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“Tell me what it is you do for a living again?”

A real-life scenario of customer service.

Customer service? Scenario: I get yet another “time to renew” letter from the Hearst Corporation, publishers of such fine magazines as Popular Mechanics and Seventeen. We will set aside for the moment, their strong-arm tactics that so many have complained about (1.11 million and counting) , and the fact that they never tell you precisely what you have already paid for and what they are dunning you for today…

Right now, all I wanted to do was renew.

As much as I Continue Reading »

Describe your consignment shop in 15 seconds.Seriously. What’s your elevator speech?

Cocktail-party attention grabber? Pithy statement to newspaper reporter? Definition of your business to local blogger? Sound bite for the evening news?

What is it, exactly, that you DO?

Sell old clothes? Deal in secondhand furniture?

How catchy is THAT?

How about Continue Reading »

Winter is OVER. I mean, OO-VER!

Your consignment or resale or thrift shop may have some dregs of winter merchandise left. You really want to get rid of them because spring…in a retail sense of course…is just around the corner. But before you turn your back on those 90%-off racks, consider them a tool to refine your business. These underloved unsold leftovers can be Continue Reading »

Turn a negative into a positiveI was thumbing through a clothing catalog the other day and came across this description of a pair of pants: one of the pluses of this garment, a feature I was sure to love, a reason to buy these pants, the copywriter wrote,

is that they are “pocket-free.”

What an interesting concept…and a useful one.

Here’s what Andy Sernovitz had to say on the subject:

Focusing on what you don’t have, don’t waste, or don’t use can set you apart. When Amazon decided to do away with the extra plastic and oversize containers, everyone was talking about what their “Frustration-Free Packaging” didn’t have. If you’ve got an efficient advantage that removes unnecessary excess or saves time, highlight it and help people talk about it.

The Lesson: Great conversations can sometimes be about what you don’t sell. (read the whole article)

Focus on what you DON'T have!What you don’t have, don’t waste, don’t use”…how perfect is that focus, especially for the resale industry? Bet you can think of lots of POSITIVE messages about what your shop DOESN’T HAVE!

Save

Looking for a way to get your consignment, resale, thrift customers laughing, chatting, and giving your shop Time to plan for Valentine's Day in your resale shopgreat word-of-mouth?

Cupid Poop will do it.

Here’s how. Buy cinnamon red-hots, white and red jelly beans or M&Ms. Put a handful in a baggie (please use good hygiene and food-handling gloves.) Attach a store-branded little header or card with this little poem on it:

Couldn’t send you flowers. Candy wouldn’t do.
Mushy cards just don’t say the things we want them to.
So we got you something special, and here’s the inside scoop.
We found you something very rare – It’s genuine Cupid poop!

If you’d like, you can even buy a printable version of this poem. Just remember to add your store info, so when your cute gift is shown around town, you get some publicity!

Poop doesn’t do it for you, or for your clientele? Onward and upward, to a celestial presentation of the little love cherub:

Make Magic Cupid Dust!

Same baggie/ topper idea, but in this version, you put a tablespoon of red and white glitter and your message would read:
Toss a little pinch of Cupid Dust in the air when you need to feel some magic. It is a tiny sprinkling of love, fortune, and tenderness. Hope your Valentine’s Day Sparkles!