Platinum perspective

There’s nothing like platinum!  The weight, the feel and the patina are amazing to wear.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just try-on a platinum Rolex watch and you’ll be mesmerized.  But, some retail clients are highly disappointed with their platinum jewellery.  Why?  Because, they had the wrong expectations, and they bought it from a jeweller who should have known better!

Men in particular I’ve found to be intrigued by the idea of platinum; especially engineers, architects, geologists and the like.  Some of them expect that platinum is strong enough to be impervious to daily wear. 

To sell platinum right, talk with them about the rarity, density and long-term wear resistance of platinum.  You should also advise them that platinum is valuable due to the following:

-       Platinum is used in 90 to 95% purity; along with other platinum group metals

-       Platinum requires special casting procedures and because of its high density takes up to 3 times as long to finish

-       Platinum is completely inert to chemical reactions and therefore hypoallergenic

And, you must play-up the fact that platinum’s pure grey-white patina comes-out as it wears.  Tell them that it will look richer as time goes on, but if they ever want it restored to the factory high-polish, it will require a trip to the goldsmith.

Promoting platinum properly prevents perplexing problems.  Thanks to David Stratton for the idea for this post.

Are Standards of Service Permanently Damaged?

Air travel isn’t what it used to be.  Remember when airlines fed you a meal and didn’t feel the need to charge you an extra $500 or $1,000 to do so?  Being a frequent flier with Air Canada, I have often used my points to upgrade my ticket to executive class.  Sometimes they don’t even serve a meal up front.  It seems you have to be travelling before 9:00AM, or within a few minutes of noon in order to get a hot breakfast or lunch.

Recently I flew up to Yellowknife on First Air.  They, along with Northwest Air provide 737 service from Edmonton to the North, and both provide hot meals to every passenger on every flight.  Do they charge more?  Actually they’re the same, but by the time I booked, First Air was over $300 less than Air Canada.  I’m glad to see that a small company has refused to compromise traditional service.  It would be easy for them to say, “Air Canada and Westjet don’t provide meals, so I guess we don’t have to.”  I’ve become so accustomed to modern-day discount service that I was absolutely blown away that I got fed on these flights.

Let’s start something new.  Stop trying to give good service.  Good service usually means being nice.  Let’s banish the phrase “good service” from our vocabulary.  Great services (plural) implies that there are several outstanding benefits that you lavish on your valued clients.

What are traditional great services in a jewellery store?  Are they warranties, free cleaning and/or polishing, trade-up policies, credit, shopping by appointment, coffee/tea service?  I’m sure you can name others.  Being a small independent retailer, you don’t have to follow the trend to reduced services. 

If you give great services, you don’t always have to give the lowest price.  You may have heard the saying “price, service, quality – pick two.”  If you’ve found a way to deliver all three, let me know.  Another of my favorite sayings is “only one retailer can have the lowest price; all others have to sell on some other merit.”  If you’re all about price, go for it.  I’d much rather be the one who earns a higher price by being generous with great services.

Just Kidding

I love using humor to build raport with a customer.  If you can get them laughing, you’ve got an easier time selling to them.  Here’s a good one; “do you know the three rings that make-up to traditional wedding set?  First, there’s the engagement ring, then there’s the wedding ring, and then there’s the suffer-ing.”  Funny, huh?  How about “do you know why single men live longer?  Because they want to.”  Hilarious!

I’ve emceed several weddings, but am careful to resist the temptation towards anti-marriage humor.  There are many good jokes and stories that poke fun at the institution of marriage.  There’s good reason to make fun of something that people take so seriously, but which fails at such an alarming rate.  The most current statistics show that 37.9% of marriages will end in divorce before the 30^th anniversary.  These rates are skewed by repeat divorces.  In Canada 67% of first-time marriages will last a lifetime.

My recommendation is that you NEVER, EVER make fun of marriage when selling an engagement ring.  The bride or groom may choose a wisecrack or two, but I would stay away from entering into the attack.  The simple reason is that the couple in front of you is betting $5,000 on an engagement ring and $twenty-some-thousand on a wedding that they will be among the majority who enjoy marriage for life.  No matter what your experience or beliefs, keep them to yourself.

