Missouri Store Brings Back the Holiday Excitement
Who doesn’t want to be a kid again enjoying the excitement of wondering what lies under the Christmas tree? Kennedy’s Custom Jewelers in Blue Springs, MO, recaptures that excitement with an annual tradition: “Every Christmas, we let customers who spend $100 or more take a gift from under our tree, one being a $1,500 value item,” says Trisha Kennedy, who owns the store with her father Jim.
Huddle for Ten
There’s no hard rule that says meetings have to be a time suck. During Dutilles Jewelry Design Studio’s “daily10,” everyone huddles for 10 minutes each morning to catch up on important sales, projects and any changes to the day worth noting. “We find this helps everyone to be on the same page and knowledgeable about current and upcoming projects,” says Jude Dutille, who owns the Lebanon, NH, custom shop.
Put on Your Party Dress
Though dress codes are a powerful business-branding tool, they are not for everyone. But even if you don’t have a store dress code on regular business days, it’s a smart move to have one for special store events like trunk shows. Having a uniform look makes it easier for customers to identify your team members in the crowd. What kind of look? You can’t go wrong with basic black.
Messages That Stick
By simply adding a sticky note with a personal message to the invitations you send customers this holiday season, “you will get an amazing response,” says Aleah Arundale, owner of Olympian Diamonds. “I’ve heard up to 400 times better response just by the simple sticky note, which catches people’s attention and looks like you took the extra time to invite just them.”
Keep ‘Em Coming Back
Recent work by neuroscientists Jaak Panksepp and Robert Sapolsky suggests that the brain’s reward mechanisms are designed to give us squirts of dopamine not when we get what we want, but when we pursue it. We’re chemically rewarded for maintaining a state of unfulfillment. What’s it mean for you? The biggest profits come not from fully satisfying your customers, but from making sure they never stop seeking.
Get Sales Staff Off the Floor
Sales get closed on the sales floor, but it’s not where they start. Ensure every salesperson spends one hour off the sales floor marketing themselves every day, urges Terry Sisco, the president of the Exsellerate training company. They can use that time to send five emails or texts every day, make four phone calls per day, do three posts to social media every week, make a minimum of two appointments every week and get one referral per week.
Window display from Onyx II in Watertown, CT.
Windows 2.0
Not a tip so much as a visual reminder on the importance of stunning window displays from Onyx II, one of our 2016 Cool Stores.