Personality Plus

I’m not a shy person and I don’t lack confidence.  I also know I shouldn’t covet, but there were a couple of people at the jewellery shows in Toronto that were so gregarious they made me feel like a wallflower.  It really got me thinking about whether being the life of the party is necessary to be successful in sales.  The subject became even more confusing after talking to a successful store-owner who admits to being a shy person.

Having personality plus is a big aid in the arena of sales.  It helps to earn an audience, because you can quickly build rapport.  However, that’s just the first chapter in the sales process.  Product knowledge, articulation, the ability to read body language, conflict resolution, compassion, memory, integrity and follow-through are also integral parts of the selling process.  Without these attributes, the most outgoing person will never succeed in closing sales.

I believe that the differences between humans are due to something within us like a giant stereo equalizer.  Every one of our dozens of traits has a level on that equalizer.  We can have some set high, some in the middle and some low, but nobody was created with all sliders set to maximum.  I also believe that as we grow we can work to improve those values while other traits might decline. 

This is how I get myself through moments of insecurity.  As long as I embrace my strongest traits and conduct myself with honesty and integrity, even a lowly guy like me can be successful in the long-run.

Learning a Lot!

(From JCK Toronto)

Wow, I’ve learned a lot of disparate things this weekend and at JCK Toronto, like for instance:

-John Anderson is actually from Davidson’s Jewellers in Ottawa (not Richardson’s as I mentioned yesterday.  Sorry about that John.)

-Kim Markwart of Tisdale, SK is the incoming chairperson of the Canadian Jewellers Association and Wayne Fisher of Lloydminster, AB is the new president of the CJG buying group.  Thank you both for your hard work, leadership and for representing Western Canada so well.

-My friend Brad Huisken has released a jewellery staff training system that guides the staffing process from the interview through hiring, training and promoting to various levels of selling and product knowledge and staff leadership.  It gives newer staff an exciting progression of levels to achieve, as opposed to years and years of being a “sales clerk.”

-I met a jeweller who keeps a baseball under the counter in order to peg-off any would-be thieves.  True story!

-Social Media Marketing is like achieving wealth; many people want it but not everyone is ready to do the work.  I met some ambitious folks at the JCK social media seminar and I think we on the panel encouraged some really good practices.

-The JCK Toronto Show actually looked really good this year, and there were reports of strong sales.  The show is still weak on support from Canadian exhibitors.  We’ll see if the rumors are true that the show is up for sale, and might even be mothballed next year.

-Some people are offended when a waitress comes up to a group of men and women and says, “Can I get you GUYS some drinks?”  Be careful how you address different genders. 

Show Report

(From the CJG Buying Show in Toronto)

The CJG Buying Show in Toronto was successful for us with sales higher than our best ever by 10%.  I enjoyed meeting and working with new member John Anderson of Richardson’s Jewellery in Ottawa.  I also had a great time with two of the rising stars in the business, who I interviewed for an upcoming video blog.  It was great to see members who hadn’t attended the show in many years return to take part. 

I will be at JCK Toronto tomorrow (Monday) as a panelist in a social media presentation at 11:00am, so come on down if you’re in town!

Reports from various parts of the country range from “slow” to “holding our own” in central Canada and “slow” to “strong” in Western Canada.  I didn’t have that conversation with too many of the great CJG members from Atlantic Canada, but they always seem pretty happy about everything!

Whether it’s at JCK Toronto, the Western Canadian Jewellery Expo or at your store, I’m looking forward to seeing many of you very soon.

How Many Trade Shows???

(From the CJG Buying Show in Toronto)

I enjoyed being part of a great conversation with a jeweller who attends 8 trade shows per year.  These include overseas shows, buying group shows, Tucson and JCK Las Vegas.  While he admitted that not all shows are absolutely critical to attend, consensus at our table was that anyone who doesn’t attend any trade shows is missing-out on great opportunities.

This particular gentleman has long-standing relationships with suppliers to maintain, new product to source, and counts active participation in his two buying groups to be hugely beneficial.  The other conclusion that we reached was that although travellers will come to you, we can’t possibly show as much product as you will see at the shows.  What we don’t have the space or insurance to carry might represent lost business for you.

If you’re still on the fence about attending the Western Canadian Jewellery Expo next week, here’s your shove.  Do it!  I hope to see a fabulous turnout in Edmonton.

