Sales Strategy
Jimmy DeGroot: Want Change? Low and Slow is the Way to Go October 03, 2024 (0 comments)
Green Bay, WI--History proves time and again, whether you’re making a Grand Canyon, getting in shape or barbecuing, taking it slowly gets things done. Kyle Bullock and I are starting a podcast called, The Slow Growth Podcast and when he sent me his idea for the name, I didn’t like it. But 30 seconds into my analysis I thought, “This is brilliant!” Look at any organization that’s made significant changes and you’ll find that most likely it was done over a year or several.
If I’m going to use a personal example, I think the biggest change in our jewelry store was the culture. With the mix of personalities, motivations and backgrounds, I wanted to create a culture of love, respect and care for the customer above all else. You can’t make those types of changes quickly. Your culture needs to be modeled every day with customers and staff. Eventually when people see how you want things to run, they start catching on and modeling those ideals.
[The Grand Canyon. Photo credit: Jimmy DeGroot]
The reason for my writing on this topic is because I’m often asked to visit a store to “Get people pumped up to sell”. But it rarely works. People can hear a good locker room hype talk, but it’s what happens after the sales trainer has left that makes the difference in the long run. My buddy Brad Huisken always says that sales training doesn’t work if it’s a one-time event. The same goes for making any significant change in your store. On the other hand, there’s tremendous power in “a little bit at a time over time.” Just go visit the Grand Canyon.
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.