and cover more price points, to advertising, to education, to everything in between.

&#8220If you have been diligent and thorough, you will be greatly rewarded.”

Christmas means something a little different to everyone, but I think we all know that in this business, Christmas means one thing for sure: Your clients will be paying you a visit. They will look to you to know what their husbands or wives have on their wish lists and what the latest and greatest thing in the store is. Ultimately, they want our help to get that awesome gift that they may have been saving for all year long.

We are very fortunate that our target demographic is the same age as my wife and me. We find it easy to not only relate to them, but also to cultivate those relationships that we hope will ultimately turn into lifelong clients and friends. Cut Fine Jewelers is relationship-driven, and that means that we get to know the majority of our clients long before they will ever make their first purchase here — and that is exactly what I have always wanted.

The Christmas selling season is the culmination of a long year’s worth of hard work and challenges that comes down to 10 to 15 days that could make or break your year in sales. If you have been diligent and thorough, you will be greatly rewarded. May all of you out there have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year full of success and happiness.

Matthew Patton is the co-owner of Cut Fine Jewelers in Baton Rouge, LA, which was founded as appointment-only in 2012 and opened its showroom in 2014. Cut won third place in the Small Cool division of INSTORE’s America’s Coolest Stores contest in 2015.

You Wouldn’t Cut Your Own Hair. Why Run Your Own Retirement Sale?

After being in business for over a quarter of a century, Wayne Reid, owner of Wayne Jewelers in Wayne, Pennsylvania, decided it was time for a little “me time.” He says, “I’ve reached a point in my life where it’s time to slow down, enjoy a lot of things outside of the jewelry industry. It just seemed to be the right time.” He chose Wilkerson to handle his retirement sale because of their reputation and results. With financial goals exceeded, Reid says he made the right choice selecting Wilkerson to handle the sale. “They made every effort to push our jewelry to the forefront of the showcases,” he says, lauding Wilkerson for their finesse and expertise. Would he recommend them to other jewelers who want to make room for new merchandise, expand their business or like him, decide to call it a day? Absolutely he says, equating trying to do this kind of sale with cutting your own hair. “The results are going to happen but not as well as if you have a professional like Wilkerson do the job for you.”