Regular reader Linda Lloyd offered me the following story. I thought it was worth sharing since the holidays are nearly upon us.
Everyone talks about getting marketing experience selling something. Yes I have done that... MLM, department store, fast food, etc. (All to pay for college.)
I think the best experience for teaching about selling AND customer service was spending two seasons wrapping gifts... one at a high end department store and one at a lower end. If there is one thing a customer is extremely picky about, it is the way their presents look, and if they have the "perfect present."
My supervisor at one store also taught us to look for "compatible add-ons" since we got a commission on what we sold from the counter. Such as if they bought a sweater, suggest a matching purse, scarf, hat, gloves, even jewelry. The customers would buy when you could show them how it really improved the "value" of the gift.
She taught us to always look for something that goes with the original gift and offer it. All you would need to do was put the two together to show them, and more often than not they bought.
Don't know if stores still hire gift wrappers for the holidays seasons, but that taught me more than the two years of college it helped pay for!
Thanks to Linda for sharing her experience. You can visit her online at Seagull Marketing Graphics.
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