Look Book

36 www.thejewelrybook.com V E G A S I N D U S T RY N E W S Vegas is fast approaching and that annual ritual, which has historically attracted about half of the retailers in our business, is always an interesting place to take the industry's pulse. That attendance has continued to trend down from years past is not open to debate for those who have been paying attention, but what is cer- tain is most of the bigger retailers and virtually all of the wholesalers will be there; ready to engage with their shiny new wares and programs. My company, VIBHOR, will be at Prestige by Luxury - where we have enjoyed our experiences these past few years. Well, most of them. After a particularly interesting interaction there last year, I wrote a tongue-in-cheek column and posted it on LinkedIn. The retailer was ambling around, seemingly absent any real purpose or in- tent. He stopped by our booth and without making eye-contact, or introducing himself, he proceeded to point to random items in the case asking to see a piece here and there. He was obviously impressed enough with what he was seeing to continue point- ing, sort of like a king to an obedient court-jester, as I politely attempted to engage him in conversa- tion. After he tired of pointing, he asked, "do you do memo?" That was it. He never asked another question, before sauntering away again in whatever fog that had brought him our way in the fi rst place. He could have asked, "Why does my business need what you are doing?" He could have asked, "How can you make my life easier?" He could have asked, "Why do you do better than what all these other vendors do?" He could have asked, "What do you see as the biggest issues facing retailers today and how can your company help?" He could have asked, "What do you know about my business and what do I need to do differently?" He could have asked, "What is your brands' story and why will that resonate with my sales- people?" He could have asked, "Do you train my people?" He could have asked, "How can you ensure I don't end up with dated inventory?" He could have asked, "How long does it take to get product to us?" What a wasted opportunity. I wondered what his purpose was in going to Vegas? Was it to gath- er as much memo as he could? Was it to bring back lots of stuff, whether it aligned with his business needs or not? I wondered if he realized what he was missing by not coming to Vegas prepared? By not chal- lenging vendors to set themselves apart? By his ap- parent willingness to do whatever, with whomev- er, as long as it was free…eh, on memo. How nice it would be to get back to a place where people sit with each other and ask the kinds of questions we ought to be asking. Are you prepared? Peter Smith is an industry veteran with more than thirty years in both retail and wholesale. The Irish native is the author of two books, Hiring Squirrels, 12-Essential Inter- view Questions To Uncover Great Retail Sales Talent and Sell Something, Principles and Perspectives for Engaged Retail Salespeople. Smith is a columnist for National Jew- eler, where he writes on the retail experience, and a contrib- uting columnist for Centurion Sales Newsletter and World Diamond Magazine. His column on the Future of Retail Stores was named by National Jeweler and JCK Online as one of the best articles of 2016. Smith is president of VIB- HOR, a US. manufacturer of high-quality private-label core diamond essentials. He previously spent 11 years as executive vice president of Hearts On Fire and 8 years in sales and operations management with Tiffany & Co. He has a BA from Boston College and he is a graduate of the Key Executives Program at the Harvard Business School. Vegas is Coming, Why Are You Going? BY PETER SMITH

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