Idea #1 - Help customer visualize ease of camera use

Stephen Weiss - Creve Coeur Camera, Inc - Saint Louis, MO www.cccamera.com

   Many a day we spend time showing a customer how great a camera is, how its zoom has a macro setting or how the binoculars are phase coated. We hand our customers a camera and what do they look at...ME...or my counter top. Or the women standing next to them. None of which are a pretty sight. Hence...
   We at Creve Coeur Camera have invented the fantastic, stupendous, patent pending CCC DIORAMA. Available for only $499.99. Yes, give your customers something to look at...not you.
   The first one was 2'x2'x2' and too large and too much work to build. It had a tile wall, a wood floor and a vinyl wall...plus I attached lights to it (this is optional). This final unit is 12 inches deep and 24 inches tall and wide...plus it has hooks for slot wall.
   Now my customer can take a digital camera and really see how their images can turn out. We let them use the white balance to match the colors.
   So if you are interested in having one of these...DON'T SEND US ANY MONEY. Have your local cabinet maker make the box and then go to a local silk flower shop and buy the stuff. We had 8 of the boxes made for $80 each and then spent about $30 for the rocks, flowers and other items. ENJOY!

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Idea #2, 3, 4 & 5 - Note from Bill McCurry

   Thanks to all who attended the South Central PMA Division Meeting in New Orleans last weekend. It was fun, entertaining and profitable as there were lots of money making ideas exchanged - here's just a few:
   Margie and Pete Holland of Holland Photo in Austin, TX run a friendly and responsible lab. They call every customer ahead of time if it looks like their order will be late due to some unforeseen circumstance. Thus, when their customers refer to Holland Photo they call them "responsible".
   Holland Photo is also perceived as easy to do business with. Part of this stems from the cartoon of Margie and Pete that is featured in their yellow pages and all other advertising. Consider using a sketch to make your store more human.
   An additional idea the Hollands have is their daily sponsorship of the evening weather report on a network TV station. For the cost of one low end digital camera the weather man stands in front of the Holland Photo picture of the day and discusses Holland Photo on the air. The best photo of the month wins the camera. Margie and Pete report good customer feedback and interest from this low cost promotion.
   Ray Bailey of Camera Corner, Burlington, NC is concerned about keeping customers who have to travel to one of his other stores to pick up merchandise not available in the store where the customer is. Ray says, "If one store is out and we send the customer to another store, we give them a 10% discount on whatever they are buying. They will drive by two Circuit City's, Target and Best Buy to get to our other store. We want them to have a reason to keep driving."
   Michael Perrin of Valley Photo Service in North Hollywood, CA (yes, Michael and his wife Sandy came all the way to New Orleans to learn!) told the story about their children's play area. Michael always had coloring books for kids to color while their parents shopped. About ten years ago a well dressed seven year old approached Michael and asked where the coloring books were. Michael was out and the child was disappointed. On the next trip in the young boy went to Michael and handed him a coloring book and asked Michael to keep it for him so he would have something to do on his parents' next shopping trip to Valley Photo Service. Michael admits it was a lesson for him in meeting his customers' expectations. Michael must have learned his lesson as the young man is now in college, driving and still brings his film to Valley Photo Service . . . .

   There were dozens of ideas like this in New Orleans. Bill McCurry's next PMA Division Meeting will be with the New England Division in Woburn, MA on Wednesday, October 16. For more information call Ken Sutton at KLS Photo (508) 990-8240.