Shane Decker: The Wow Factor

Impressing the client starts with you.

Jewelers are loading their stores with killer inventory and spending thousands of dollars on advertising to bring people in. Yet, the national closing ratio is 23 to 27 percent in independently owned stores. A client may “ooh” and “aah” over your buildout and the size of your inventory, but unless the sales associate makes the effort to wow her, chances are she’s still leaving empty-handed.

Some clients come in for a large purchase, while others come in for service or information. And while they wait, they just twiddle their thumbs. If they say they’re “just looking,” nothing happens. If they make a small purchase, nothing happens. We have to take more professional advantage of every selling opportunity we have. Why are all these clients coming in? To give you money! But in most cases, they can’t tell one jewelry-selling experience from another. They can stand and wait on a battery anywhere. What sets you apart? It’s not the store or the merchandise; it’s your trained staff — the people who can give the client an awesome experience.

What you need to do is add the wow factor.

While a customer is waiting for a repair or if she’s just made a small purchase, use a tool called a lead-in line. A lead-in line leads the client into the next presentation. It’s as easy as this:

• “Check this out!”
• “Guess what’s in the vault!”
• “Wait until you see what just came in!”
• “Gotta show you my favorite!”

Lead-in lines keep the client in your store longer. They also show her that you’re willing to spend more time with her. And, a lead-in line allows you to get a piece of jewelry in her hand that she’s never held before. Remember, she doesn’t handle 1- and 2-carat diamonds every day like you do. It’s called “creating interest.” Here are five reasons why you must do this:

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Clients quit buying when you quit selling. And remember to wow smart. If she’s wearing a half-carat, show her a carat. If she’s wearing a carat, show her a 2-carat. Never wow to intimidate. But do wow everybody. (And don’t complicate something that’s so simple by overthinking it. Just do it.)

It isn't “cheaper down the street” if you're doing your job right.

One of the top objections that jewelry salespeople hear from customers is “It’s cheaper down the street.” Does this mean that the product down the street is of a higher quality and is really cheaper? Probably not. More likely, the product is of a lower quality and naturally costs less. Unfortunately, most salespeople panic when they hear this objection, and they run back to get a lower price.

Make role-playing fun, effective and free of criticism.

Unfortunately, rather than practice on each other during or after sales meetings, many sales associates practice on their clients. Their opening lines are terrible; they say "What can I help you with?" or "Hi, how are you?" Their presentations have become rote and do not make customers feel special. Their closes are just as bad. They say, "Can I wrap this up for you?" "I’ll size it while you wait," or "How do you want to pay for this?" Your clients get tired of hearing the same things over and over everywhere they go.

Believe in, and respect, the price on your tags.

The price tag should exude integrity. I have accounts where the price on the tag is the price it is sold for, and no one can discount it. If they do, they make up the difference out of their paycheck or they’re terminated. There are brands and vendors that put their own price tag on, and if the store negotiates the price, the manufacturer can pull the brand from their store. The manufacturer and the retailer believe in that price.

Holiday season joy comes from being ready to sell.

2. Each day before you open, have a 10-minute meeting about what’s going on that day. It’s important everyone be on the same page.

3. Have a one-month December add-on contest. The three categories are: 1. the salesperson who writes the most tickets with add-ons; 2. the largest add-on on a single ticket; 3. the most add-ons on one ticket. (Beads don’t count!)

Exceed expectations and the sales will take care of themselves

This article originally appeared in the January 2015 edition of INSTORE.

On this particular day, Scott was standing in the “sweet spot” just inside the door ready to greet the next client coming in. A middle-aged lady walked in. He smiled and greeted her and noticed she was very sad. She said, “I’m here to get a new men’s wedding band. I just buried my husband and I forgot to take his wedding band off.” She started to cry. So did Scott.

Meanwhile, the woman’s mother had been waiting in the car and decided to come in. She saw her daughter crying and thought the jeweler had said something that upset her. When Scott explained to her mother what had just happened, her mother was very happy and her eyes started to well up, too. She told her daughter, “I knew we’d come to the right jewelry store!” While Scott was taking care of the wedding band, the mother started looking at diamond rings. She picked one out and bought it before she left.

