Here's to Success!
A new round of sales tactics can help ease the pain of the current economic woes
BY AMY SPIEZIO
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER BAKER
STYLING BY LESLIE STOEFFLER ATILES
A refreshing look into the future shows that there is plenty to look toward with optimism. Shown here (left to right) Theory style TH2116 from L'Amy; Prodesign style 4637; and Gucci style GG2975 from Safilo Group
It's tempting to drown your sorrows during the tough times, but toasting the future—and taking action—may be the key to becoming more successful than ever.
Here's to: Money smarts. Reduce all expenses. Collect every dime owed to you and delay paying your bills as long as possible without creating more problems for yourself. And focus with renewed fervor on selling your products and services.
Here's to: Staff management. Are you wasting your time working in the back room while sales suffer? Are your salespeople losing time on the floor to work in the lab? Crunch the numbers very carefully and assign staff where they can do the most good to your bottom line.
Here's to: Your best customers and your new customers. Know your client base and keep in touch with them, but also be attracting new clients.
Here's to: Renewing your resources. Take advantage of any expanded down time. Use those free minutes to upgrade the appearance of the dispensary and to cross-train your entire staff to understand your major sales messages.
Here's to: Inventory control. Understand exactly what you have to sell each day, week, and month to break even and earn a profit. Then be sure that your inventory is supporting that goal. This is not the time to have slackers collecting dust on the boards. Take advantage of the softer economy to negotiate better terms with current accounts and to try out new, eye-catching product lines. FB
| FRESHEN UP |
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| Getting some new variety in your dispensary can be a fresh way to fight the lagging economy, according to a recent report, "Prices, Productivity, and Innovation" by David E. Weinstein and Christian Broda, released by the National Bureau of Economic research. When it comes to adding new options, the experts say the overall impact can be substantial. "We find that the effect of varieties on the growth rate of an economy is relatively small, temporary, but persistent. Given this persistence, however, the impact on the level of longrun growth is large." |
KEEP YOUR INVENTORY STIRRED UP. Shown here: (above) Koali style 6558K from Morel and Ted Baker style B822
COOL, REFRESHING LOOKS.
Shown (left to right) Christian Roth style CR 14295; l.a. Eyeworks style Roux; and Kliik style 276 from Wescan
| JUST A SIP… |
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| Now may be a very good time to be a very small company. According to a white paper by Giuseppe Moscarini and Fabien Postel-Vinay, "Large Employers Are More Cyclically Sensitive," the authors provide evidence that large firms or establishments are more vulnerable than small ones to business cycle conditions. They note that larger employers shed proportionally more jobs in recessions and create more of their new jobs late in expansions, both in gross and net terms. Based on research starting in the mid-1970s and spanning four business cycles, they note that "the differential growth rate of employment between large (>1000 employees) and small (<50) firms varies by about five percent over the business cycle, and is strongly negatively correlated with the unemployment rate. This pattern occurs within, not across, broad industries, regions, and states, and is robust to different treatments of entry and exit." Why is this? The experts opine that "it appears to be partly driven by excess (mass) layoffs by large employers during and just after recessions, and by excess poaching by large employers late in expansions." |
STRAIGHT UP STYLE. Shown: Alain Mikli model A0636
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