Interesting customers, Part II



So last week, I had a few interesting customers on the same day. Yesterday's post was about the shoulder tattoo - today's post is about another body part - or should I say "parts?"



Three sisters were shopping together. The sister from Toledo is a regular. She was joined by her two sisters from Florida. All three were attractive so what they told me was quite a surprise.



Florida sister #1 had a facelift while up here. She was only a few days post-op and looked pretty darn good.



Florida sister #2 had other parts of her body augmented. She'd had it done many years ago and there was a problem so this was a partial "re-do" so to speak.



This sister seemed rather modest. While shopping she bought what she liked regardless of what her sisters thought (I like that). She was in no way "showy" or attention-seeking. But attention she got . . .



They were flying home the next day. Sister number #2 bought a shirt to wear home with a jacket over it.



What her husband will see first as she gets off the plane:



This is what he'll see next:


Now, can any of you top that?

I have the most interesting customers . . .


Last week, in one workday, I had two of the most interesting customers I've ever had. Good thing I keep my camera with me.


Early in the day, a woman came in to see if I would buy her maternity clothes. Last summer, she had extremely premature twins, both under two pounds, who only lived a few minutes.


She memorialized her babies with a tattoo - a permanent visible memory of the babies she lost. I'm not big on tattoos, but this one is different.

On her right shoulder blade is a sitting angel with the babies names and birthdate above and the actual size of their tiny feet below. She was proud to show it to me and didn't mind at all when I asked if I could photograph it. She'd been asked before.

What is the most interesting tattoo you've ever seen?

I'm going to save the other customer's story for my next blog. The story (and photo!) is quite different - you won't want to miss it.

I'm so tired I could cry.

Have you ever felt that way? Like you could lie down on a bed of nails and sleep for a day without moving a muscle? That's where I am right now. But I can account for how I

got here . . .

I worked in my store Saturday until 5 and it was very busy (that's a good thing). I spent the rest of the night (until early morning, actually) getting ready for Sunday. Sunday found us leaving the house at 7 am enroute to Perrysburg and Lima where my friend Betty (who also owns a resale shop) and I loaded up a bus full of 50 women and we headed for Cincinnati.

There we visited 7 resale shops owned by our friend Donna Speigel. Half of the bus were veteran "bus trippers" (this was our 12th or 13th trip) and half were newbees. We provide breakfast, lunch and snacks and beverages all day long. In addition, Donna and her staff provided goodies all day - from champagne mimosas in the morning to ice cream cakes and wine at our last stop. (Hey, we're not driving.)

On the way down, we play games (with prizes, of course) and on the way home, we figure out how much we all spent and reward those who spent the most and bought the most unusual item. One woman even bought a huge sofa with matching chair! (It's amazing how much fits into the bottom compartments of these buses).

The day wrapped up with a movie on the bus (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Liz Taylor and Paul Newman - we usually watch a new release, but we loved this old 0ne). I got home about 9:00.

By the time I showed my husband everything I bought for myself and Emme, our granddaughter, it again was after midnight and I fell into bed.

Was out of the house again this morning at 7 am to attend a meeting and then at the store until after 6 pm. Once again, the store was busy. And how could I forget I also attended a business luncheon.

But you know what? Writing this blog post has reminded me of how much fun I had yesterday, how much I learned today, how many delightful people I encountered in the past two days, and how great sales have been. You know what? I feel pretty great. Life is goooood.

Have you ever felt guilty complaining about things that actually were wonderful?

Have you ever had a 3 hour one-to-one?

Well believe it or not, I did today. I met this morning with Lindsey Ruiz of Arbonne International. Louise Kahle of Take the Time: Image Matters, an image consulting business, brought the two of us together because we have the same target market - pregnant women or women with infants or small children.

Most of the time was spent talking about personal things as we have met before. One of Lindsey's best friends is the daughter of good friends of ours. I'm almost old enough to be Lindsey's grandmother, but we really connected on several levels.

