Big news for those of you coming to the inaugural SMART Show Dallas. Our show keynote speaker — Scott Ginsberg, aka “The Nametag Guy” — is signed, sealed and about to be delivered to an audience of jewelers this September.
As mentioned in my last post, we’re really excited to be bringing “Nametag Guy” Scott Ginsberg to jewelers as our keynote speaker at The SMART Show Dallas (coming September 8-10 at The Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, TX). If you haven’t seen Scott yet, you’re in for a treat.
Says Loann Stokes of the Brain Squad, who saw Scott at the SMART Show Chicago in 2011: “Best session ever: Scott Ginsberg. He was an awesome speaker and really made you think about the bigger picture.”
Here are a few favorite ideas we’ve shared from Scott over the years (via INSTORE and The SMART Show):
- Avoid weasel words like “may”, “might”, and “could”. Because they suggest to your customer that you’re not confident in what you’re saying. Use alternatives such as “definitely,” “we will,” “I know” and “consider it done.”
- “Loving what you do isn’t enough. You have to elope with what you do. You have to be pathologically obsessed with what you do. You have to get a tattoo of what you do’s name on your ass.”
- Got a “just looking” customer? Ginsberg talks about a car dealership who hands out “just looking” buttons to customers, telling them, “We won’t acknowledge you whatsoever until that button comes off.” Excellent idea!
- Make the mundane memorable. Add an offbeat question to your voicemail message. Ginsberg once asked “What’s your favorite kind of pizza?” on his voicemail message. Responses from his customers filled up an answering-machine tape.
- Every week, have a meeting called “Mistake Monday” … boss starts off, telling one mistake he made in the last week and three things learned from it. Everybody else follows. It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s not okay to not learn from your mistakes
- “No one should ever ask customers any question that will result in the answer, “Fine.” That’s an acronym for Feelings I’m Not Expressing,” says Scott Ginsberg, author of HOW TO BE THAT GUY and THE APPROACHABLE SALESPERSON. “Instead, employees should ask only open-ended, passion-finding questions like, ‘What keeps you busy outside of work?’ and ‘What was the best part about your week?’ The question, ‘So, what do you do?’ should be outlawed completely. Because your job isn’t to learn what people do — it’s to learn who they are. Only then can you suggest the right jewelry to fit their individual truth.”
- “Nobody notices normal. Nobody buys boring. Nobody pays for average.” Challenge for jewelers is to make the mundane memorable.
- A trend that’s not going away … “Crazy is the new sane.” And “If you’re not a little nuts, you’re a putz.”
Ready to register for the SMART Jewelry Show Dallas? Mosey on over here.
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Family Legacy, New Chapter: How Wilkerson Turns 89 Years of History Into Future Success
After 89 years of serving the Albany community, Harold Finkle Your Jeweler faced a pivotal decision. For third-generation owner Justin Finkle, the demanding hours of running a small business were taking precious time away from his young family. "After 23 years, I decided this was the time for me," Finkle explains. But closing a business with nearly nine decades of inventory and customer relationships isn't something easily managed alone.
Wilkerson's comprehensive approach transformed this challenging transition into a remarkable success story. Their strategic planning handled everything from advertising and social media to inventory management and staffing — elements that would overwhelm most jewelers attempting to navigate a closing sale independently.
The results speak volumes. "Wilkerson gave us three different tiers of potential goals," Finkle notes. "We've reached that third tier, that highest goal already, and we still have two weeks left of the sale." The partnership didn't just meet financial objectives—it exceeded them ahead of schedule.
