This quote, from The Flight of the Buffalo by James Belasco and Ralph C. Stayer, is something to keep in mind as you plan your way forward to a GREAT ’08!
Posted in quotations of use | Tagged success |
“I was RIGHT there…” “I was watching them every minute.” “One moment it was there, the next moment it was gone.” We hear these comments again and again on Too Good to be Threw. Heck, I even get messages from shopkeepers asking over and over again: Tell me how to stop shoplifting!
It happens to all retail shopkeepers sooner or later. Something goes missing… and you are sure that you were extra-vigilant. In fact, you’re pretty darn sure you know who stole that sweater, slip, sled from your shop. You were watching them like a hawk, right? And they still stole from you.
The thing is, you want to learn from this experience so it won’t happen again. You can read all the information you want, but nothing will help if you don’t learn how your attention can be easily diverted. Here’s a test that will stun and amaze you. It was in Oprah magazine a month or two ago, in an article by Martha Beck. First, do what I say in the next paragraph without reading on. Then, come back here to read the rest of my post here, and you will find out something amazing about paying attention.
Go to http://viscog.beckman.uiuc.edu/grafs/demos/15.html . There’s a short video clip there. Watch it and count how many times the white-shirted team passes the basketball.
Don’t continue reading until you count how many times the white-shirted team passes the basketball.
********************
Got it? Did you count how many times the basketball was passed? Good for you! Now here’s the thing: several seconds into the film, a gorilla walks through the scene, even pauses and thumps his chest. Did you even notice that? Very few people do. Go ahead, go watch it again. The gorilla is real (well, it’s not real-real, but you know what I mean.)
So, how did that shoplifter steal from you? Distraction. I told you to count the ball passes… the shoplifter might have done something that was equally as compelling for you to watch, then concealed the stolen item just as flagrantly.
Lesson learned? Watch for the guy in the gorilla suit. Don’t get so caught up in what someone wants you to see, that you become blind to everything else.
Posted in Shopkeeping talk | Tagged customers | 13 Comments »
Do you have policies which are designed to help your business run smoothly?Of course you do. We all do, no matter how flexible we are. Opening and closing hours, for example. The length of a lunch hour for our staff. How long our consignment period is. Even, perhaps, how many items you can “accept” per day per consignor (some shops even have Continue Reading »
Posted in Shopkeeping talk | Tagged consignors | 2 Comments »
Searching for the utility cart that I was suggesting as a solution to a resale shop owner who needed to move merchandise around in her home furnishings consignment shop, I ran
Especially if you do as Auntie Kate suggests, and use the wall space above clothing racks or shelving for displays, you’ll need a step stool. So why not get one that becomes a hand truck too? This one’s from Hammacher Schlemmer.
It costs as much as TGtbT The Complete Manual and chances are you won’t use it every day like you do the manual, but it will make your professional life easier just like the Manual!
Posted in My Favorite Things | Tagged consignment |
Is it time, is it time?
For your Christmas lights? On your house?
And you don’t know what to do this year? Enjoy 85 Ways to Decorate your House with Christmas Lights.
I am now officially afraid to do mine. You’ll laugh.
Posted in Slices of (my) life | Tagged christmas | 4 Comments »
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