New Product Announcement

A new product on the market promises to help improve the quality of smart-phone photographs.  A small light-box that you can put on top of your showcase allows an adjustable “vise” for assorted sizes of smart-phones, a 3-D adjustable clamp for various types of jewellery, a neutral background and jewellery-balanced diffused LED lighting.  This way your customers can take sharp photos of a piece of jewellery they’re considering!

Am I kidding?  Abso-stinkin-lutely!  Nowadays, instead of saying “can you write the details down on a card for me…” consumers are saying, “can I take a picture of it so that I can think about it?”  It’s the new way of avoiding decision-making and potentially shopping your merchandise to your competitor.  My personal conclusion is that unless you’ve actually asked for the sale and done everything in your professional sales repertoire to close the sale, you should discourage photos.  If it’s a case of sharing the information with others who are paying for or “chipping-in” on a purchase, of course an Instagram or photo-message can help expedite the sale.

C2A – next staff meeting, discuss the following. 

·      Under what circumstances would you allow someone to bring-out their camera-phone?

·      How do you politely prohibit a photograph without offending a client. 

·      Who might be insulted by a sign at the entrance that discourages unauthorized photography?

·      Are you okay with telling a client to take a photo of a competitor’s design and bring it to you?

Perfectly prepared people will perpetuate pleasant perceptions.