Change in days the shop is open

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David Knox

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Feb 8, 2001
Posts
429
Loc
Hillsborough NC
My shop is moving to a better location right after the Christmas rush. Traditionally the shop has been open Tues-Fri 9-6; and Sat 9-2. It may be necessary for me to open Mon-Tues 9-6, Thurs-Fri 9-6, and Sat 9-2. I believe this will take some getting used to for my current customers, but I may not have a choice personally. I plan to send direct mail post cards to announce both changes at the same time. My only other alternative is to be open six days and let my assistant work by herself on Wednesday and Thursday. She's a terrific framer, but her sales/customer skills are lacking. I've tried to better train her and she's had sales classes at the shows; but obviously her talents do not lie in customer service. She gets by and that's about it.

Any ideas on days/hours the shop should be open?
 
We extended our hours so that we are open one evening a week until 8pm. And we go against local tradition by being open until 6pm on Saturdays, but I can't honestly say that this has made any difference in business. Occasionally we will make a big sale outside of our "regular" business hours. I really think that people will somehow manage to get to you if you are the one they want. It might however, be advantageous to still have Wednesday and Thursday hours with the assistant under strict instructions just to take in the art for you to design later and call the customer then. Just keep your hours constant. A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do.
 
Thanks Ellen. I will say this change comes as a result of being one of two top candidates for a two-day-a-week position with the federal government. And that position offers insurance benefits. I've been in a real quandry for the last week, with trying to make the right decision for my business and for myself. Since a divorce, personal insurance has been a real issue. I have insurance now (if you can call it that) but it's really bad and really expensive.
 
How many days a week does your assistant work now? Would it be possible to hire some else with good sales/customer skills to work on the days you are not there instead of her? Without someone withthose skills present, you might as well not be open. Or maybe what you need to do is find out why your assistant has trouble in this area and work with her to overcome it. It may be lack of confidence in her ability to design. I'm currently in the process of trying to get my husband to learn how to design/sell framing. He still has a tendency to just take the harder things and leave them for me when I get in, but he is getting better at the easy stuff.
 
Sherry,
Since you wouldn't be reducing the number of days open, just shifting them I would try the closed Wednesdays approach first. Having loyal clients get lackluster service might be more deterimental than having to come in on Monday instead of Wednesday. Besides, you'll probably pick up business from all the hairstylists and restauranteurs who also close on Mondays and do their errands then.
 
Sherry,
I would go along with the previous advice about hiring a front counter person to help out on the days you are gone. Vivian Kistler once said in a seminar that there are front room people, back room people, and you can't always cross-train them...I have a very similar situation right now. Just last week, I had to hire a person who can design (actually she can do everything I can do..but she can only work 2 days a week, rats!) so that I can take some time off due to a family illness. The other lady that works for me is a willing worker, but is not really up to the computer, designing upscale stuff, selling art & art supplies, etc, that is required for the front counter in my shop.
If you can possibly afford it, go the hiring route. If not, send out letters to your best clients stating your new hours, and live with it. I have discovered people are willing to wait for me to do their designing. Good luck with the new job.

Leslie

P.S. Insurance is totally outrageous. We are now paying over $700 mo. for a family of 3.
 
Personally, I feel that if a person cannot do the work in the back and does not have a whole picture of the work, they cannot sell properly. They cannot know if there is something "odd" we can do or not do. They cannot know what is workable. I think that would cost us money.

By the way, I was originally told that insurance for me (one person) would be at least $900 a month. Then when I actually looked into it, I was told I would never, ever be insurable unless it was through an "at work" plan. Apparently, people who have been hospitalized are not worth the risk.
 
Yesterday I had a long conversation with my employee, who by the way is a fantastic framer. She's the one going for the CPF, not me. She's also dependable, honest and quality oriented. I pointed out about six things she can do immediately to put my customers more at ease. In fact, I told her I wanted her to baby my customers. I'm instituting a customer satisfaction survey which will be sent to random customers (not just the ones she assists); and her raises will be based on quality/quantity of work, and responses from the customers she helps. I'm waiting until I have a job offer to make the final decision about the days I'm open. I don't believe it's in my best interest to hire a new person, get through the holiday season, move and begin a new position, if one is offered. She was very positive about being able to do this, and I believe deserves the chance to try. I'm planning to keep a very close eye on how it goes and plan from there. This has been a harder decision than when I first bought the shop in 1995. Thanks for all your help.
 
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