In our business, sometimes you forget about being an owner or a salesperson and you actually become a good Samaritan or a hero in someone else’s eyes. Being sympathetic to a client’s needs and touching their feelings is the best you can be. You can go home and know that you did the right thing. I’m sure this client and her mother are telling all their friends what Scott did. And guess who their jeweler’s going to be forever?

P.S. — Owners, you should talk to your employees and figure out how to empower them in situations like this to do the right thing. It could be one of the best investments that you make in your business.

A professional knows his stuff. But he
also knows emotion clinches the sale.

This article originally appeared in the February 2015 edition of INSTORE.

Getting too technical with customers can cost you wins. Too often, salespeople assume clients want to hear everything they know about the gemstone or the jewelry they hold in their hands. Sometimes, the opposite is true. Sometimes, dropping that knowledge on a client will kill the sale.

More than ever, today’s clients want to work with knowledgeable, skilled, professional, educated salespeople. You can’t let the client know more about your product than you or your salespeople know. With the amount of knowledge they could walk into your store with, you would think they had just graduated from GIA!

That said, it doesn’t always hold true — and even when it does, you should give the client only as much technical information as he actually wants. How do you know how much is too much? After you’ve asked the proper selling questions to open your presentation, ask this question: “Would you like to know more about the diamond?” If the client says yes, find out how much more. Never volunteer information. When you give too much information and he’s not interested, he will think you’re not listening to his needs. If you don’t give him technical information and he wants it, he may think you’re incompetent. Either way, you lose — so ask the proper questions and listen carefully to his needs.

Here are a few more tips for selling technical-minded clients:

1. If a client wants the GIA lab report on a diamond or asks for an ideal cut or a particular color grade, he’s obviously done some research, so ask if he’d like to see the diamond under magnification. If he says yes, he’ll be impressed when you show it to him — and he’ll also know you are not hiding anything.

2. Never use tweezers when handing a loose diamond to the client; your client will feel self-conscious about possibly dropping the diamond or handling it incorrectly. Instead, always use a 2-inch, four-prong, spring-loaded diamond holder so that the client has no fear of the diamond slipping out. He’ll hold it longer, and the longer he possesses it, the higher the closing ratio.

3. When you talk about the four Cs, always talk about them in this order: cut, color, clarity and carat weight.

4. When using a color and clarity chart to explain diamond grading to a customer, always start at the bottom at I3 or Z and go up to SI1 or G. When you start at the top and go down, you devalue the diamond. But when you start from the bottom and go up, not only did you show them how far up the chart it was, you built value.

5. Be sure the client is seated if you’re giving him technical information. This creates a more relaxed atmosphere and allows him to get more involved with the microscope and tools you’re using.

Technical knowledge is absolutely critical for your self-confidence and to build client confidence. But it should be used as support only; it’s never the primary emphasis. Remember that most of the time, the client is celebrating a special event.

Eighty percent of all jewelry sold is purchased to give to a loved one. So always build the relationship in a sale all the way through, and always before you get technical. Make sure to romance the reason they are in the store — that’s the most important part of your presentation.

Shane Decker has provided sales training for more than 3,000 stores worldwide. Contact him at (719) 488-4077 or at ex-sell-ence.com.

Set your people up to succeed with these five types of sales meetings.

This article originally appeared in the March 2015 edition of INSTORE.

When store owners hire new people but don’t train them properly to sell jewelry, I think to myself, “What’s the point?” After all, in order to understand the products we sell in our industry, it takes a salesperson at least three years to be fully versed and confident — more if your store carries fine timepieces. So when you make a new hire and throw that person “to the wolves” without training, it not only damages their self-confidence, it makes your client think that none of you know what you’re doing.

Weekly sales meetings are the key to ongoing competence on the sales floor. There are five types of sales meetings that you should be holding regularly. They are:

1. Gemological. This is training on diamonds and colored stones. I recommend salespeople take GIA or DCA classes; both are exceptional at delivering the knowledge that a jewelry seller needs to be successful. Remember, your customers are researching your product way more than they ever have before. If you don’t train your people on gemology, these customers will either go to another store or back to the Internet.

2. Product knowledge. Each salesperson on your team should be a walking encyclopedia of every brand you carry. Too many salespeople allow themselves to be category smart (that is, they know a lot about timepieces but not diamonds). If a client walks in and wants to look at watches and you’re the bridal person and can’t turn over, because everyone is busy, you just became a sale killer.

