I Know You Love Her, But...

The "love" industry is full of crazy surprises.  Customers often involve you in conversations about how the couple met or even how he proposed.  But on the flip side of that, you also hear about scandalous divorces and feuds between siblings concerning estate jewelry.  Simply put, you never know what's going to come out of someone's mouth next.  However, it was a completely different experience when it isn't words that my customers were sharing with me.

For the sake of anonymity, let's call my customers Mr. and Mrs. PDA.  Mr. and Mrs. PDA were one of the youngest couples I have ever sold an engagement ring to.  They dropped it on one of our biggest sale days of the year where they found a ring she absolutely loved but the price was a little high.  After two hours of competing with another store down the hall, Mr. and Mrs. PDA were ready to take the plunge.  I ushered them to the credit counter so start the financing process.  But Mr. and Mrs. PDA didn't follow my lead like most customers do.  I turned around to not only find them still standing in the same exact spot but their tongues were locking like they were in the privacy of their own home!

Photo Source

I was a little taken back at first, but then forced myself to see the cute and sentimental side of the situation.  He had basically proposed in the middle of our store and we had the wonderful privilege of seeing her reaction... or so I thought.  Mr. and Mrs. PDA didn't just share a moment together, they shared a half and hour together!  I could no longer stand and admire their love for each other because it felt wrong to do so.  It was so awkward I felt myself trying to find other things to do around the store without seeming like I was ignoring them.  The situation got so excessive that Mr. PDA's Grandma, who had been helping them through the buying process, asked them to save the celebration until later.  And when that didn't stifle their affection, she LEFT the store!  My only support in the situation just left the store!

Finally, the couple reined in their emotions and we were able to actually get the ring on her finger.  In four years of selling jewelry, I have never seen another couple grope each other like Mr. and Mrs. PDA.... oh the things people do when they're in love!

 

The Golden Rule

Like I have mentioned numerous times before, I have worked in retail for a fairly significant amount of time.  I am in a managing position partly because of my ability to effectively handle conflict between employees and customers.  However, last Tuesday my abilities seemed to be lacking.

Any service industry will occasionally experience those customers that always want something for nothing.  We have a few customers that have been buying jewelry with our company for 20 years now, and for some unknown reason they can't adjust to the fact that we charge for repairs.  Twenty years ago, all repairs were simply "under warranty" and no charge was applied to the customer.  However, one day some bright person within the company realized that customers are expecting to pay for repairs and the added income could be a tremendous addition to the bottom line.  For almost 13 years now, we have charged for repairs and yet this particular customer still expects free service.

What he doesn't realize is we have an expert goldsmith making a significant wage while completing his repair work and the price of gold is at a record high!  So when I inform him that in order to solder the break in wife's bracelet, the charge will be $22, he totally disagrees with me.  He actually goes as far as saying that "he didn't even pay that for the bracelet!"  My answer (in my head of course) is BULLSHIT!  In fact, I researched his purchase history and he spent $2000 on this bracelet which is worth significantly more today with the price of gold.  So after my fairly pleasant conversation with this long-term customer, I told him that it was nice to see him and that I was looking forward to seeing him in a couple days when his repair was complete.  Good.  Great.  Situation avoided, or so I thought.

Image Source

The customer then turns to one of the only males I have in the store and asks if "he ever slaps me into shape!"  Really!? What's the date again?  Last time I checked we weren't living in 1950 and women no longer need to be at the authority of a man.  To top it all off, I am his boss, thank you very much!  Well of course, I couldn't let this obvious insult to my abilities go unnoticed, so I shot him a little glare.  He then proceeded to call me mean.  In four years, I have never (and I'm not exaggerating) had a customer call me mean.

So the lesson of the day is, when you would like a discount or even something for free, the best approach is to be nice to the person standing on the other side of the counter.  Take a minute to remember the golden rule, treat others as you wish to be treated.  I'll admit that there is a time and a place for anger and directness, but this surely wasn't it.  And never, ever insult the abilities of a strong-willed woman because we don't forget and next time nothing will be for free!

The Ring Don't Mean a Thing

I have heard many instances in which people believe that beauty equals success, especially when it comes to a sales person.  Working in a managing sales position, I have had the privilege of traveling from store to store and attending conferences where I have met many of the other salespeople from other stores.  And while I may be slightly prejudiced, we have a fairly good looking company.  While this may or may not give us a competitive advantage over other jewelry stores, some customers see it as an opportunity for a date.  This has actually occurred many times, but there is only one particular instance in which I would have rather not been at work that day.

Read this article that also contains this picture for more on the effects of beauty and success.

 
Currently, there is only one "semi-single" gal that works in my store and she is 28 and ready to procreate!  I may be exaggerating just a tad, but she does a very good job attracting the opposite sex with her particularly sexy demeanor at times.  Literally as I am writing this post, she made a comment about the the luscious bubble butt of one of our customers.  She has been such a blast to have around because us old married gals sometimes forget to enjoy the wonderful gifts we sometimes get to see working in the retail industry.

