By Mrs. C.B. Weinfeld
I had been trying so hard to promote my new business KEYZ, selling personalized key chains and mugs. I did my homework and learned the tricks of the trade. What I did not expect was competition in my own community. TRINKETS was fiercely competing for the same clientele. I tried to hold onto my emunah; tried to reinforce that every dollar a person earns is decided above, regardless of competitors such as Trinkets.
Renting a Booth at Popular Expo
I decided to rent a booth in a popular expo. I was hoping to get the word out about the variety and quality of my products. The small-sized booth cost $500, but the heftier price was leaving the children with my husband for two days. I had rented a booth at this expo previously, and expected a prime location for my booth.
When I got there, it was all I could do to control my extreme disappointment. I was more like furious! Trinkets’ booth was located in the front-center with a gaudy banner and an inflated character nodding to the crowd. A huge crowd was gathered around their booth.
My booth, on the other hand, was in the corner. And then Mrs. Greenblatt, the organizer of the event, came by to check if I was satisfied with my booth. Hah! Was she joking?! When she asked, I responded with a scowl, “I feel like packing up right now. I don’t even know why I bothered paying for this booth. Trinkets got the best booth, the best location, and the most traffic. I’m just sitting here in the corner, saying Tehillim and waiting for someone to notice I’m here.”
Disputing the Complaint of the Booth Holder
Mrs. Greenblatt seemed almost hurt, and responded, “What are you talking about? I gave you the best spot in the house!”
Huh? Was she joking?
She continued, “Look at this,” and she removed the expo floor plan from her pocket. “This is a diagram of the hall and the high-traffic areas. The front-center location, where Trinkets is, from a business point of view, is the worst. People are just coming in, getting their acts together, trying to figure out where to go.
“You, on the other hand, are at the right corner, next to the Judaica stuff, which has a huge line, and the exclusive linens. By the time people get to your side of the hall, they’re all pumped and ready to buy. Look around you. See where the crowds are.”
I realized, to my chagrin, that Mrs. Greenblatt was right. Then she told me, “You are a repeat customer, so we gave you a good spot. But you’ve got to work the crowd. Don’t just stand there. Greet the shoppers. Give some free gifts. Make small talk. Sell your product.”
I knew she was right. I was just so focused on my competitor, that it clouded my judgment. And I neglected to focus on MY products, and sell them effectively. Then a woman and her daughter came to eye my products. They looked like the type of people who finger everything, and buy nothing. So, I was not as courteous to them as I should’ve been when they asked me more questions about one keychain than I had the patience for.
But I was astounded when they said, “We’ll take 5000 of these,” pointing to a keychain with a cute apple emblazoned with “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”
“You’ll take how many?” I said, doing everything to contain my shock.
The woman explained, “We’re from Arizona. My husband runs a busy medical practice. We’d like to hand out key chains to all our clients for the holiday season. I’ll need them all personalized with the name of our medical center.”
I was elated, and humbled, when the woman handed me a check for $7,500. I had been too quick to judge Mrs. Greenblatt, and too focused on my competition. And it also led me to misjudge the customer who ended up being the catalyst for a huge deal I did not expect! I learned a thing or two about judging favorably, not to mention realizing just Who is in charge of my livelihood. (Another Handful of Stars by C.B. Weinfeld, ArtScroll)
Reprinted from the Parshas Bereishis 5783 email of The Weekly Vort.
