What to do NOW: Our current Feature article

Our Too Good to be Threw Feature article helps you reap profits! Here's what's important RIGHT NOW to your customers, suppliers, and potential clientele.

Are you welcoming your new partners?

Partners? Yup, you got ’em even if you’re a sole proprietor. You know, people who bring things in that you can sell? Yes, your partners are those consignors, sellers, or donors without whom you don't have a business. These are the easiest clients with whom you can build a reputation for stellar service, friendliness and generosity. It’s really simple to do something special by giving your suppliers an unexpected treat on their visit.*

What can you include in your “Thanks for Partnering with Us” gift?
● A discount card, good perhaps for 10% off for the month, season or year. As you gift these, personalize with their name and the “good until” date as distributed. (Great way to really learn people’s names too!)
● Some little immediately-edible treat: a packet of sunflower seeds, a few hard candies. I love those mini-packs of raisins. You could vary the treat to match the season.
● Something they’ll use at the office or at home. An advertising specialty if you have one, or even an unusual tea bag or instant coffee sachet. ("Take a break on MyShop. Stop, sip, sigh that we here at MyShop value you!")
● Two business cards to share with friends. 
● Your shop brochure, with a sticky note attached “Thanks for spreading the word: This is for a friend you think will love MyShop!”
● Be inventive! An invitation to your next special event, a list of the charities your shop supports with its sales or with its donations, a calendar of local events, even a shop-branded recipe card. (Need some recipes? Shirley's Magic Ribs is one, Lemon Bars are to die for, and I save my best recipes on Pinterest.)

Package your gift with care. Make it truly special with little gift bags, organza bags, or colorful poly document holders. You can even get treat bags with satin bows for about a dime apiece at Oriental Trading. 

Decide on a budget for your gifts before you start planning. How much is the right price for your shop? Consider how much each supplier is worth over the course of a year, or a lifetime of working with you, and how valuable a warm connection with her or him can be. If you feel financially constrained, keep it simple: Even a nicely-designed and printed color shop brochure plus the discount card will work if you want to keep your expenditure way low. But make sure, no matter how elaborate or basic your thank-you gift is, that it looks like a true gift and not a throwaway promotional item.

* This concept can be adapted to newly-opened shops to get goods in fast: Make your gift a membership in your Founders Club. Simply redesign your discount card and add a thank-you note that says “Thanks for supporting us as we grow our new business!” Then hold a few after-hours events strictly for Founders Club members... and you can even ask them to attend a brain-storming session about what they like/ would like to see happening in your shop during Year Two, for example... 

If you’re an established business and feel that you can’t hand out dozens of gifts every day, use gifts, with modification, to prompt early arrivals for the new season by advertising that “We’re ready for SPRING! The first 50 consignors who bring in spring items will receive a free gift from MyShop.” You’ll prompt early-season purchases as well as ease your high-season workload while building relationships with your most enthusiastic suppliers.

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