She has received many honors and been featured in prestigious publications including:

• VOA (Voice of America) Featured “Green Crafter” 2010
• Best of American Jewelry Artists  (book) 2010
• Midwest Home’s “Greenest Artist” American Craft Council  (St. Paul, MN) 2010

In Her Own Words

“I love simplicity, color, light, subtle texture and the mysterious connection that art has to nature.  As a visual person I am always looking for inspiration from both the natural and urban environments.”

“I love finding objects, such as beach and bottle glass with hints of writing or design or gorgeous smooth pebbles. Cutting them into specific shapes they resemble gemstones and take on a new precious quality.”

photo credit: David Sinkkonen

When you look at Amy’s work you’ll see that it is absolutely stunning. To hear her talk about it though it’s a simple matter of finding some object that inspires her and putting it into jewelry. It always amazes me that the most successful businesses and the most vibrant pieces of art seem to revolve around simplicity. If your business seems overwhelming or products seem too lackluster, try defining the purpose/goals in a few simple rules, then focus on those, in doing so you might create a masterpiece.

If you’d like to see more of Amy’s work or hire her for custom work visit her website www.amyfaust.com

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She prides herself on the value she has to offer both in price and quality.  Because she transforms old jewelry into new pieces, she can be selective on the quality of jewelry she buys and she can sell her finished pieces at lower prices. She can also guarantee that each piece of jewelry she sells is one of a kind.

This is my favorite part from her website

“Have a favorite necklace or pair of earrings that has sat broken for quite some time? Touch base with me and we can brainstorm how to give it new life and have you enjoying it all over again!”

What could be better then helping someone take something with sentimental value and make it new again. That as the commercial would say is “Priceless”.

Do you have a product, idea or service that has sat broken for quite some time? Perhaps it’s time for some brainstorming to give it new life.

If you want to see more of Angie’s jewelry you can visit her Etsy site www.ajwear.etsy.com

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Tagged: hand made, indie retail, jewelry design

“I started my small gift/gallery with 35 Finger Lakes artisans in Naples in 2004, and after 2 years we had grown to represent 125 regional artisans.  In 2006 I took the plunge and purchased a 1905 home on Main Street w/ample parking and grew my gallery of local artisan’s works to now, representing 200 Finger Lakes artisans.

A big part of our growth is customer service, in addition to the quality and affordable work we offer.

With customer service comes free gift boxes, wrapping and packaging for items to travel.  This expense is surmountable, yet imperative to the end result.  Our repeat customers can be confident that when they purchase a gift at Artizanns, it will be presented in a fashion that they are proud to give.  As a result, my budget must include the boxes, tissue, gift bags, bubble wrap, paper wrap, bows and ribbon from Premier Packaging, whom I’ve been working with these past 6 years with great results.”

The thing I really appreciate about this story is Suzanne emphasizes the value of creating an excellent experience. In today’s world a great product is seldom enough to sway customers, you need to have a great product and a great service. Suzanne talks about the role of packaging in creating an experience (which of course we’re excited about) but she doesn’t stop there. She also hosts artists in action, which are free events on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer that feature local artisans.

From the moment you get out of your car in the scenic Finger Lakes town of Naples NY to the package you bring home you will experience art when you visit Artizanns.

You can learn more about Suzanne and the Artists she represents at www.artizanns.com

Or get the full experience by visiting the gallery at 118 North Main Street, Naples, New York 14512

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The story of Laura and Guardian Angel Thrift is one of true inspiration. Laura began telling me about her business by describing it as, “A burning desire to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Research.” She started Guardian Angel Thrift and in less then two years had to expand to a second location. Her local community caught on to her vision and through their support had outgrown those two locations by the 3rd year of business. Hearing about that seemingly “overnight” success is enough for any small business owner to get excited, but the story doesn’t end there. Fueled by passion, Laura has pressed on and this past August (2009) after a decade of work, The Guardian Angel Thrift was able to donate it’s first Million Dollars to Alzheimer’s research at Duke, UNC and other research facilities in North Carolina.

It’s hard to read a story of a dream come true like this without getting chills; it’s a great reminder that no matter who you are or where you live, a little passion can make a big difference.

Thanks Laura for being an inspiration.  Your story is a challenge to me to step up my game and make a difference with my life, as I hope it is toeveryone else that reads it.

