Selling Diamonds

(via Diamond Promotion Service) Selling With Information: Every salesman should know his diamonds. But he should also be careful about how he displays that knowledge.

Some young couples, shopping for an engagement ring, want to know all the technical facts about every diamond they consider. Others would be turned off by a flood of information that, in their preoccupation of the moment, they neither want nor understand. Customers for other pieces of diamond jewelry are usually less interested in diamond facts than in diamond fashions.

It is essential, nevertheless, that information be given clearly and confidently whenever it is requested.

A jeweler must be an expert in the eyes of his customers. So when a question about diamonds is asked, you have to answer it. You can’t look it up in a book or a promotion piece without losing that expert image. You can’t turn the question aside.

The language you use is important. One customer may be able to absorb all the technical terms you have; he’d feel you were condescending if you talked to him in simple terms. Another customer might need the translation of technical talk into terms of his everyday life; he’d feel you were snowing him if you talked over his head. It’s a matter of judgment to decide what terms to use with what customers.

Your information about diamonds should always be directed toward their individuality. As the symbol of love, a diamond is a very personal thing; and personal things should be individual. The infinite combinations of the characteristics of carat weight, color, clarity and cut makes each diamond unique. That is important to impress upon your customers.

When information is requested, be sure that you give it by demonstration as well as by words. Not every customer will want to look through a loupe or a microscope. Nor would every customer be able to see subtle gradations of color, even when pointed out. But they should be given the opportunity to do so, if they show the interest.

Selling with information is selling with facts, with confidence. Both should be solid.

Selling With Fashion
Fashion means different things to different people. Many are convinced that fashion is a conspiracy of planned obsolescence; what’s ‘in’ this year is ‘out’ next year.

Actually, fashion is whatever makes each woman look, and feel, her best. Therefore, diamond fashions are permanent, because the diamond is permanent in the way it makes a woman look and feel.

The settings for diamonds can change from year to year, from decade to decade. The same diamond can be put into different settings during its long life. But the diamond is always in fashion.

The diamond engagement ring, for example, may have the classic simplicity of the solitaire Tiffany mounting. Or it may have an infinite variety of settings, with center stone, side stones and precious metal all making integrated contributions to the intricate design. But each setting, be it classic or modern, is fashionable because it is personal.

Many couples are afraid that the ring they select may go out of style. You’ll be selling with fashion if you convince her that, as long as the setting continues to mean to her what it means on the day she first wears it, her ring will be her style. And should there come a time when she changes, as women often do, she can have her diamond put into another setting that will be her style then.

Fashion is highly important in the selling of other diamond jewelry. A diamond is a gift of love, be it ring, pin, watch, earrings, necklace or bracelet. But a diamond gift is also something to be worn as a fashion accessory.

One aspect of selling with fashion is the demonstration of your fashion sense by showing the capabilities of the different styles of diamond jewelry. The traditional is classic and timeless, and it can be worn with almost everything. The antique and the modern can also be worn with almost everything, but for different and special effects.

Another aspect is showing the versatility of a single piece; the more ways it can be worn, the more valuable it becomes. It’s simple economics that the more often a diamond piece can be worn, the less it costs for each wearing.

For example, a pin or brooch is usually worn at the shoulder. But you can show, with today’s fashions, that it can also be worn on a sleeve or cuff, on a belt, at the neckline, or on a hat or in the hair. Ear clips can be worn on a neckline, or even on the shoes. A necklace or bracelet can be wired for a tiara. Even a ring can double as a jewel for belt or scarf.

Your women customers will be particularly impressed when you sell with fashion. But even a man who is buying a gift for a loved one can be impressed with the versatility you can show him, to show her.

Selling with fashion is selling both for today and for always.

After The Sale Is Concluded
The consummation of a sale at the counter should be a beginning, not an end. You have established your market potential. You have brought traffic into your store. You have made the sale at the counter. A shopper has become a customer.

The next step is to make that customer a client, one who will naturally turn to you for all his diamond jewelry in the future. Your merchandise and salesmanship have made a customer. Interest and service will make a client.

Interest can be shown in many ways. For instance, you could take a picture of a young couple as they buy their engagement ring. Since the girl will wear her ring constantly, she has no need for the ordinary ring box; so you could package her ring in a box that could be used later for another purpose. You could send a card of congratulation on their wedding, after the birth of each baby, on each anniversary. You could call or write to any customer whenever you have something of special interest for her, or him.

Your study of your market potential can show you what types of expression of interest can be most effective for you. Service is simply interest applied for a specific purpose. At regular intervals you could call or write to suggest that a ring, or watch, or pin, be brought back for a cleaning and any necessary adjustments. And a client’s visit for such a purpose is store traffic.

Market potential. Store traffic. Counter sales. Clients. They all add up to more sales of more diamonds.

Selling Diamonds (continued)