Sales Strategy
Jimmy DeGroot: A Box of Krispy Kremes and My Competitor Made Me a Hero July 02, 2024 (1 comment)
Green Bay, WI--It was Christmas Eve at 2 p.m. and our goldsmith had taken off. Lori sold a 1.5-carat diamond ring to one of our best customers and she wanted to know if there was any possibility to get it sized so she could wear it at church tonight. Lori came to me and asked if there was anything we could do.
The summer before, I bought a box of doughnuts and stopped in to see Brian at his store a few doors down from me. It was a friendly visit to say hi, get to know him and find out what they do well and what lines they carried. The purpose of the visit wasn’t nefarious at all. It was truly to find out more about Brian’s store and get to know him. We had a nice visit and I felt that he was appreciative of me stopping in.
Lori and I approached Jeannie and I said, “I’m going to walk down to Brian’s store and see if he can do this for us.” I also grabbed a new bottle of scotch and threw a ribbon on it to grease the wheels. I walked in and thanked-the-Lord Brian was in and asked if he could bail me out with a favor. He smiled, looked at the scotch and said, “Is that a 13 year or 18?” Then he grabbed the ring, sized it for me and sent me back to delight our customer.
I didn’t hide from Jeannie that Brian sized it for us. I guess I’d learned a long time ago that there’s plenty of business to go around for good operators and that if I thought we were the only place in the world Jeannie shipped for jewelry, that would be pretty naive and arrogant. But there’s no doubt in my mind that we were the hero to Jeannie that day and she was able to witness a business relationship with our competition that was pretty healthy.
What could a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts do for your business? It’s a great week to find out.
James (Jimmy) DeGroot is a professional jewelry sales and operations trainer from the jeweler’s side of the counter. Having been in management and the jewelry business for over 20 years, Jimmy offers weekly training to jewelers nationwide via the Train Retail website. Jimmy is an AGS titleholder and specializes in training relevant and timely methods for jewelry teams. He can do a full training on making Bridal Presentations the best they can be, among many other regular training options. Contact Jimmy at jimmy@trainretail.com or call 920-492-1191.