"Yes-and-Now"

As I had mentioned last week, Peter and I had been working on a contest for the trade shows.  Giving a prize with purchase is not only fun, but it can also help reduce returns.  We gave away instant prizes and grand prizes at both the CJG Buying Show and the Western Canadian Jewellery Expo.  Both contests had the desired twin effects of “yes-and-now.”  When there’s no urgency your clients can easily decide “maybe-and-later;” and as my parents taught me “maybe” usually means “not gonna happen.”

From the CJG Show, I want to congratulate Wayne Fisher of Richardson’s Lloydminster on his grand-prize fishing trip to Vancouver, courtesy of Customgold and Courtney Gold.  I hope you catch some massive salmon!  From the Edmonton show I had the pleasure of informing Stacey Saunders of Gelmici Jewellers in Edson of her two-night Vancouver Canucks experience.  We haven’t set the date yet, but if the NHL is operational, maybe we can arrange for a date when the Oilers are in town so that she can see some real action!

Thanks to all of you who participated.  It was fun to reward you for your patronage!

Let's Hear From You

I told my new friend Daniel Ford from JCK Magazine that I had the smartest, hardest working jewellers in Canada (and beyond) on my subscriber list.  Some of you are real whiz-bangs in social media, so here’s what I need from you.  Please tell me one thing that you’ve done or are planning to do with social media in order to contribute to a fantastically prosperous Christmas selling season.  I’ll put together two or three of your ideas and include them in the “snippet” I’ve been asked to write.  Susan, Sandy & Scooter, I await your reply among others…

If you’re not actively using social media as part of your overall marketing plan, consider the cost of joining the local golf and country club.  In many places it costs thousands of dollars to join, and hundreds or thousands more annually.  You get to buddy-up with people who have the means to join and therefore are likely to afford nice jewellery. 

What if you could join a club for free where both current and future affluent jewellery clients can be found?  Well, that’s Facebook.  The members of that club will include those who you invite and those who you attract – for free.  If you give away a few contest prizes to attract followers or engage your “club,” I’m sure the cost will fall well short of a country club membership.

Socially yours,

TW

Shows Done, Travel Begins

At the completion of the Westen Canadian Jewellery Expo, my busy travel season begins.  There have been two robberies over the past couple of days; one of which was related to the jewellery show.  Watch for details from JVC.  Once my samples are returned to Vancouver, and made ready, I’ll be heading out on my Fall rounds.  As I prepare, I’d like to talk to you all about security. 

Reminders:

-When possible offer back-office viewings for all travellers, regardless of what you perceive to be the value of their samples.

-Always offer to walk a traveller out to their car or at least watch them from your door with a phone in your hand.

-You don’t want to be the only one who knows timing and location for a traveller who is robbed, so don’t ask about specific travel plans or hotels.  Let us be as covert as possible.

-Avoid discussing identity or travel plans of sales reps with visitors to your store.  It’s an old trick for a thief to say, “hey, I think I went to school with her/him.  What was their name again?”

-If you have room in your vault, offer to keep valuables locked-up overnight.  Travellers have to accompany their sample cases 24/7 except when securely stored (insurance permitting.)

I think the retailers I serve have excellent security habits, so let’s keep it up by sharing these practices with newer staff.

I’m Proud of Us!

The fifth annual Evening of Digem Decadence was amazing!  Now I’m going to remind all of you who don’t belong to Digem that this event is open to all members of the wholesale and retail industry.  Apart from a few awards presentations, the evening is focused on raising funds for the Canadian Cancer Foundation.  Hopefully next year there will be an increased capacity because I believe there’s room for us to generate larger contributions to cancer research.

I was proud to see another sold-out event.  I was proud to see retailers enjoying the company of their competitors and wholesalers enjoying the company of their competitors.  All seemed to set aside their differences in order to partake in a meaningful event and a celebration of our industry.  I was extremely proud of the generosity shown by attendees who bought ceramic cupcakes, 50/50 tickets, and bid generously on scrumptious desserts.  A tip-of-the-hat goes to Anne McMinis of Diamonds For You in Vermillion who paid $250 at the silent auction for the Toddwaz Wine Collection!

