In July 1992, a prospect
called me with a special request. She asked if I could find 100
rose-shaped chocolates wrapped in foil. It was to be given to the bridal
party and friends at her wedding.
I was still new to the gift basket
business and had never been asked to search for a special product. Not
wanting to turn away a potential sale, I agreed and began the hunt.
Two hours and 70 miles
later, I hadn’t found the chocolates, but she had. Her gleeful telephone
call to me once I returned to my office, exhausted, revealed that a
retail store located 20 minutes east of my location sold such
confections.
All I had to do, according to her, was to go to the store,
buy it, and hold it until she was ready to buy it from me -- at the
retail price!
The bulb in my head
suddenly went from dim to bright. This arrangement was not working in my
favor, and it was time to bow out. How could a person not realize that
reselling an item at the exact retail price was not acceptable,
especially after I used my car and time to search for and buy the item,
then store it in my personal refrigerator during the hot, summer months?
When my blood pressure
returned to normal, I called the prospect and told her the truth:
"Unfortunately, I don’t have adequate storage space for the chocolates.
I hope that another company can assist you, and please consider Sweet
Survival if you will be giving thank you gift baskets after the
wedding."
Here are some questions
that you may have asked yourself while reading this, followed by the
corresponding answers:
Q.
Why didn’t the prospect buy the chocolates when she was at the store?
A. Because it's better to delegate the project, especially when
the prospect thinks it will cost her no extra money for my services.
Q.
Why did the prospect think that she could repurchase the chocolates at
the retail price?
A. My assumption is that she had no concept of markup. My need to make money
is not her concern.
Q.
Are we allowed to store products in our personal refrigerators?
A. I’ve never done this and caution you against it. This dilemma
is one reason why all of us shy away from any service regulated by the
local board of health. It is also similar to using one checking account
for both business and personal expenses; it is against the law.
Q.
Why say "yes" to the prospect when you know that heat and chocolates
don’t mix?
A. I was young, naive, and eager to please in July 1992. Forgive
me.
There’s a fine line in our
industry between being a gift basket designer and becoming a personal
shopper. We want to please the customer by keeping a fair amount of
all-occasion products in our inventory, but there are times when we
receive a request for something special. Instead of saying "no," we
search for an alternative within the inventory, but that doesn’t always
work.
If customers are
frequently requesting non-inventoried items, perhaps it's best to consider
providing a service where you search for and purchase such items as
needed. Interested? Here’s what you may be thinking.
1.
No. I don’t have it, won’t buy it, can’t do it. I’m the sole employee,
and there’s no time to run the streets looking for products such as a
nose ring or satanic Bible. There’s no obligation to provide special
services. Many designers don’t.
2.
Becoming a personal shopper is a possibility. After all, my customers
don’t have time to shop. They’re busy and are better off placing the
gift-giving tasks in my expert hands. I’m willing to try.
If you chose No. 1, you’re
not alone. Many designers cannot provide this time-consuming service at
any price. If No. 2 is a consideration, how far will you go to provide
this service, and what will you charge? Begin making a list of the
special services you believe will benefit customers and gain you a
handsome profit. In Part 2, I’ll provide some ideas and the estimated
costs to charge for each.
Offering special services may not work for you. On the other hand, it
might increase your net profit by 20 percent or more as compared to last
year’s revenue.
Click here
to read Part 2
©Shirley George Frazier. All rights
reserved.
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