A good job interview idea from Selling Power magazine is to have a little accident. Tip over a trashcan or spill a cup of coffee on your desk. If the job candidate immediately leaps up to help … well, then they have cleared another hurdle in the interview process.
Scratch-Off Savings
Margaret Matson Jewelers in Geneva, IL does a clever St. Patrick’s promotion: they hand out “Find Your Pot O’ Gold” scratch-off tickets to customers. Scrape off the cover and a discount is revealed. Nearby State Street Jewelers does something similar with its “customer appreciation” direct mailers, jazzing up its postcards with scratch-off discounts or free gifts (anything from a $15 battery, silver charms, pearl earrings, $35-$50 repair to even a $100 gift certificate). “They thought our generosity and ‘no strings attached’ policy was a wonderful gift,” says owner Jeffrey Hampton.
Remove Emotion from Meetings
Stride into a meeting, dominate the dialogue and just repeat your point insistently, and you’ve a good chance of winning the day, thanks to a human weakness for interpreting confidence as expertise or competence. But it doesn’t mean you’ll arrive at the best solution for whatever challenges are facing your business. To prevent this happening at your meetings, reframe them as fact-finding exercises, says Bryan Bonner of the University of Utah. Keep a running list of conclusions on a whiteboard, or do anything else to switch the focus from who is being convincing to what they’re saying.
Get Vendors to Help
Reaching new customers is a constant struggle, and marketing is expensive. In response to this, EyeStyles Optical and Boutique, an independent eyewear retailer in Oakdale, MN, targets vendors that drive traffic through store locators. “The more store locators you can be found on, the better your ability to reach your customer,” says owner Nikki Griffin.
Jewelers Helping Joules
Each of Jennifer Farnes’ workstations at Revolution Jewelry Works in Colorado Springs, CO, has its own power switch so it’s only on when the jeweler is at the bench.
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Wedding Expo Experts
The great thing about wedding expos is that you get to meet many young people in the mood to marry. The downside is that nearly all the brides-to-be have engagement rings already. To snag the remaining band sales, Michael & Son’s Jewelry in Reno, NV, offers young couples a free titanium wedding band, to be sized at the store. Once there, they are offered an upgrade with the retail value of the free band ($125) transferred to any other band in the store. And if they accept, the bride can also get a 20 percent discount on her band. “Approximately 80 to 90 percent of grooms upgrade their band and at least look at bands for her, if not purchase it,” says owner David Lorenz.