On the Road Again

Today began the Fall travel season for me.  I boarded the plane for Toronto.  We participate in the CJG buying show, and then off the JCK Toronto where I will be part of a panel addressing the topic of Social Media.  If you’re visiting JCK Toronto, make sure you take this in.  The session goes from 11:00am until 12:15pm, Monday August 13^th.

As I shift gears from writing-and-prepping to travelling-and-selling, the question always arises: “what kind of Fall will this be.”  The answer always varies.  We speculate about consumer confidence, the regions whose economies are the most robust, the mine that just opened up or closed, the crop outlook and the price of oil. 

This may seem a little naïve, but the areas that will enjoy the best Fall will be those whose clients are the best prepared to spend money on jewellery.  The seeds of prosperity for Christmas 2012 are for the most part already planted by what we’ve done as an industry to promote jewellery spending.  There will be gazillions of dollars spent this Fall and Christmas on all kinds of things, but how much impact has our jewellery marketing had in swaying consumers our way?  We’ll see when we tally-up the receipts at 3:00pm December 24^th.

Watch More TV?

Okay, I don’t have a “Shoot your Television” bumper-sticker.  I’ve written in the past about the great show Say Yes to the Dress.  Since we don’t have a show called

Say Yes to the Ring we can see the sales process applied to young brides shopping for dresses.  There are many lessons to be learned by watching the (embellished) story lines.

There’s another show that I’ll endorse you watching at least a few times.  It’s TLC’s What Not to Wear.  They take people with very little fashion-savvy and show them how to present themselves in a way that makes them feel incredibly different about themselves.  Jewellery is a much neglected part of the visage we present to the people around us.  Jewellery has an amazing ability to make people feel better and more confident about their appearance.  I’d love to see that show incorporate more than just fashion jewellery accessories when they’re making-over these poor souls.

Without hosting a fashion intervention and embarrassing people as this show does, take pride in helping people celebrate their personalities by adorning themselves with appropriate jewels.  On this TV program you see people with bolstered confidence deciding to pursue things they were previously afraid to go after.  By helping people acquire jewellery that makes them feel like a million bucks, you’re contributing to their quality of life. 

How much is it worth to someone to have the confidence to attract a life-partner or go-out and earn their dream job?  I’d say priceless!

Pandora Slipping

It’s not exactly news to anyone that Pandora is on the downside of a slippery slope.  Most faithful Pandora dealers I’ve spoken with are optimistic that the slide may be slow and gradual.  Few expect resurgence.  The recent IDEX Online: Pandora’s Q2 sales down 9.5% article allowed me to try my hand at reading between the lines:

IDEX: “Europe … drop of 17 percent.  The America’s saw a decline of 5 percent and Asia Pacific fell 8.1 percent.”  

Toddwaz: As we tend to lag international trends, Canada will see decreases rise to 8 and then 15% over the next year or so.

IDEX: “The company said it expects to open approximately 200 new concept stores in 2012”

Toddwaz: Jewellers are abandoning us left, right and center, but what do they know?  We’ll show them.  We’ll open up our own stores in a desperate attempt to prolong the gravy-train.

IDEX: (quoting CEO Bjorn Gulden) “our offering is now again competitive with the right commercial price points for our jewelry”

Toddwaz: Now that our business is declining, we can’t gouge our retailers any more.

IDEX: “Pandora is conducting a one-off, time-limited stock balancing campaign… and the part of the campaign run so far has achieved a high participation rate from retailers”

Toddwaz: We still have some liquidity, so we’ll take this hit in a desperate attempt to swap-out beads that are no longer turning-over for jewellery which has never turned well; and those suckers are falling for it in droves; ‘cause what choice do they have.

Does The Toddwaz have it in for Pandora?  Well, kind of.  It has deflected attention away from gold and diamonds.  It has driven down the average ticket of jewellery shoppers.  During the growth-phase it sucked cash-flow out of jewellery stores with their pre-pay terms and swelling inventories.  Some pretty sharp jewellers who have made major commitments to Pandora are now effectively fighting for sales against jewellers who continue to focus on traditional jewellery.

Is there anything good about Pandora?  Sure.  Some of my retailers have been strengthened financially and have reinvested proceeds into developing their fine jewellery business.  It has forced retailers into a greater awareness of “turns” and “ROI.”  It has caused fine jewellery marketers to step-up their game and defend their turf.

If Toddwaz was in retail would he include Pandora in his inventory?  Five years ago – I hope I would have.