COLUMNISTS
SELLING
LEONARD ZELL
So you think you give service?
April 2018 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk
years old and had worn shanks and thin
prongs. Most jewellers would put on
new shanks and prongs, but that is what
a clerk does and think it was great selling
a large repair job. However, I learned
that before the customer would say their
ring is sentimental I would remind them
we have to remove the worn shank and
prongs before we put new ones on and
some of the sentiment of the ring would
be gone. The main sentiment is in the
diamond because the setting eventually
wears out.
I suggested a new setting. However,
learning to be the consummate salesman
from my father, I would remind her that
after all these years she may be thinking
of a larger diamond. Before she could
say she could not give up her diamond
I would tell her I will set it into a
necklace and she could wear it close
to her heart. This is how you romance
jewellery and to do this you must have
your customers trust. Everyone trusted
my father because he introduced himself
to every customer and u sed their name
selectively during the sale and I learned
to do the same. I recommend that you
do too, but practice this technique first
by roll playing with an associate. A
customer wants to know to whom she
is giving her diamond ring to. Jewellers
must remember that nothing else has
the emotional value of jewellery.
The word of mouth advertising
this created was throughout the city.
Customers could not thank us enough.
When I opened our mall store there were
many other jewellers, but by raising our
standards with this service it made them
look less.
Most of our customers were new to
our mall store and they were amazed
that we would clean and check their
jewellery without charge, whereas the
other jewellers acted as if they did them
‘‘
Service is
when you do
something
above and
beyond
what your
customer
expects.
What
have your
salespeople
done that
meets that
standard?
‘‘
B
efore you say, “Yes we do,” let me
define service. Service is when
you do something above and
beyond what your customer expects.
What have your salespeople done that
meets that standard? Remember, that it
has to be, above and beyond.
I am sure there are many fine things
you do for your customers, but those
are courtesies because they are things
customers expect of your salespeople.
I am going to select one of them that
will bring you more word of mouth
advertising, repeat customers and
creative sales then you are getting now.
Cleaning customers rings. I know you
are going to say you have been doing
this for years. Yes, I am sure you have,
but voluntarily for every customer that
comes into your store? In my 30 plus
years of sales training I have yet to find a
store that does. You may remember me
writing about my father Harry Zell and
how forward thinking he was. When I
started to sell in our family store Zell
Brothers one of the first jobs I had was
to clean customers rings and check them
for loose and chipped stones. If I found
something, I would turn it over to my
father or a salesman.
I noticed that after one of the
salespeople introduced themselves they
would say, “Mrs. Jones, let me brighten
up your diamonds and check them.”
My father said to avoid the word clean,
because that implied the customer’s
rings are dirty. When I started selling,
I was surprised that many of our
female customers would come up to
my counter and before I could greet
them they started taking off all their
jewellery and say, “Here you are, I’ll be
back after lunch.” Our service was that
popular and I had no idea how many
diamond sales this created.
Many of the rings were more than 20
a favor when asked. Because of mall
traffic we were selling almost as
many settings and larger diamonds
as our downtown store. This gave us
a head start from our competition.
Most of these customers became
repeat customers because we knew
their anniversaries and called their
husbands before their important
occasions. Our customers could not
be happier.
To start this service you must have
a steam cleaner, but you must first dip
the jewellery in an ultrasonic cleaner
to loosen the dirt then use steam and
put a strainer in the drain. If you do
not have enough staff to give this
service, this is what I recommend.
Call your nearest college, the dean
of business, and tell him you want
to hire part time service people that
would like to learn about jewellery.
These young salespeople smile more
and are great with customers.
They are quick learners and if they
start selling, they may outsell some
of your veterans.
This service, brightening up
customers diamonds, was the talk
of the town. No other jeweller
would do this voluntarily, but once
their customers experienced this in
our store, we had them forever. You
can too.
To help you get started, go to Leonard’s website,
www.zellit.com and order his best selling sales manual
of proven jewellery sales techniques. Now available,
“Leonard Zell Live” a full day sales seminar recorded live
on 3 CDs. You may also email Leonard at [email protected]
for further information on this article and for answers to
any of your questions on selling and management.
Leonard welcomes your feedback and especially ideas you
have that made your website successful. He will include
them in his next article on web sites. Please email them to
Leonard at [email protected]
JEWELLERY FOCUS
41