We met at 10 am and after a while, I looked at my watch and thought it said 11:30 - a second look and I realized it was 12:30! Neither of us could believe it. I guess the old saying is still true - "Time flies when you're having fun."

We finally got around to talking about our businesses - I'll admit it wasn't as much fun but I think we'll be able to help each other a lot. I'd say mixing business and pleasure isn't always a bad thing.

What's the longest one-to-one meeting you've ever had?

There is one question I always used to ask people . . .

I recently updated my blog profile (why didn't it come out in separate paragraphs?) and mentioned that there is a question that I used to ask people.

But I rarely ask anyone anymore. Why? Because no one, not one person, that I've asked has ever been able to answer it. Maybe it's just a question that you have to give a lot of thought to and maybe you shouldn't be able to answer it on the spot.

Maybe it's just not a good question and I'm just interested in it because I like my answers.

The question: What three things do you want to be remembered for after you're gone?

My answers?

1. "Sandy was a really good mother."

2. "Sandy was really smart."

3. "Sandy was the healthiest and sexiest 110-year old I've ever met."

So how would you answer my question?

. . . and the bad book . . .



Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn without Blowing It.

Well, it's not really a bad book. I just didn't like it. It reminded me of the author of The Scarsdale Diet. He had one simple idea but was convinced by a publisher to add a bunch of stuff to it and make it long enough to be published as a book.

I understand and firmly believe in the book's focus - that one needs to boast about one's accomplishments. I also agree with the author that to be done appropriately, how it is done depends on the setting and audience. But I think she is way too "over the top." Every single point is illustrated with an example, supposedly from the author's experience. I just didn't buy it.

But I bought the book (rather than borrowed) so I read it to the end (I hate wasting money that's already been spent). And one of the last chapters is the worst. It has a section entitled "Schmooze!" What does she mean by this? She means "networking!!"

From the book:
Good schmoozers . . . seem (emphasis mine) genuinely interested in what others have to say. And then, when the timing is right, they take the opportunity to seamlessly plant positive seeds about themselves - their background, accomplishments, interests, passions, and projects they are working on - in a meaningful and measured way."

Give me a break - this is not what I believe "Givers gain" means at all. Seem interested in others so you can jump in with what's great about you? I don't think so.

Now that I've dissed the book, I'm sure no one wants to buy it from me. But I'm genuinely interested in giving you a good deal on it.

I know some of you who may read this have read the book. What do you think?

The good book . . .

We just went out west to see our granddaughter (okay, her parents, too). Flights to and from Seattle are long so I finished two books that I had started. They both had been recommended by friends.

One was brilliant - Blink - The Power of Thinking without Thinking. It's about how people sometimes make snap decisions - decisions made quickly about other people without much information (and sometimes with almost no perceivable information).

The author, Malcolm Gladwell, calls this phenonmenon "thin-slicing," coming to a conclusion with only a small slice of information/observation.

The most interesting example to me was about a tennis expert who discovered he was able at professional tennis matches to predict with incredible accuracy when a player was going to double fault. But despite studying tapes, videos, etc., he has been unable to figure out how he's able to do this.

There are so many fascinating stories in the book and I highly recommend it.

As I was reading, I thought about how I can predict (with a fair amount of accuracy) that a woman who enters the store for the very first time won't buy anything. And I think I base that prediction on her behavior and lack of social interaction with me.

I can almost always tell when someone is in the store for the first time. The "buyers" will often say so right away. Others will have this blank look on their face like "What's going on here?" or they'll ask if I carry a certain category that they would know about if they'd been there before.

One of our "rules of conduct" is that every person is greeted within 5-10 seconds after entering.

The predicted non-buyers either don't respond at all or respond with no eye contact. It's strange - they may even say "hello" with their back turned.

I will usually talk a little more to try to warm them up. But when I still can't get any interaction, I think to myself, "She won't buy anything." Maybe it's a self-fulfilling prophecy or maybe something in my behavior makes her not want to buy. I don't know. But my predictions are usually right.

Are you aware of any thin-slicing that you do? What decisions/conclusions/predictions do you make with little or no information?