How To Get The Best Out Of Your Personal Shopper

Paul Simon CoCharlotte Style, Men's Fashion, Personal Shoppers, Personal Style, Women's Fashion

“Help me help you!” declared Tom Cruise, playing the infamous title character in the movie Jerry Maguire.  The well-dressed and ever-dapper Jerry Maguire secured a new all-star athlete client because he understood the value a customer places on a professional, someone who REALLY knows what he or she is doing.  Browsing the racks with someone who eats, sleeps and breathes style, current trends, and the store’s inventory is just one of the many advantages of working with a personal shopper at a specialty store. As a shopper, you want to make sure that you’re always getting the most for your time and money.  You want focus, full attention, and someone who always keeps your needs in mind. I interviewed our Paul Simon Company staff about what you can do to help us help you.

“I love to have a scheduled appointment with [my clients] if at all possible. That way I am able to create complete outfits for them ahead [of time], or at least pull items that I think they would really like and look good in, and have everything ready for them when they arrive. Especially if they are businesswomen, time is of the essence! The more prepared I am, the easier it is for me to get them in and out and back to the office,” explains Angela Wells, personal shopper at Paul Simon for Women.

As with any other daily task, you probably schedule a certain amount of time to achieve a retail victory before moving on to conquer the rest of the day.  Keep to your schedule and accomplish your mission efficiently by picking up the phone the day before or on the way over so that your personal shopper can start putting ideas together before you arrive. As salespeople we all like a surprise visit, but if you want us to do a better job give us a little notice, and the service you get will be much better.

So here are our tips to help us help you:

*Always call ahead of time. Put us on speed dial.

*Make sure we have all of your vital information including your sizes, color preferences, or particularly favorite designers.  We keep records so you won’t have to do this every time.

*Let us know about any urgency for a special occasion.  Are we shopping for a job interview, wedding, date, cocktail party, business event, etc…?

* If an event is coming up allow enough time for alterations. Schedule your shopping appointment well in advance of the event.

*If you’re not shopping for something specific and just need a closet evaluation, let us see the big picture.  Invite us to edit your current wardrobe so that we can better advise you on where your needs lie.

*If attending a trunk show set a time with your salesperson. No matter how busy we are, that salesperson will devote their attention to you.

*Share your budget so that we can edit down to the essentials.

*If you don’t already have someone helping you shop, ask friends and colleagues who they use or call the store to ask about the services offered.

*Find out who your spouse’s personal shopper is. Next time you need to find him or her a gift it will be stress free.

And finally, as we stock our store for future seasons, we think about our clients and buy with them in mind.  Whether we’ve had one appointment with you or you’re a regular client, we are able to evaluate our buying decisions based on your lifestyle, preferences, and physical features.  When we’ve found what we think is just the right item for you, we can notify you and email photos in advance.

From the time we can save you to the personal service you’ll receive, shopping with a personal shopper is always a great idea.

Have you had a personal shopping experience?  Share it with us by leaving a comment.