Better Late Than Never

Hiya! I'm finally here, remembering that today is my day to post a Tip for you all! I've meant to put this together 5 days ago and well, you know how the days just slip away and all of a sudden you remember you had something to do? Yep, that's what just happened to me! LOL!

With the new release coming upon us, I thought it would be a great time to offer a few business tips from one of our fellow {ippity} chicks. It's always nice to have a refresher on some tricks of the trade, plus there are plenty of new chicks that are eager to learn how others are making it work!

A while back I started a thread on the {ippity} Chick subforum on SCS asking for Tips to post on our Tippity Tuesday post here. We are always looking for ideas, so if you have any and want to share feel free to email me. A few weeks back I received the sweetest email from Jenny Johns (jenstampin4u). She complied a great list of what she's been doing to get her business thriving. The one thing I noticed, (and I've heard and seen plenty of other Chicks say it too) is she does a lot of little things that make a difference. The small things matter! Here's a few tips from Jenny, in her own words:
I recently started implementing these tips and they are showing some success. I need to continue to work on getting my {ippity} name out there locally, and I am so glad that these things are helping me go in the right direction!

Local deliveries:
I like to advertise that I will 'deliver free of charge' any local {ippity} orders with 30 miles of my home. Now I have been asked to deliver a little over 30 miles, and I've still included it in the 'free zone' (case by case basis, or course). I even have customers who meet me half way, usually at a Starbucks (my fav place), or a book store. I figure it's worth it to get a new customer and to be able to show them the sets and chat about the versatility of them in person.

Orders:
As soon as I get a phone call or email order, I respond within 1 day to confirm the order (it's usually within the same day). Once I confirm their order, I still ask if there is anything else they would like to purchase (it's okay to ask for more business, the worst they can do is say no). I then issue a Paypal email for payment. Once payment is made, I again contact the customer to confirm delivery day and time and I get this completed immediately.

Inspiration:
I like to give a 'thank you' card for inspiration to my customer for their order. I keep thank you cards that I made from a variety of {ippity} stamp sets...I choose a card using a stamp set other than one that my customer ordered. The customer may like the stamp set that I used and it could be a possible future purchase.

Add-ons:
I carry one of each stamp set (that I have in stock) in my {ippity} shopping bags (that I created) and also the 12x12 papers everywhere I go. I have had customers ask me about a certain set and since I have it in hand, I can show it to them on the spot. I have made additional sales of stamp sets by doing this!

Packaging:
I created my {ippity} shopping bags (similar to what others have shown) and I include the following items:

--the customer's order, which has one of my personal labels on each stamp set and/or package,
--a 'thank you' card for their purchase,
--a 'frequent buyer' card...for every $75 purchased, they get $5 off or a free ink pad that I have in stock (I keep track of the actual sales dollars),
--a little goodie bag (sample papers, buttons, {whatever I have on hand},
--a flyer that has each {ippity} collection pictured (8.5x11 paper which has two collections on one side),
--a flyer that has the basic info if they would like to sell {ippity} with my name as referral.

Thanks, Jen, for sharing with all of us what you are doing. I'm sure many will find this info useful in their own business. Stop by Jenny's blog and give her a shout out.

I hope you all are having a fabulous day and for any of you heading out to CHA, I wish you safe travels and lots of fun! Wish I was there! Hugs, Lisa