The "IT" Factor

My daughter Gabrielle is entering culinary arts training at Vancouver Island University in about a month.  It’s not uncommon to see the food channel on in our house.  The Next Food Network Star is a reality program which puts aspiring television chefs against each other.  Their success had as much to do with their personality assertion as it did with their cooking skills.

If there was a “The Next Great Jewellery Star”, I would suggest the assertion of your personality would be a HUGE factor.  Have you heard about people who are described as “personality plus?”  On this show, as soon as the camera is on the contestant, they have to be able to “turn it on.”  What is “it?”

“It” is different for everybody, but I’ll tell you what it’s not.  It’s not equanimity – you need to care.  It’s not just caring, you need to demonstrate that you care.  It’s not enough to demonstrate that you care, you must also delight and entertain.  It’s not just caring, delighting and entertaining, you’ve got to inspire people to a higher level of jewellery appreciation.  If you don’t do all of that without giving your clients genuinely good product at fair value, then it’s worthless.

One of the ways you develop your very own “it” is by paying attention and talking about what goes right whenever you thrill a customer.  Dissect every victory and celebrate it.  Then do more of that next time with energy and polish.