Thanks to my Pinterest friend, Trends Oak Park, for finding this graphic. It’s from (more…)
Archive for the ‘5- Minute Fixes’ Category
Trench? Check. Striped T? Yup. A guide for consignment & resale groupies.
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Really good ideas, Shopkeeping talk on April 30, 2012|
Oh no! I lost all my files!
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Mailbox: 1-on-1 Advice, Shopkeeping talk, tagged daily operations on April 20, 2012|
Frantic email.
“I didn’t back up my TGtbT.com Products, and my computer’s toast, and now I don’t have them!”
Wow. It’s (more…)
Are you a practicing UPOD resaler?
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged perceived value, resale shopkeeping, small business on April 9, 2012| 1 Comment »
Under-promise and over-deliver. UPOD. You’ve heard that before.
The idea behind UPOD is that people are most favorably influenced by great service they don’t expect, rather than great service they do expect. (Emphasis mine.)
Now that’s the secret to great word of mouth. Without stressing yourself or your staff out.
It’s so simple you’ll smack your forehead and shout Boy Howdy.
Just, surprise them. Treat them to those coasters or bangles or whatever they’re debating they want to add to their purchase. Have a cold bottle of water ready to offer that thirsty customer. Hand out store money for their next visit. Offer to snap him in that suit so he can ask his mother-in-law in Topeka if it’s suitable. Grab a pair of neutral slides so she can see how the dress will look when she’s not wearing sneakers.
Just thought I’d share….
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Kudos: Ideas to inspire!, Shopkeeping talk, tagged accessories, learn a lot, merchandising, sea of sameness on April 7, 2012| 2 Comments »
Cute idea I saw yesterday in a consignment shop.
They’d used pastel playing cards as earring cards!
They’d used pastel playing cards as earring cards.
They were simply in a rectangular box, but imagine how cute the idea would be clipped on a clothesline:
Pastel clothespins to display the carded earrings
I suspect the playing cards I saw were found at a dollar store, so keep an eye out. Imagine, that would be less than 2 cents per “earring” card!
Card photo from kardwell.com; clothespins available at Oriental Trading.
How many business cards do you go through in a day?
Posted in 5- Minute Fixes, Shopkeeping talk, tagged advertising, resale shopkeeping on April 4, 2012| 3 Comments »
How many business cards do you go through in a day?
Should it be more? Probably.
Sure, you use them whenever you chat with a sales clerk or the person in line behind you at the grocery store. You give it to the host/ess at the restaurant when asked for your name. You write notes to the postal carrier on them. But how else do you disperse your business information in the course of a day?
Do you do like Kim mentioned on Facebook?
We offer a 24 hr courtesy hold – no deposit – and give them our card and ask them to call us if they change their mind. Some do. Some don’t… Those that do call are very thankful and do become regulars.
You’d be amazed at the number of shoppers who don’t come back for holds, simply because they’ve forgotten which shop they held something in, or that they even asked for an item to be held. Yes, your shop is the center of your universe, but alas, it’s just one of a thousand little info tidbits in any customer’s brain. Help them remember you… and remember you fondly… with your business card.
Or do you tuck one in the side pocket of every purse, tape one to the bottom of every piece of furniture, use them as hang tags on your designer items? Give them to consignors as their account-number card? Paper-clip them to every donation receipt, if you accept donations in your NFP? Bring a batch to your local resale association meeting, as well as to the Chamber coffee?
Use them as earring cards, with the adhesive hangers linked on Too Good to be Threw’s Womenswear page? Tie one on to the hangers of purchases and returns with a little raffia or colorful ribbon? Do you have several places around your shop where a browser can pick up your card without having to ask for one? You’d be surprised how many enthusiastic shoppers mean to get your card to give to a friend, but are too shy to ask… or too distracted to remember to pick up some for their office-mates, when they are making their purchase.
What other ways can you think of to use business cards to expand your business?
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