I've spent a lot of time talking about what makes a retailer good. Now it's time to turn the tables and talk about the qualities a good doll store customer has.
First and foremost, a good customer has passion for dolls and their accoutrements. Half of the fun for me as a retailer was sharing the fun of learning about and seeing new dolls with my customers. Let's face it-many people who don't collect or like dolls, think "doll people" are more than a little crazy. Having other interested, passionate people to "play" with was part of what made Dolls and Friends worthwhile. Helping someone new to dolls, or more specifically, BJDs was especially fun and gratifying. If I ever went into some kind of sales position again, it would have to be for something I was passionate about, or otherwise it would be just a job and not nearly as much fun.
What other qualities does a good customer have? Of course, I could say that a good customer has a very healthy "money tree" growing in his or her backyard, and is more than willing to share it. But while it's always nice to have affluent customers, other things are also important, such as loyalty. Does the customer always check with your business first when there's something she wants? Having loyal customers is very important to a retail business. Loyal customers recommend your business to others, and that is just as valuable as the money they themselves spend, if not more so.
Good customers are reliable in that they don't repeatedly change their minds about their orders or pre-orders. They make layaway payments without having to be constantly reminded. In other words, they take their commitments seriously. And in so doing, they are more apt to be rewarded by the retailer, in the form of extra little goodies, discounts, and advance notice of new products, for example. Both parties benefit and both are happy.
We always appreciated customers who understood we were running a business and couldn't afford to just give away merchandise. That was a hard concept for some folks to grasp. What we couldn't understand was folks who wanted to charge their purchase to several different charge cards-I believe the record was four. We were advised by our bank not to do so, since there could have been fraud involved. My feeling is, if you have to spread out your purchase over four cards, maybe you shouldn't be making it. But that's just my opinion. :)
All of us buy stuff from various businesses. Are you a good customer or maybe not so much? Having been in retail, I try to be a little more forgiving and tolerant of mistakes made by the businesses I buy from, and try to be a good customer myself.
First and foremost, a good customer has passion for dolls and their accoutrements. Half of the fun for me as a retailer was sharing the fun of learning about and seeing new dolls with my customers. Let's face it-many people who don't collect or like dolls, think "doll people" are more than a little crazy. Having other interested, passionate people to "play" with was part of what made Dolls and Friends worthwhile. Helping someone new to dolls, or more specifically, BJDs was especially fun and gratifying. If I ever went into some kind of sales position again, it would have to be for something I was passionate about, or otherwise it would be just a job and not nearly as much fun.
What other qualities does a good customer have? Of course, I could say that a good customer has a very healthy "money tree" growing in his or her backyard, and is more than willing to share it. But while it's always nice to have affluent customers, other things are also important, such as loyalty. Does the customer always check with your business first when there's something she wants? Having loyal customers is very important to a retail business. Loyal customers recommend your business to others, and that is just as valuable as the money they themselves spend, if not more so.
Good customers are reliable in that they don't repeatedly change their minds about their orders or pre-orders. They make layaway payments without having to be constantly reminded. In other words, they take their commitments seriously. And in so doing, they are more apt to be rewarded by the retailer, in the form of extra little goodies, discounts, and advance notice of new products, for example. Both parties benefit and both are happy.
We always appreciated customers who understood we were running a business and couldn't afford to just give away merchandise. That was a hard concept for some folks to grasp. What we couldn't understand was folks who wanted to charge their purchase to several different charge cards-I believe the record was four. We were advised by our bank not to do so, since there could have been fraud involved. My feeling is, if you have to spread out your purchase over four cards, maybe you shouldn't be making it. But that's just my opinion. :)
All of us buy stuff from various businesses. Are you a good customer or maybe not so much? Having been in retail, I try to be a little more forgiving and tolerant of mistakes made by the businesses I buy from, and try to be a good customer myself.
Kathy, I certainly hope you found me to be a good customer. I loved buying from you as you & Jennifer were always so helpful. She patiently talked me through my first BJD purchase & several more until I felt more confident about what I was doing. Even though I was one of those crazy people who would use different cards over the course of a layaway, I had the weird habit of paying off alternating cards each month so I would have to change depending on which card it was that month.
I also thought of both of you as online friends. I nearly cried when you left the business. It was like loosing friends. I'm just happy that you're doing this blog as it's a little way to still stay in touch. As always, I wish Leo & you the very best & if you see Jennifer, say, "Hi!" from me.
As a customer who learned how to buy her first BJD from you, received all the advice I needed from you and is still grateful to all your help I can't agree more. I wish I could say I was a good customer, but I suppose I didn't (not one of the worst, though, I hope). I don't have the best of money trees (though have a good job and no debts actually helps), but I'm quite serious about payments, I think there was no problem about that. I remember having changed my mind a couple of times (that Souldoll Lune which became an Elfdoll Wu, those WS Soah heads...), but you always were nice, understanding and helpful. I've tried to be as faithful as I could... of course living overseas sometimes buying directly from Korea was better for me... and I've recommended your shop any time I had a chance ;-)
We may not agree about some issues, but I stil think you and Dolls and Friends were one of the best things which happened to me when I started in the BJD hobby and I hope you still consider me a friend. I surely consider you one of mine.
BTW I don't understand the several cards charge, unless the limit of the card has been reached, or the card itself is out of date (my purchases in december always had that problem - every two years I received a new card and had to change layaways, paypal accounts and all that). I have always tried to provide a credit card to sellers who accepted it because I think the taxes Visa charges to business are smaller than the ones paypal does. But appart from that, I can't imagine why take (and give) so much trouble....
Good arguments,
for good customers.
I myself as a faceup artist and bjd "maker"
Have trouble with "snobby people".
Their quite rare tho,
but... they seem to not be able to understand that..
making a doll and faceups are creative things.
And they can take time.
And by the time it's been one day, which they already feel is to long,
there is nothing you can say or do that will make them happy.
And as soon as you don't go down on your knee's begging them for mercy and giving them discounts and their products free for taking so long,
they will go around the globe spreading the word your company is bad, slow and what they got is absolutely not what they asked and payed for.
If this is just because their Snobby,
or they get some sort of satisfaction from damaging a company
not realizing their hurting people who have worked long and hard to build up a name and a company,
i don't know.
But they are the sort of people that make me wish i was a retailer/dealer instead of selling my own products.
Luckily there are more then enough loyal fans,
who appreciate the work and are understanding about things.
And will be pleased with the work your doing for them.
But still,
i hate it that i can't make the sort of people i talked about above happy in any way.
Because thats where having a bjd company is about.