If you would like to learn more about Guardian Angel Thrift you can visit their website at www.guardianangelthrift.org

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The Eleventh Hour is a local boutique gift shop here in Rochester and is a loyal custom packaging customer of ours. We recently asked Sue (the owner) why she continues to print her packaging. She gave us many reasons why she is confident that custom printing adds value to her business

“We have chosen to get our bags and boxes printed with our logo because it looks professional, is a great way to advertise the store and keeps our name in our customer’s mind longer.   We use our shopping bags as gift bags and each gift leaves the store in a bag done up with tissue and ribbon with our name and location.  It looks fantastic and is a great way to reach new customers who receive gifts for the first time.  The benefit of all this in my mind outweighs the cost of the printing.  It is a great presentation and all the customer has to do is hand over the gift!  They are always thrilled with how it looks and happy that it is ready to give in either our printed bags or boxes – which are also ready to give – we just tie a bow around our box and viola it is ready to present with our name on it!”

As you can see Sue is really enthusiastic about giving her customers a special experience every time they visit. As a result customers are equally enthusiastic about sharing her brand.

“They (the customers) are always thrilled with how it looks and happy that it is ready to give in either our printed bags or boxes”

Did you get that? Her customers are “thrilled” to give a present to their loved ones with The Eleventh Hour’s logo prominently featured. Folks around Rochester know they will be delighted by the gift with The Eleventh Hour’s logo printed on it because their brand is built on happy customers. Can your brand add value to gifts?

Thanks Sue for sharing your experience and knowledge with us.

The Eleventh Hour Gift Shop is located at 1922 Monroe Ave, 12 Corners, in Brighton NY. If you ever have the opportunity to visit you should take it.

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Tagged: custom hot stamping, custom printed bags and boxes, custom printing

Then I fast forward to the present day where service seems less personal to say the least. I have to wade through automated messages on the phone to get service, or working with vendors I often find myself talking to a different rep each time I contact them. With the advancements in technology much of the time I don’t even talk to companies I deal with instead I fill out an online form (this is great for convenience but it loses a little personal touch).

For those of you who don’t know me my role here at Premier is “Ecommerce Manager” yes that means running the website where you fill in a form and get your order instead of talking to a real person. You might ask why I am bringing this up when it seems like I should be pointing out all the great things about technology.

Well… here it goes I recently read a blog post by Tom Martin called “Hello. Customer Service Calling.” In which he described an excellent customer service experience he had with his phone company (Vonage) I’d recommend reading his post for the full story but here are the highlights:

• He was having issues with his phone service, so he looked up Vonage on Twitter and asked them for help.
• The issue needed more assistance then could be provided on Twitter so they asked him when would be appropriate for their customer service rep to call him.
• They call at the scheduled time, he had forgotten about an appointment and asked to reschedule, and they said no problem.
• They called the morning of the next appointment to confirm that it was still a good time. He said it was.
• Then they called when scheduled and solved his problem.
• They followed up with an assigned rep and a direct extension to reach them so there would be no listening to automated messages and guessing which option he needed if the problem arose again.

I find this story amazing because the fact of the matter is business hasn’t changed people still care about personal service. What has changed is that we now have to figure out how to use technology to provide that good old-fashioned service.

The nice thing about this is that for a small company a similar program could be instituted with a free Twitter account and a scheduling program such as Google calendar (also free).

I say kudos to Vonage for using technology to provide great service. I’d also like to hear how your small business is embracing technology in ways that better serve your customers. Leave a comment and let us know.

Photo Credit: Ava Lowery

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Photo Courtesy of Little Granolas

The other day I had an encounter with a local business owner that completely delighted me. I thought it was worth a post because it is a great illustration of how the simplest acts of customer service can be incredibly meaningful. So sit back and enjoy the story.

This past week my wife and I went to the Irondequoit farmers market. We were looking for a few plants to add to the garden, when we came across the booth of Little Granolas they sell natural products for babies such as cloth diapers, etc. We have a son who is not quite two, so this type of booth is of particular interest to us. We stopped by and poked around a bit asking a few questions about products we didn’t recognize, and bought a few things we couldn’t live without. On the way out I noticed that she carried the diaper sprayer that we use. For those of you unfamiliar with diaper sprayers they are small attachments that hook on your toilet and allow you to hose down cloth diapers before you throw them in the wash. We had lost one of the screws on ours that attaches the sprayer holder to the toilet, this screw has to be of a particular length if its too short it won’t stay attached and if its too long it interferes with the attachment altogether. As ridiculous as it may sound I have been looking for a screw of the perfect length for months so I could finally repair our holder. I asked in passing if she carried replacement parts or knew if they were even available. She didn’t know but asked if I had tried contacting the manufacturer. Oddly enough I had scoured every hardware store in county but it had never occurred to me to ask the manufacturer. When I responded that I hadn’t she said I have your contact information I’ll give my rep a call and see if I can track one down for you.

That’s it. She made one very happy customer by offering to make a simple call. It will probably take her less then 5 minutes to get that information for me. But it solved a problem I have had for a few months. Amazing.

