SALE ENDS ON THE 31ST!

This is a re-post of the original post I wrote about the 20% off sale on Wolff 200 Series Beauty shears. This is just a reminder that the sale ends on the 31st!



I just wanted to let everyone know that Wolff is running a 20% off sale on their 200 Series Beauty Shears for the rest of December. You must order 6 pair to get the 20% off, but you can mix and match those 6 beauty shears any way you wish. You'll see a flier on this starting next week in all your orders. This is 20% off the wholesale price, so it's a great deal. If you'd like more details, the best thing to do is call. I can't put pricing on an open forum like this.

The 200 Series Wolff Shears are some of the best on the market in their class. Your customers will love them! Give them a try! If you've never sold shears before, and you have some questions, I'm happy to help. Just give me a call at 800-888-3832 and I tell you some easy ways you can sell a shear for a profit (without FEELING like your selling).

Note: Screws and finger rests are gold!

Merry Christmas

TWICE AS SHARP A-1

Many of us remember the old A-1 Twice as Sharp™ Scissors Sharpener. Many would still like to get their hands on one. Well you still can if you act fast! We pulled our last A-1 motors out of stock last week and we are closing them out for good. I called around to a number of people I knew would want one, and they snapped a few of them up. There are 3 left though! So if you want to own a piece of sharpening history, or if you just prefer the old style motor, here's your chance.

The part number to order one of the A-1's is A-1-NW. The machine will come without wheels, but it has the Twice as Sharp™ arm attached and it is balanced. This sales price is just $275.00. Give us a call at 800-888-3832.

To see some of our industrial and floral shear close outs, click here and click here.

STRAIGHT AND BENT TRIMMERS

Monday I was asked, "What's the difference between an industrial straight trimmer and a bent trimmer." The only difference is the placement of the center of the handle in relation to the blade.

The blade on the straight trimmer is inline with the center of the handle.

The blade on the bent trimmer is inline with the finger part of the handle.

The benefit of the bent trimmer over the straight is it's better for cutting on a table. The customer doesn't have to hike the material up as much to make a cut, so it makes it easier to cut a straight line. Wolff sells far more bent trimmers than straights. Most of our straight trimmers are sold to the poultry industry for trimming fat.

A STUDENT OF SALES

I was thinking about this yesterday as I sat in a meeting all afternoon. How important is it to learn how to sell? Some don't think it can be taught. Some think you can either sell or you can't; that's just not true.

While I won't argue that some people are more "gifted" than others when it comes to sales, sales is as much a science as an art. When I first started selling, I was scared to death. I did it, but I hated it. Then I started to study it and fell in love with it.

Much of my progress came after I was fortunate enough to meet Jeffrey Gitomer. I had read one of his books and saw that he was speaking in my area, so I went to hear him. When the seminar ended, I hung around (one of the things he taught to do) and caught his ear. I asked him what the best single piece of advice he had for me was. He said, "Become a student of sales." I've been following that advice ever since.

If you'd like to follow that same path, here are a list a books that I've read that have been a big help to me:

Sales

Selling the Wheel

The Sales Bible

Selling the Invisible

Sell Your Way to the Top

Marketing

All Marketers are Lairs

Made to Stick

Buzzmarketing

These are just a few in two different categories that pertain to learning to sell (I've read many more), but they are some of my favorites. The economic situation we're in right now provides both a perfect time, and motivation, to learn new things that will help us grow our businesses. If selling is one of your weaker points, become a student of sales starting today.

Image: rcsj

OVER 70,000 HITS!!!

WOW! Over 70,000 hits! Thank you so much for reading my blog. I really hope you find it worthwhile. I do my best to provide information that will help you grow your business, even in difficult economic times like this.

Here are a few of the posts I wrote that I think have some value since I last said thanks at 55,000 hits:

Scissor Sharpening Machines and Equipment - What is the difference between your Twice as Sharp®, Ookami Gold®, and Hira-To® Sharpening Systems? This is a question I get often here at Wolff Industries. Here is a quick break down...Click here to read on.

A Great Reason to Buy a Flat Hone from Wolff - One of the great things about Wolff Industries is that it's a business...Click here to read on.

20% Off Beauty Shears - This is just a reminder that Wolff has their 200 series beauty shears on sale for the rest of the month of December if you order them in lots of 6 or more. Click here to see the details.

