The JA Report: News, Tips & Trends from Jewelers of America

Set Non-Negotiable Sales Standards For Staff

While there are signs this holiday season will be an improvement over last year, there is no doubt that selling a luxury product like fine jewelry will take more sales effort than before. Consultant Brad Huisken, president of IAS Training, says it is critical that staff and owners to maximize every opportunity. In a column for JCK Magazine, he suggests setting a “non-negotiable standard” that every retail jewelry professional in your store must use with each customer.

Huisken advises to train sales staff to understand that it is unacceptable to let a customer leave the store without one of the following actions taking place, hence the “non-negotiable standard” for sales:

Discuss Diamond Clarity to Customers

When it comes to the quality of a diamond, clarity is a key component of the 4Cs. According to the Diamond Council of America (DCA), clarity has a clear impact on the value of the diamond, since only about 2% of all gem quality diamonds are flawless. As a retail jewelry professional your job is to successfully match customers with a diamond that -- while less than perfect -- is perfect for them. Many costumers seek a balance between diamonds they find attractive and those they find cost-effective. The main objective is to make customers feel confident and proud in their diamond choice.

Use the Diamond Council of America’s expert tips to successfully sell diamonds and discuss clarity:

Motivate Employees With Incentive Programs

The success of your business depends largely on how well you motivate your employees to perform. Motivation is the key to creating an environment where each and every employee strives for optimal performance. Your real challenge is ensuring that the incentive programs you use are flexible enough to be appealing to everyone on your staff.

Job satisfaction is no longer just about a paycheck.  Employees want to feel appreciated, and they want to be rewarded in a very individual manner. A strong incentive program demonstrates to the employee that the company cares. Additionally, a successful employee incentive program leads to increased productivity, workplace harmony and bottom line profitability.

Use the following checklist as a guide in identifying, developing and institutionalizing employee incentive programs.

Get Employees to Speak Up

Your employees are an integral part of your business and their feedback -- both positive and negative -- is critical to your success. But in tough times, people are less likely to speak their minds, especially when they’re anxious about their jobs. 

At Entrepreneur.com, Chris Penttila shares tips on breaking the “silence barrier”:

Repair Right

Your repair business is not only a significant source of revenue (accounting for 10% of retailer’s sales, according to Jewelers of America’s 2009 Cost of Doing Business Report). It is a critical component of your customer service. Great repair service can bolster your reputation, while bad practices will do much to undermine it. 

Jewelers of America’s David Peters offers the following rules for successful jewelry repairs:

JIC’s Marketing 101: Go for the Gold

In the final installment of “JIC’s Marketing 101” Tips Series, JIC’s Amanda Gizzi says retailers should consider buying back gold jewelry, as a way to entice customers to buy from their stores. “Everywhere you turn, consumers are faced with companies offering to buy their gold.  We always tell consumers to only deal with reputable jewelers and that is YOU!,” explains Gizzi. “Offering to buy their old, broken or pair-less earrings can be a great way to bring new customers into your store.” 

When buying back gold jewelry, Gizzi advises retailers to:

JIC’s Marketing 101: Win Digital Customers

In this Tips Series, Jewelry Information Center’s Amanda Gizzi shares her expert marketing advice to help you boost sales with tough marketing. 

Gizzi says it’s important not to discount your digital customer:

Stay Competitive with Credit

Promotional credit is still an attractive and effective tool to purchase higher ticket items. By offering promotional financing in lieu of a discount, you can protect the integrity of the brands you are selling. More importantly, today’s consumers want options. In the current economy they’re not as cash liquid as they once were. With a high-end item like jewelry, long-term financing can be more attractive than discounted prices.

Regina Leadem, Vice President of Sales for the Luxury portfolio at GE Money, shares simple tips to help make purchases more affordable for your customers:

Working With The Web: Pay Attention to SEO

You’ve probably heard of SEO, but you're not sure what it is. Simply put, SEO is “Search Engine Optimization,” which Wikipedia defines as "the process of improving traffic to a website from search engines through 'natural' search results.”

The use of the term "natural" here means that it is not paid for. You probably already understand that the higher a website appears in search results from such search engines as Google, Yahoo and YouTube, the better your store's online presence will be. Better web presence yields increased web traffic, increased leads and ultimately increased sales. And it's SEO that improves your ranking in these search results.

According to Larry Chasin, President & CEO of Ideal Diamond Solutions, a premier website development and optimization source for independent retail jewelers, SEO maximization has to be an ongoing effort for jewelry retail companies to stay competitive online. He provides excellent tips to help you improve your website’s search rankings:

JIC’s Marketing 101: Special Events

Amanda Gizzi, of the Jewelry Information Center, JA's consumer marketing and public relations arm, continues her tips to help you proactively drive jewelry customers into your store during these tough times. While being visible out in your community is key, another important way to generate "buzz" for your store is by bringing the community in your doors for a special event. Special events are an ideal means of generating excitement and building community relations for your business. 

In order for your event to be successful, use the following tips to ensure it is well-planned and well-run:

JIC’s Marketing 101: Boost Traffic and Sales

Is the foot traffic in your store slower than you’d like it to be?  Summer and fall are notoriously quiet months for jewelry stores, but with the current unsettled economy, most jewelers report sales are even more sluggish than normal. Rather than pining for customer’s to magically appear, get proactive and fight back.  Tough times require tough marketing, so you need to get creative. 

In this multi-part Tip Series, Amanda Gizzi, of Jewelry Information Center, provides some insightful tips for creating in-store excitement and traffic:

Use a Consistent Pricing Strategy

While there are plenty of practical reasons people buy things, the emotional component is the every constant “x” factor. That’s why your pricing strategy is critical to your success, as it  sends subtle messages and psychology to reach potential customers.

Consider the time-tested price strategies, reviewed by Ivana Taylor at Small Business Trends, as you are creating your price points: