Video Blog - I Hate Lying Customers

So there I was just minding my own business when this guy comes into the store.  He tells me exactly which Rolex watch he’s interested in.  So, he asks me “what’s your best price on this watch?”  So I’m thinking, “that’s an unusual way of asking for a discount,” so I say to the guy, “why do you ask?”  He says, “well the other Rolex dealer said he’ll give it to me for $6,700.”  Believing that he’s probably lying, I say, “That’s a good price.  You should buy it from him.”  The guy gets mad and says, “That’s not the point.  I asked you what your best price would be.”  Now I know he’s lying so I say, “there’s no point in discussing my best price if you’ve already been offered a price that’s lower.”  That made him even madder.  Eventually he stormed out of the store, unsuccessfully tried to slam the door shut, and muttered something that included a lot of four-letter-friend-getters.

I felt pretty good about defending myself from this guy’s bull$&@%.  Over my career, there have been times where I have been willing lose business in order to defend what I believe is right and honest.  There is a line we walk every day.  We can honor integrity or we get into half-truths and lower ourselves to the level of shysters and scammers.  In this case, my beliefs told me that I couldn’t allow this guy to lie his way into a discount. 

Me and my beliefs not only lost a sale, we offended someone who obviously had several thousand dollars in his pocket with which to buy a watch.  I’d like a do-over.  I’d like to ask him why was hoping to buy the watch from me.  I’d like to ask him why he chose that particular model, and review his options.  If I could get him into a different watch, then a real or imagined competitive price would be right out of the picture.  I’d like to ask him what the occasion was that led him to such an extravagant treat.  Who knows?  We might have become friends.

On one hand, our advertising, marketing and promotions are tactics to bend the customer to our will.  In his mind, his false-claim was a tactic to bend me to his will.  I won’t get another chance, but you might.  Why don’t you talk about this scenario and find more ways to turn a doofus like this (“Hey!”) into a buyer.  It may not always work-out, but I’ve already revealed to you one way that it most de-fi-nite-ly won’t.

Too Much Selling?

I follow a few different blogs for different reasons.  Seth Godin is an internet and technology guy who’s written a number of influential business improvement books.  He has been blogging daily for several years and almost always delivers compelling thoughts.  Today he writes about marketers who are out of touch with the actual product they’re promoting.  I read it and think of our industry, where on every level we are tempted to oversell.

I’ve often quoted David Ogilvy (founder of one of the world’s largest marketing firms Ogilvy and Mather) who said, “the heart and soul of advertising is THE BIG PROMISE.”  I have also added that the promise you make has to be backed-up in your stores.  You cannot say, “we have 1000 engagement rings in stock” and the consumer walk-in and find 57.  You cannot tell a customer that the ½ carat diamond is going to be bigger and more impressive than 99% of their friend’s diamonds.  I cannot sell you something and claim that you’ll surely see a 6 time turnover.

Whether it’s advertising or selling, there’s such thing as “overselling.”  Overselling is a code-word for lying.  One summer, I worked selling cars in Vancouver.  My sales manager was the king of “no problem.”  If a potential buyer asked for something, you said, “no problem” and then tried to find a way to make it happen.  The idea was to get them into the business manager’s office any way you could and let them deal with whether it was a “problem” or not.  The intent was to try to deliver what they wanted, but often it ended up being a “problem” and left the salesman as one who “oversold.”

Two things: A. Don’t oversell.  B. Make sure you have some pretty wonderful things to say about your product or your services that are true!

Saturday Story Time – Wisdom in the Food Court

In about 1987, I was on my lunch-break from Forest of Jewels at Heritage Mall.  It may be hard to envision (since the mall has since been torn-down) but the food court was so busy that there were no empty tables to be had.  I gladly agreed for a young mother with her newborn to join me.  We got to talking, and she came to tell me how her and her husband had been waiting for the right time to start their family.

The right time for them had been about having job security, their home prepared, being a certain age, and achieving certain financial goals.  When they realized that they wanted a baby more than they wanted all of those other things, they delayed no further.  She told me that they were glad that they didn’t wait for “perfect timing,” because it may have never been completely perfect.

If you’re receiving this message, you’re a small businessperson or working for one.  Entrepreneurs constantly analyze their businesses and make decisions based upon their best-guesses-for-successes.  Even if the timing is not PERFECT, an entrepreneur is someone does not shy away from taking action.

Andrew Foster mentioned to me how he appreciates the “calls-to-action” that I have included in my writing.  From here forward, I’ll use the abbreviation “C2A” whenever I urge you to try something.  My C2A for today is to write down three things that you know you want to do in your life or business.  Then prioritize them 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd.  Then put a deadline for decision on each.

If you actually do this, it will do three things.  Firstly it’s a gut-check that gives you visceral feedback about committing to this course of action.  Second, it gives you a deadline, and if you’re like me you hate to let a deadline pass without taking action.  And thirdly by prioritizing, you might discover that the item you are most excited about doing, gets superseded by something more important.

I’m glad I thought about that new mom in the food court when I made the decision to buy Jana’s engagement ring.  I wasn’t settled into a career and I didn’t have money in the bank.  The timing wasn’t the greatest, but it was the right thing to do.  May 5^th will be our 22^nd anniversary, and I’m still glad that I did the right thing rather waiting for ideal timing.

Engineered Drama

While compiling my income taxes, I was a little shocked at how much we had paid during the year for my daughters’ horseback riding lessons.  The thought occurred to me that if she didn’t appreciate it and she didn’t contribute so much to the operations of our home, I might have to “engineer some drama”.  If she required discipline, I could put-on a show that because money was tight, we might have to cut-out her lessons.  Maybe she would offer to do extra chores, or contribute in some other way in order to keep the lessons.  Maybe she’d appreciate them more for having defended this activity from Dad’s chopping block.  Fortunately, I’m blessed to have a 16 year old girl who requires very little “engineered drama” to correct undesirable behaviors.

As Canadians, we like to keep things on an even keel.  We’re averse to “making waves.”  Engineered drama involves little morality plays used to teach lessons.  My father owned an auto detailing business.  One of his workers was failing to adequately vacume into the nooks and crannies of seats.  Auto dealers allowed the detailers to keep any loose change found in their used vehicles.  One day, my father planted a $50 bill in the seat on a car for one of the other detailers to find.  It was a simple lesson, but effective.  Eldon became much more conscientious after that.

In order for engineered drama to be successful, you must allow the subject to experience the positive effects of the correct behavior or the negative impact of an undesirable action.  I heard a story about a staff directive at Jason Goldsmiths in the 1970s to refuse taking-in watches and pocket-watches for case repairs.  I think they concluded that soft-soldering lugs on gold-plated and silver watches was more trouble than it was worth.

They conscripted someone who worked next door to give “Grandpa’s heirloom pocket watch” to one particular staff member and beg them to fix the broken loop at the top.  When she hesitantly showed the job to the goldsmith, he looked at her incredulously, and told her “we don’t do watch-case repairs!” as he smashed the watch to smithereens with a hammer.

It was a great practical joke, but it was also a good case of engineered drama!  Can any of you relate?

T.O.M.A.

If you’ve ever been beaten over the head by an advertising sales rep about top of mind awareness, tell them to back-off. This is their way of trying to increase their sales not yours. Those of you who have hundreds of locations around Canada may have the advertising budget to strive for T.O.M.A., all the rest must pick their battles.

Think of yourself as a boxer with huge muscles but no stamina. Independent jewellery retailers have the strongest offerings in the industry. You carry more unique product, higher average quality jewellery/gems and you tailor your inventory to the local market. Without stamina (in this case, a huge marketing budget that allows constant broadcasting to your audience) you need to bob-and-weave, and save-up your energy for periodic flurries.

I spoke to a jeweller who has tried numerous marketing tactics over his 30 year career. He told me he now spends his marketing budget during four or five big promotions per year. Not a bad idea. Promotions offer the perspective client an experience. It could be a gold-sale, restlye and design event, diamond expo, trunk-show, clearance sale or any number of themed events.

You can wait for the dreaded visit from your advertising sales rep who will try to get you to commit to spending 15% more than last year. Or, you can engineer some sort of promotion and call them to solicit a proposal: “I’m having a 3-day promotional event, and I want to do 10 days of advertising leading-up to it and then a day after for a thank you and prize-draw announcement. If I give you a $2,000 prize package to give away, what kind of advertising proposal can you offer me?”

I guarantee you’re going to get all kinds of value offered to you. A prize give-away can often net you 3-5 times the retail value of your prize in advertising over and above what you pay for.

It’s a question of initiative. If you don’t have a plan for your advertising budget, you will receive many compelling offers to take it off your hands.

Loyalty Programs

It struck me the other day.  After being on the road for 11 years, why have I found so few hotels that I’m loyal to?  What’s up with THAT? 

One of the primary reasons is because through Priceline, Travelocity and Hotels.com I might get a four-star hotel at a two-star price.

I think we all do it.  Your so-called loyal clients shop you around a bit and maybe you shop them around before deciding if you’ll give them your business.

Is there ANY loyalty ANYWHERE? 

I was thrilled to get a call from one car rental agency who asked me what it would take for them to get all of my car rental business.  I agreed not to collect loyalty points and they agreed to give me their best corporate rate and priority service.  Done deal.  I use them every time!

I’ve almost forgotten that Westjet exists, since achieving elite status with Air Canada.  Free drinks, food and magazines in the Maple Leaf lounges, along with upgrades and priority service are pretty addictive perks!!! 

What are the privileges of being your customer?  Are they enough to make people forget the big promises made by the internet, the home shopping channel, chain-stores and your direct competitors? 

How about formally awarding elite status to your best customers?  I know some retailers whose best clients spend tens-of-thousands of dollars in a good year.  Isn’t it worth throwing them a few perks to keep them from straying? 

·      Priority back-office sales appointments.

·      Consults with participating sales reps who might sell them something outside of your ordinary inventory.

·      Free ring-sizing and appraisals.

·      Free delivery service. 

·      Advance notice and front-of-the-line opportunity for sales events.

·      A client night once or twice a year, where you show them a fantastic time to thank them for their loyalty.

o   Give an award to the “big spender” at this event

o   Don’t make it a sales event.  They will likely respond and purchase if you do, but think about the long-term impact of doing something JUST FOR THEM.

·      Keep a card-file or file folders with the names of your loyalty club members and a log of their visits; as a visual reminder that:

o   You have many loyal clients, so they’re in good company

o   You earnestly want to pay attention to their ongoing business

In this world of intense competition, loyalty is not a given.  It’s harder to get than ever before and in order to keep the loyalty, you’ll have to do more.

What if a jeweller was chatting them up at the gym, and they were able to say, “no thanks, I’m a platinum client at Todd’s Jewellers.”  That’s exactly what you’re after.  We want them to think, “I’d have to be a fool to deal with anyone else, regardless of price.”

Loyally yours,

Todd

Professional Development

What is a professional?  Well, a professional could be defined as one who gets paid to do very specialized work.  If someone purchases a diamond from you and then says, “thank you for being such a professional,” they might be implying that you conducted yourself in an efficient manor with ample product knowledge.

Those are good ways of looking at it, but there’s an element of professionalism that I want you to think about today.  A professional professes something.  In the case of a medical doctor, it’s the hippocratic oath.  After years of study, labs and apprenticeship a resident will commit themselves to the Hippocratic oath as a rite of passage from student to professional physician.

The Hippocratic Oath (orkos) is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. It requires a new physician to swear upon a number of healing gods that he will uphold a number of professional ethical standards. – Wikipedia

I applaud those of you who undertake JETS courses, GIA studies, and available seminars.  You can drag anyone off the street and put them behind a jewellery counter, give them a few pointers and say, “go get ‘em, Tiger!”  That’s pretty much how I started at Forest of Jewels in Heritage Mall in 1987; although I was quickly given study materials to build my product and industry knowledge.

Before you feel like a professional in this business, you need to achieve a milestone.  Pass a course, sell $1Million worth of jewellery, be appointed as store manager, or have your own store.  When you hit that plateau, what’s your rite of passage?  What code of conduct and ethics do you subscribe to and operate by?

Today I challenge you to publish a code of ethics within your store.  It could be derived from religious beliefs, business affiliations or self-generated.  This way, both you and your clients can be reminded that you stand for something.  If you’re a CJA member, guess what?  Your membership application requires that you agree to their code of ethics.  Whether you are a member or not, it’s worth a quick read; click HERE.

We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us.

            Marshall Mcluhan