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...ls, children's clothing stores and shoe stores, toy stores, fast food restaurants, and other pl...

...ack with a new shirt, sweater, and shoes? Or how about the everyday shopper wh...mally buy similar products (i.e. in a store, on the Web, door-to-door)? Wh...

... ' was valued in excess of $160 million. The underwriter, quite appropriately, wanted to know how the value of the stones was determined before he would insure them. As the broker began to describe the 12 stones, the underwriter smelled a rat-a rat about 15 years old. HOW IT HAPPENED In the early 1980s, a man in Tucson reported finding a large, unpolished stone in a shoe box being used to prop open a door. The stone, later named Star of Nyasa, ' was an unpolished sapphire and was appraised in 1983 at approximately $12 million. Other stones were added, and the group became known as the King Solomon Collection. The story of this rare find quickly swept through the jewelry industry. The $12 million appraisal was done by a member of ... , but it turned out that his opinion of the values was greatly skewed. One professional appraiser declared that the stone was simply not of gem quality and put its worth at about $200. Others agreed. Members of the American Gem Society (AGS) held a hearing over the appraisal, and as a result the appraiser lost his AGS membership. The 12 gems in the collection apparently were stored in a bank vault, where they remained until recently, when the owners decided to move them to a vault operated by a well-known private company. Then they had the collection re-appraised-by the same appraiser who had inaccurately appraised it 15 years earlier. The new appraisal not only took the 1983 appraisal as valid, but updated it for inflation. The Star of Nyasa' was now said to be ...

...en learn and listen. Step into the shoes of the customer. Don't meet expectati...

...at I’ve run into was selling shoes in a department store when he was 'discovered' by an agency...

...o put themselves in someone else’s shoes. M is for ... we’ll get to that later...

... , and (3 ) what motivates them to buy, you can't prepare an effective marketing plan. Don't confuse wants' with needs. People don't necessarily buy what they need, but they'll almost always buy what they want. For instance, have you ever known someone who went to the store to buy a pair of pants that they needed and came back with a new shirt, sweater, and shoes? Or how about the everyday shopper who goes into the supermarket to buy some milk and eggs and comes out with a frozen pizza, cheesecake, and other goodies? People will buy what they want (even if they don't have the money!), not what they need. And yes, this even applies to sophisticated corporate honchos. To really get to know your customers you'll need ... to easy sales. Until you know (1 ) who your customers are, (2 ) what they want, and (3 ) what motivates them to buy, you can't prepare an effective marketing plan. Don't confuse wants' with needs. People don't necessarily buy what they need, but they'll almost always buy what they want. For instance, have you ever known someone who went to the store to buy a pair of pants that they needed and came back with a new shirt, sweater, and shoes? Or how about the everyday shopper who goes into the supermarket to buy some milk and eggs and comes out with a frozen pizza, cheesecake, and other goodies? People will buy what they want (even if they don't have the money!), not what they need ...