Always choose to rejoice with aspiring brides and grooms as well as anniversary celebrants.  Our industry depends on it!

Video Blog - Wisdom on a Mountain

I’ve ascended this mountain here in search of wisdom.  The Dahli Llama is nowhere to be found, so I wonder if maybe you can help.

This is my 70^th day in my attempt to publish 300 blogs in 2012, and my fourth video blog.  While emailing The Toddwaz Report to a number of retailers in Western Canada and gaining followers on Facebook, I’d like for my ramblings to reach a wider audience. 

Writing continues to flow naturally from my experience with you, and occupies time spent in airports, hotels and at my table-for-one.

I’m in negotiations with a major jewellery magazine to contribute some of my writing to their monthly publication.  They’ve asked me what kind of writing I’d like to do for them.  Am I an investigative journalist?  Can I write feature articles?  Could I be a columnist focusing on marketing, sales, operations, industry trends, or something else?

Here’s where I need your help.  You’ve been hearing from me daily for over two months now.  I want to know what’s stuck with you. 

Firstly, without reviewing back-copies, I’d like you to tell me which articles have been memorable.

Secondly, whether you acted on a suggestion, modified it, or did the exact opposite of what I wrote, what actions have you taken in your business as a result of reading The Toddwaz Report? 

Thirdly, is an optional response; tell me if you think that one particular subject matter or viewpoint would be a unique and welcome addition to all of the other columnists that target you, the retail jewellers.

Please take just a few minutes to give me your thoughts.  I’m not looking for praise and I while I don’t enjoy criticism, I know that in order to improve I need to invite it. 

I’m really up here looking for direction, and I want to know what specifically I can do to benefit you.  Even if I don’t end-up writing for the magazine in question, I’ll take your comments use them to advance The Toddwaz Report.

Thank you and have a great week

Creativity

Adults are obsolete children – Dr. Seuss

I heard the story about an art professor who took his daughter to work.  He was showing her the process of teaching aspiring artists how to paint; to which the child replied, “you mean they forgot how?”  We are born creative.  Just give a kid a cardboard box and see what adventures he or she spontaneously enters into.

The more education we receive, the more we get addicted to known-facts and forget about the realm of “infinite possibilities.”  At a conference in L.A. in 1989 I attended a session on “imaginuity” given by an executive of Walt Disney Corp.  This is the unique process by which Disneyland’s creative staff develops new rides, services and features.

In your store, when collaborating about new ads, promotions, displays or events, try using imaginuity.  First you need to state the need.  Then open-up the floor for each and every suggestion that comes into anyone’s mind.  Jot notes to keep track of these ideas.  Let one idea spawn another and another, WITHOUT pausing to critique any suggestion. 

Once you stall for further suggestions, then and only then do you start to discuss the merits of each suggestion.  You’ll be surprised at the flow of creativity that’s possible in a non-critical environment.

Happy Easter

On what I celebrate as Resurrection Sunday, I want to greet you all with best wishes for time with family and friends.  After counting up the cost of my extensive travelling last year, my wife Jana and I decided that I would not return home every single weekend.  That had been my routine for years; whether it meant flying home on a Friday night, or driving through the night for up to 14 hours to return to the nest.  This year, I’m sacrificing some of my home-time in order to spend-less money and reduce family debt.

I am reminded that all of the hard work we put into our jobs, our stores and our industry, it’s a sacrifice with a purpose.  That’s why us Christians celebrate Easter.  Not for the sacrifice itself, but for the grand purpose it achieved for us.

Some of you are building a strong business for the next generation, some of you want a healthy business that will attract a generous buyer, and others are just focused on bringing home the bread.  All of our work has a purpose.  When the “rubber meets the chicken”, there are family and friends standing behind us who wait for us to get home. 

I hope you’re as grateful as I am today that although I enjoy great fulfillment in my business endeavors when I look around my church, my living room and around my dinner table tonight, I’ll be enjoying the company of those who matter the most.

Have a great Easter or Passover, or long weekend with those who matter most to you!