Just before Christmas on a slow Tuesday afternoon, I came into work just as my sexy coworker batted her eyes at a gentleman that had apparently made multiple visits to our store that day.  I was then informed that this young man spotted my coworker from across the mall and just "knew" that she would be perfect for his friend. For the next four hours, he tried to set up a date between the two of them much like we did as young children on the playground; running back and forth, whispering secrets, and of course never giving any thought to the ease of just letting the two interested people actually have a conversation themselves.  However, the more she got to know this gentleman, the more she concluded that he was anything but a nice guy.  Nearing the end of their conversation, he approached the other lady that was working with us that day.  He asked if she would consider the option of a double date, but she politely replied that she was married and pointing at her wedding ring.  This guy actually had the gal to say "that ring don't mean a thing!"  If his bad grammar wasn't enough, his condescendingly rude attitude was!  I think the guy got the hint when he immediately saw three strong-willed females giving him the look of death from across the room and we haven't seen him since.

The moral of this story is simply this, sometimes beauty can be used as an advantage such as in the area of sales but that doesn't give customers the right to try and take advantage of a good situation.  To the customer that so rudely insulted my coworker and her marriage:  next time you find yourself in a room with more than one pretty girl, try acting with a little dignity and class!  You may be surprised how far it can take you...

Oh My Gosh it's Almost Super Bowl weekend!

Frankly, my idea of a Super Bowl is a highly powered toilet bowl cleaner but when you're married to a sports fanatic you are also married to his love for sports.  This will be my first Super Bowl weekend off from the exciting world of work.  I found it completely relevant to ask for the day off, for educational purposes that is.  It is one of the biggest marketing days of the year and I must be intently present for each second right?

One advertising strategy that has changed since the implementation of social media into the backbone of our society, is that marketers are actually advertising for their upcoming advertisements during.  There have many numerous teaser campaigns in anticipation for the big event and some companies have just flat out released their ad all together!  Here is my favorite ad from last year's big game.  We'll see if anything can top it this year...

 

The Child Consumer

Working in the "love" industry means that I also work in the love of family industry.  We see a multitude of children in and out of our store each day.  Some of them are just tagging along with mom or dad, but many act as purchase consultants whose honest opinions are highly valued by their parents.  Let's start with those that are just tagging along...

I was in the middle of working through all of my best selling techniques with a mom when her daughter suddenly took a great interest in the ring her mom was considering purchasing.  However as her daughter tried to interject with her questions, her mom did nothing but casually brush by her interruptions.  The daughter became more and more agitated, but then realized that her efforts would be more productive if she channeled them through me.  Because she was probably under the age of four, she could not read my name tag, and decided that it would be suitable to just give me a name based on the dress I was wearing.  Unfortunately, I was wearing a black and white polka dotted dress.  The little girl reached her hand up as high as possible as if she were in a classroom and politely said "Excuse me lady with all the dots, I have a question."  Her mom and I could not help but to burst out laughing.  I answered her question and I actually think her creative nickname helped me close the sale.

There are other times when you just cannot ignore the observational honesty of your child consumer.  They are not afraid to tell you when they don't like the way something looks, the color is wrong, or it is just flat out ugly in their eyes.  A dad and his son were shopping for a necklace for Mothers' Day.  After twenty minutes, we had narrowed down the choices to a $1500 diamond circle pendant and a $200 pink heart pendent.  The dad wasn't flinching at either price and almost seemed to be stressing the benefits of the more expensive pendent to his son.  As the excitement of a big sale was growing inside me, I reassured myself that the dad would make the final decision.  I was SO wrong!  His son loved that the pendent was his mother's favorite color and he was not going to budge on his opinion.  Who knew that a six year old would be making a decision concerning literally thousands of dollars?

Then there are the children that are very economical with their resources.  One little girl had just been rewarded with a pink bubble gum ice cream cone from across the food court.  I watched the mom slowly make her way into our store, her daughter ten steps behind admiring her ice cream every step of the way.  The mom was in the store for about ten minutes looking at a beautiful pair of diamond earrings and about every two minutes, I saw her daughters tongue smashed against our spotless glass display case.  You see, she also wanted to see the earrings and she was actually at the perfect height to just admire their beauty through the glass.  However, each time she leaned in for another peak, her ice cream cone would hit the glass.  Who would want to waste a perfectly good sugary sensation?  So she proceeded to lick the excess ice cream off the glass each time she caught herself a little too close to the glass!  It was so cute, I didn't have the heart to say anything to the mom, but she finally realized what had been happening after about the fourth slurp.  When she asked her daughter why she had proceeded to lick the ice cream instead of asking to clean it up in a more polite manner, she simply stated that she wasn't going to waste anything that was so good!  

Maybe there is something to be learned from these oh so honest encounters with children... don't be afraid to ask questions, a purchase is always more meaningful when it comes from the heart instead of the checkbook, and never waste something you enjoy.

Photo Credit Links:  

Photo 1:  Little Boy

Photo 2:  Little Girl

Welcome!

Have you ever wished you could share all of the crazy things you see on a daily basis with the world?  Well, this is the just the place to do so.  I have worked in the jewelry industry and hence the customer service industry for almost four years now, and I see some funny, stupid, and just down right crazy consumers each and every day.  Stay tuned to learn how I oh so cleverly came up the title for my blog...