GENERALService for Servicemen
Here’s another example of the gold that can be sifted from Google Analytics data. H.L. Gross & Bro. Jewelers of Garden City, NY, found shortly after launching its Internet arm, since1910.com, that a portion of orders was coming from soldiers. They quickly instituted a 5 percent discount on engagement rings for military personnel and added services such as insured delivery to war zones and fast-turnaround for soldiers on leave. The business has grown steadily and H.L. Gross is now selling a few dozen rings a month to military customers, Brad Gross told JDNews.com.
Mascot Marriage
Most store dogs take it pretty easy. Not Lester, the Silky terrier at Brian Michaels Jewelers in Tonawanda, NY, who meets and greets customers and prances around the store modeling a diamond collar. Lester also gave the store’s bridal department a boost by getting married at the store, although he and his “wife” continue to live separately. “It’s the secret to his successful marriage,” says owner Brian Levine.
Where’s the Stapler?
According to our October Big Survey, 66 percent of jewelers use a code to alert staff to a potentially dangerous situation. If your store is among the one in three that doesn’t, here’s one to provide inspiration from a recent Cool Store winner: “Sally, have you seen the red stapler?” Translation? Call 911!
MANAGEMENTBlack Friday Variation
For many jewelers, Black Friday is still one of the most important dates on the calendar — when the year’s business really does turn from red to black. But not at Krystyna’s Jewelry, Chicago, IL. They don’t even open for business. Last year they took the whole Thanksgiving week and instead went on a pre-holiday cruise with family and staff. “We feel it is the best way to prepare and be fresh for the stress of December,” says owner Dorothy Retzke.
Write Yourself a Rejection
Is fear of rejection stopping you from approaching your bank, a prospective partner or even a potential client? Well, don’t wait any longer — crush your hopes yourself. It sounds like mental self-flagellation but by writing a letter to yourself listing the reasons why your proposal should be turned down, you will take a lot of the pain out of the matter, says Dan Pink, citing psychological research. Too lazy to write a letter? Go to the Rejection Generator Project at tinyurl. com/klh7upg Just choose your favored style of rejection, type in your email addresss, and in minutes you’ll receive a dream-destroyer in your inbox, assures Pink.
Postal Confusion
Security update from Jewelers Mutual Insurance Co.: The U.S. Postal Service recently changed the name of its “Express Mail” service to “Priority Mail Express.” Don’t confuse this with “Priority Mail,” as the two are not the same. “Jewelers Mutual’s shipping coverage has not changed, and packages shipped via Priority Mail Express will continue to be automatically covered under Jewelers Mutual’s Jewelers Block, Jewelers Standard, and “Pak’ insurance policies,” the company said in a statement. That is not the case with items sent “Priority Mail.”
MARKETINGText Your Customers
Don’t call your customers; text message them, advises Adam Fried, global trainer for Hearts On Fire. “It allows them to look at it at their convenience, yet it also guarantees they will see it.” He recommends buying a store mobile phone to do all text messaging. It enables the owner to see all the messages going out, and the salespeople won’t have to use their personal phones.
Attract Stalkers
Who wouldn’t love to have hundreds of customers eagerly awaiting every update on their Facebook page, especially during the crucial run-in to Christmas? That’s what Jenny Caro of Jewelry By Design in Woodbridge, VA, managed to do with their 12 Days of Christmas promotion last year, which gave away one piece of jewelry on the first day of the campaign, rising to 12 pieces by Day 12. When the item is posted to Facebook, the first person who comments that they like the piece gets it for free. “It gets a community going,” said Caro during a session at the Dallas SMART Show. Meanwhile, the store posts other promotional messages because it knows that customers are watching the page all the time.
Invite Bloggers to Play
Last holiday season, De Beers Diamond Jewellers invited five popular style bloggers in New York and London to come into its stores and play “pick your dream ring” to give them something to write about. In New York, Christine Cameron, author of My Style Pill, wrote of her store experience as an “incredibly fun and girly afternoon,” while drinking champagne and eating macaroons. It was textbook social media marketing, at very little cost.