Tim Markwart gave a touching tribute to Larry Humphrey who passed away in April.  John Craft, Stu Burrett and Bill Ward were honored by Digem as reps of the year with Corona taking supplier of the year.  Those who stayed for the dance were treated to the best live party band I’ve ever heard.  We even got to hear Brent McCallum do his best Joe Cocker to a packed dance-floor and screaming fans.  You know those awkward parties where hardly anyone dances and you feel sorry for the band?  This wasn’t one of those.  From the very beginning, Dr. Zeuse had people jumping out of their seats to hit the dance floor, with yours truly boogying his butt-off until the very end.

I’m proud to be part of an industry who knows how to have a good time and contribute some of their hard-earned cash to a worthy cause.  Thanks Connie for an amazing evening.

WCJE Show Report

Having a great time, hope you are here.  The 2012 installment of the Western Canadian Jewellery Expo is in full swing.  The exhibit hall is full, attendance is up and exhibitors are reporting strong sales.  A more diverse menu is being offered for lunch, and the opening reception wasn’t short on kebabs, crab-cakes or shrimp canapés.  Wine tasting was enjoyed by many along with the CJA’s ice-cream offerings in the afternoon.

In attendance are the new triumvirate of executives from CJA, DiGem and CJG:

CJA – Kim Markwart – Tisdale, SK

DiGem – Ron Caine – Rocky Mountain House, AB

CJG – Wayne Fisher – Lloydminster, AB

Once again thank you for your passion for the industry.  We are proud that these influential Westerners have a hand in shaping the future of the Canadian jewellery trade.

First thing this morning I gave a talk on Social Media Marketing.  It was interesting to see the various levels of engagement among the DiGem members in attendance; ranging from “I don’t have a Facebook page” to “We spend about 35 hours per week managing our social media campaign.”  I think those who are hold-outs discovered some compelling reasons to get started; although not everyone is striving to put as much energy into it as Appelts does.

As I went through the prepared material, the one point that rose to the top is that one shouldn’t relegate social media marketing to a junior staff member.  The primary content needs to come from someone who has experience, product knowledge and a vision for where you want to take your brand.  Promotion of individual designs and offers should be wrapped in a generous dose of content which is beneficial and interesting to your target audience.  Jeff Appelt related that one of their most viral social media posts was a photo of a family of ducks waddling by the front of his store; prompting a flood of suggestions for naming the ducks.

For those of you attending the 5^th Annual Evening of Digem Decadence, don’t forget to look for the four-piece collection of Toddwaz’ favorite bottles of wine … and bit it through the roof!!!

Hey Guys ...

The other day I mentioned that using the phrase “Hey guys,” when addressing a mixed-gender group is highly offensive to some people.  Since then, I’ve watched myself and realized that I have some bad habits.  I found myself carelessly using that very phrase.  I often informally refer to my daughter and my kids’ female friends as “dude”.  Since discussing this with Lilian and Steve, we’ve had a lot of fun saying things like “Hey lady”, “Hey guys”, and goofing with the issue.  In case I’ve offended any of you with my gender references, I apologize and I’m trying to change my patterns. 

C2A (Call to Action) - Pay attention to how you greet people over the next little while.  Then plan to have a discussion about it at your next staff meeting.  Make a list of pronouns to describe ladies, gentlemen and mixed groups.  Decide which ones are the most appropriate in all circumstances, and which ones are to be avoided.  For example some ladies are okay with “Ma’am”, and others?  Not so much.  The reason I’m not going to try to make suggestions is that there are definite regional differences to be considered.

Have fun with this… y’all!

Young Guns

Many of us in the industry got our start at a young age, but wait until you learn about young Joseph Dubrovsky who’s been going on road trips and attending trade shows with his father Darren (Empress Jewellery) for seven years already.  This lad is so confident that he could very well take command of the Canadian jewellery business before his 10^th birthday…