What Goes Into Stainless Steel - When training, I discuss stainless steel and the different kinds of metals that are mixed into it. One of the tools I use...Click here to read on.

Another Video I use in Class - Last week I mentioned that I show a video by Alton Brown about the make up of steel to my students. Another video I also often show during class is... Click here to read on.

Be Sure to Seat the Washer - I was talking to a sharpener the other day and he was asking me about a problem he runs up against from time-to-time. He said that on occasion, a pair of shears he's sharpened will come loose in the pivot and...Click here to read on.

Free-Fall - When preparing to test a shears free-fall, be sure...Click here to read on.

Different Beauty Shear Handles - There are many different handle styles on beauty shears, but the three most common you'll run into are...Click here to read on.

CORRUGATE OR SERRATE SHEARS

We've been getting a lot of great feedback from the sharpeners that are using Wolff's new Corru-Gator to corrugate their customers shears. It is simple to put the serrations on a shear with this machine. It's cork-screw wheel draws the shear across itself creating a perfect run of evenly space teeth. Wolff's Corru-Gator is foolproof when it comes to serrating a grooming shear or industrial shear. If you'd like to learn more, please visit the Corru-Gator Website. Here is the address:

www.corru-gator.com

If you have any questions, please give me a call at 800-888-3832.

FRIENDSHIP SELLING

Selling the shears you carry shouldn't feel like selling. It should feel like one friend telling another friend about a great deal!

Sharpeners think that selling something, other then their sharpening service, is unpleasant. That's just not true! If you have a line of shears you believe in, maybe even love, when you tell someone about them you're not "selling" them, you're "telling" them.

Stylists need shears to work, right? As their sharpener, you're one of their trusted advisers, right? So if you have a favorite line of shears you should tell them about them, right? Right! And you should do so with excitement!

Try this. Order a nice shear holster you can hang on your side, just like the ones your customers wear. Make sure it's a nice one! Fill it with shears you sell. That case will get noticed! When it does say, "You think the holster is nice, you should see the shears!" Then show off the line. It doesn't have to be hard to sell! And if you really do love the line, all you'll be doing is telling them what you like. If they don't buy, it's not a failure. You just told a friend about something you like, that's all.

I know "sales" is hard. One of the main reasons many people avoid selling is because of the failure rate. Don't let this be you! Look for opportunities to tell others about the products you love and that you know will help them. Don't push, provide. Don't sell, tell.

Image: thomashawk

20% OFF BEAUTY SHEARS!

I just wanted to let everyone know that Wolff is running a 20% off sale on their 200 Series Beauty Shears for the rest of December. You must order 6 pair to get the 20% off, but you can mix and match those 6 beauty shears any way you wish. You'll see a flier on this starting next week in all your orders. This is 20% off the wholesale price, so it's a great deal. If you'd like more details, the best thing to do is call. I can't put pricing on an open forum like this.

The 200 Series Wolff Shears are some of the best on the market in their class. Your customers will love them! Give them a try! If you've never sold shears before, and you have some questions, I'm happy to help. Just give me a call at 800-888-3832 and I tell you some easy ways you can sell a shear for a profit (without FEELING like your selling).

Note: Screws and finger rests are gold!

FREE-FALL

I was writing about setting the tension of a beauty shear and testing its free-fall the other day. It was in the article about seating your washer in the December issue of On The Edge Newsletter*. Just to be sure everyone knows what I'm talking about, I wanted to write this post.

When preparing to test a shears free-fall, be sure the tip is pointing straight up at the ceiling.


Then take your finger blade and lift it up so that it's at 180 degrees apposed to your thumb blade to form a cross or plus sign with the shear. The thumb blade should still be pointing at the ceiling.


Let go of the finger blade and it will "free-fall" toward the other blade. If tensioned properly, the finger blade should come to a stop about half way up the thumb blade. If the shear falls all the way shut, tighten it a little more and test again. Continue adjusting the shear until the free-fall is tensioned properly and the finger blade stops at the half way point. If you have any questions concerning this, just give me a call at 800-888-3832 or on my cell at 864-909-3381.


*On The Edge is a 12 page monthly newsletter that is designed especially for Scissors Sharpeners and Clipper Blade Sharpeners! A one year subscription is only $39.95 for the paper version or $34.95 for the electronic version. If you'd like to order a subscription to On The Edge, or find out more, please call 864-909-3381.