The moral of the story is going the extra mile to make customers happy is not always a huge undertaking sometimes the proverbial mile is only a few inches. Spending a minute or two listening and a few minutes to see if you can offer a solution is a surefire way to make customers happy.

If you have suggestions for easy ways to delight your customers I love to hear about them.

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Resourcefulness

Everyone is flush with customers during high volume seasons like Christmas, Valentines Day, or Memorial Day weekend. Demonstrating creativity during off periods is when the champions shine. Successful owners rely on milestone events like graduations, job-promotions, and housewarmings to boost sales during slow periods.

Confidence

Heavy doses of self-assurance are required in the first years of business, before your investment begins to earn a profit. It’s also a quality that will see you through lean seasons, and shrug off the doubters who suggest closing up shop.

Trend Spotter

The tastes of shoppers are fickle. A unique gift like copper mermaids may sell well one season, but flop the next. Keeping your inventory up-to-date with local flavors requires hours of staring intently into a computer monitor, and scouring national and local trade shows to find the next must have item.

Curiosity

Having a natural inclination to always be learning will help you go far in the gift shop business. Every product has a back-story that needs to be told. Every customer that walks into your shop is a person with a unique set of needs. An inquisitive mind, who asks people thoughtful questions, will make the cash register ring up a melody.

Humility

Gift shop owners multi-task like champs. But the best recognize their limits. When it makes financial sense, bring in outside experts to help with your weak areas, whether that is bookkeeping, web designing, etc. At the very least, have a network of advisors who you can rely on in a pinch.

Dedication

Pulling 70-hour weeks, and keeping the shop open 7 days a week, especially as the sole owner/employee, requires super human tenacity. Running a gift shop isn’t a hobby, it’s an obsession.

If you run a gift shop, what traits do you think contributed to your success?

Photo credit timparkinson

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How Can You Celebrate Independent Retailers Week?

1) Contact your local chamber of commerce or merchants association. These organizations have the clout to organize and promote the event to the general public.

2) Notify your local newspaper and other media. Let them know about the benefits to the local economy when people shop with independent businesses.

3) Spread the word to other local business owners. Pool together your resources, and encourage customers to tell others about this event.

4) Offer a new daily promotion to customers within a different city zip code. If your business is located in a rural setting, offer a new daily promotion to people within different townships.

Are there any Independent week celebrations going on where you live? Let us know!

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After letting the clerk know the occasion, she suggested a slightly aged bottle of Bordeaux, which I happily accepted. At the counter, things got interesting. When I took out my plastic, the clerk let me know they no longer accept credit cards. A bit bewildered, I asked why. She explained that while they know it’s an inconvenience to require payment in cash, their narrow margins couldn’t support the fees imposed by the credit card companies. Fortunately, I had enough cash on-hand to pay, but this incident peaked my curiosity enough to investigate further.

The Skinny on Interchange Fee’s

An interchange fee is the percentage of the purchase that credit card companies charge merchants to accept their cards.

Virtually every merchant passes these hidden costs along to the customer. In the last year alone, these fees cost the average American household $427, regardless of whether they paid in credit, debit or cash.

What’s more, these charges have been steadily rising, accounting on average for 2% the value of every sale. While that might not seem like much, it adds up, having netted the credit card industry $48 billion in 2008.

Recently, the government passed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, which is supposed to reign in excessive fees and arbitrary rate increases for cardholders. While it’s an improvement, it shied away from directly addressing interchange fees. Instead, the bill designated a commission to determine the impact these fees have on businesses and consumers.

Major Issues Retailers Have With Interchange Fees

• A lack of transparency in how fees are calculated. For instance, these fees range from 1- 2%, with the rate varying due to many complicated factors. Factors that influence the fee: 1) If the person uses credit or debit; 2) If credit, whether the card offers rewards or not; 3) The merchant’s volume of transactions; 4) The type of merchant, whether gas, grocery, restaurant, or ecommerce.
• Retailers are unable to provide incentives to customers who pay with cash or debit. Although a law allows merchants to provide cash back incentives to customers who pay with cash, the credit card companies make it difficult for merchants to do so.
• Lastly, merchants cannot collectively bargain to have the fee lowered. To date, the only retailer with enough clout to lower their rate has been Wal-Mart.

The Positive Effects of Interchange Fees

• These charges are used to fund credit card rewards programs.
• The benefit to retailers who accept credit cards may outweigh the cost of interchange fees. For instance, customers are likely to spend more when using a credit card than paying with cash.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Do you think interchange fees hurt your business? Would you lower your prices if credit card companies reduced their interchange fees? What do you think needs to be changed with interchange fees?

Photo credit szlea

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Tagged: interchange fee