Here's your chance to learn why the people of Dan's Camera City were chosen to grace the cover of Bill McCurry's newest book, "It's Your People . . . Really!"

Grant P. Hatch - Spectrum Photo - Wolfeboro, NH - spectrumphotoonline.com

Good day Bill !

I thought I would forward to you an email I sent to Joel Paymer in response to his request for Promaster success stories.

I know that most of what is below can not be directly used in your newsletter, but the ideas are there, and you have my full permission to reword anything, should you find it worthy of inclusion in your newsletter.

editor's note: we blanked out some of the confidential price data . . .

I highlighted the paragraph on DIGITAL CAMERA NECKSTRAPS. . .because that really is a wide open market ready and easy to tap!

I look forward to seeing you in March in Vegas!

SPECTRUM PHOTO has been successful selling the PROMASTER #4844 (AA XTRAPOWER / 2HR-CHGR w/ CAR CORD) - making another $(bunch) in profit over # 9718 for only $1 more invested. We sell the 9718 for $(a lot) and the 4844 for $10 more. We simply tell the customer that a AA charger will pay for itself in 2- 3 months versus buying AA alkaline batteries, and that for only $10 more they can charge them faster. . .and also in their car with the upgrade model. It’s usually a sale of one charger anyways. . .but the upgraded sell is worth the few extra words!

A growing success story is for the product I requested that Jeff bring in to the warehouse, and he did - PRO NECKSTRAPS for COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS - # 5782 black and # 5789 gray. Again, a simple suggestive sell adds $19.99 to many digital camera sales. When customers are told that the camera they are buying only includes a wrist strap, that alone frequently cinches the sale, and a (big) profit!

Another change SPECTRUM PHOTO has just made is that while we only stock PROMASTER CF AND SD cards - we have now moved to start stocking only the PROFESSIONAL HIGH SPEED VERSIONS! We use a copy of the PTN Awards sheet to show the #1 rating for PROMASTER Memory Cards. Then we tell customers about the HIGH RELIALBILITY, lifetime warranty and exceptional performance Promaster cards deliver. We also tell them, that unlike other name-brand cards, Promaster does not need to include recovery software because they are reliable, and as a camera store, not a mass marketer, we feel more obligation to sell you a quality product, just like we would good film. The analogy works, and we get a price well above the street price that most other cards are selling for!

I expect to be able to add another success story as soon as the new microfiber pouches of the UNITY BUY arrive. That was another product I requested Jeff to bring in. He was rather down on the idea unit I posted it on the General Forum and asked for other members to add their thoughts. It should be great for all of us!

Best regards,

Grant

That doesn't mean you can't buy comparable high-profit accessories from other vendors.

It's not in your mailbox yet, but here's a chance to see the complete program for 2007's DIMA/PMA/PPFA/SPAA/ISPA convention and educational sessions in Las Vegas.

You might want to make hotel reservations soon, because once more NASCAR will be in town!

We have special permission from PMA to spread the word to the world, so here it is. We suggest you right-click on this address and download the 5 MB PDF file to your computer.

Gary Grinaker - The Photo Express - Bismark, ND - cleverlyhidden.com

I didn't write this, it was on the framer's forum. That said, it's a good story:

Being open on Sunday . . . Is there a more emotional long-lasting issue among small business people? . . . Here are a couple of insights from different framing situations . . . who are on different sides of the issue . . . and it appears they are both very successful . . .

Dan's Camera City (Allentown, PA) has 65 employees in one location - three of whom are in their in store custom framing department . . . they do significant custom picture framing. They are closed Sundays except for Christmas . . . and get this, they are closed Saturday AND Sunday in July and August . . . so their staff can spend the summer weekends with their families . . . Are they losing some business, yes, of course, they are. They feel the benefit they get from letting their employees and customers know how they feel about family is more beneficial . . . and did I mention that they are on target for 2006 to be their most profitable year?

Contrast this to a new company called "air" . . . it was going to be an acronym, but they've decided to just call it "air" (all lower case.)

They have taken over a spot that was primarily one hour finishing and processing - they have totally remodeled and put in custom framing. They are in "downtown" London, just off Oxford Street near Regent Street (think Park Avenue and 5th Avenue.) The location "has always" been closed Sunday. Karen Peck told me that one of the first things she did was to keep the store open on Sunday - much to the wails and gnashing of teeth of the long term employees of the former owner. They told her how Sunday was a loser.

She said, "For years you have turned people away on Sunday so it will take us a long time to retrain our customers. We will be open Sunday and we will not discuss it again until one year from now."

That slowed down (not stopped) the complaining.

Karen says Sundays are probably the most profitable day. . . she says that's when "regular" customers bring in their projects because they know the store isn't as busy and customers also have more time. She tells the story of a £140 multiple piece job that was being picked up one Sunday.

She started talking to the customer about why he didn't have more creative mats, larger frames, filets, etc . . . Three hours later she wrote up £1,500 worth of work for the same pieces. (Yes, she had some 'scrap' from the earlier work . . . but not as much as you'd think - and who wouldn't eat £140 to get £1,500?)

Karen's point is that during the week the company can get £140 orders . . . but with time on Sunday where both the customer and the staff are relaxed, you can really sell profitable orders and build customer relationships that are impractical to do during the hectic weekday.

What do these two situations prove? That business is an art, not a science . . . Hope it helps your thought process.

The last issue of the McCurry Marketing Idea Exchange will be published Wednesday, November 22nd, so you can read it before the USA Thanksgiving holiday.

We will resume publication January 4, 2007.

You can still earn your sweet reward by sending us your idea before our hiatus, even if it doesn't get used until next year.