3. Salesmanship. This is how to sell. Topics include how to romance the three areas of every sale, how to close all the way through, how to greet and T.O. and add on and wow all clients, and how to handle objections with speed and accuracy. This is a lifelong study. I’ve trained in over 4,000 stores and I readily acknowledge that I am still learning. You could meet every day and not cover it all.

4. Store procedure. Information on how your store is run is vital to a well-oiled sales team. You can teach on how to set up and tear down your cases, the correct way to write up repair tickets, and store security rules (a lot of stores wait too long to train on this one). I call this area of training “flawless execution of the basics.” If you’re not good at the little things, you won’t be good at the big ones.

5. Store culture. How you do business is what separates you from your competitors. This includes benefits like service, facts and quality. Facts include how long you’ve been in business, having a GIA-trained staff, owners on premises, jeweler on premises, diamonds from Antwerp, and so on. Under service are repairs while you wait, battery replacement, laser welding, appraisals, even gift-wrapping. Quality includes expert craftsmanship, your brands, lab reports, platinum mountings, quality control experts, personally selected diamonds, and so on.

Regular, well-planned sales meetings give your people a professional edge. The better trained they are, the higher their closing ratio will be and the more clients will want to come back again.

Shane Decker has provided sales training for more than 3,000 stores worldwide.
Contact him at (719) 488-4077 or at ex-sell-ence.com.

In jewelry, you don’t walk away to “talk to your manager”.

This article originally appeared in the April 2015 edition of INSTORE.

Have you ever used the “used-car salesman” close? You know the one: The customer asks for a better price, and you say, “I’ll be right back; let me talk to my manager and see what we can do.” If you have, you’re responsible for killing your store’s profitability.

Think about it. When you run to a manager or an owner, the client thinks you’re going to help them out on the price. Now the client is expecting you to come back with a lower price. If you don’t, you’ve let them down, and chances are, you’ve killed the sale because the client’s expectation wasn’t met. On the other hand, if you do come back with a lower price, you not only make the store less profit, but the next time the client comes in, he’s going to expect you to come down on price again. He’ll say, “I’m a really good client; you can take more off than that.” So now to keep him, you have to slash the price every time.

Three tools to help you stay in touch with your clients

This article originally appeared in the May 2015 edition of INSTORE.

Being a top salesperson isn’t just about what happens when the client is in the store — it’s also about what happens after she leaves. Professional follow-up keeps clients from going to the competition, fosters a caring business, and helps to build loyalty.

Protect your store’s reputation by following these rules of repair

This article originally appeared in the June 2015 edition of INSTORE.

Having an awesome repair and service shop is an immeasurable benefit for your clients. In some cases, it can allow you to outsell competitors who can’t offer these services. However, if you don’t protect yourself by following strict procedures, you could open yourself up to accusations that could damage your business.

When it comes to add-ons, computers are trumped by good old pen and paper

This article originally appeared in the July 2015 edition of INSTORE.

Computers are awesome for inventory, bookkeeping and all sorts of reports, but when it comes to making more add-on sales, they can get in the way. Think about it: When we close the sale, we automatically turn and walk to the point-of-sale computer. As soon as you do that, you’ve told the client that she is done buying. You may be feeling good about closing a single sale, but you’re actually letting money walk out the door.

To sell to the young, you need to understand the young

This article originally appeared in the July 2015 edition of INSTORE.

Are your bridal sales less than you’d like them to be? The first thing you have to do is recognize the mistakes you’re making. Only then can you take action to remedy them. As I travel the country visiting stores each week, these are the biggest mistakes I see people consistently making in our industry:

Customers speak in code: understand it to close more sales

This article originally appeared in the October 2015 edition of INSTORE.

Every jeweler recognizes these three often-heard objections, but do they know how to handle them? If not, the sale is dead. But if you listen for the hidden meaning behind these customer words, you’ll understand that they’re in your store to buy something, and they just need a little help from you. Here are the objections, followed by what these clients are really thinking.

Compliments, company benefits and a relationship-building approach work with these young customers.

This article originally appeared in the January 2016 edition of INSTORE.

A lot of people in our industry have written and spoken about marketing to the new generation of jewelry buyers, but few have said anything about the type of sales approach that works with millennials. Like all clients, millennials appreciate a friendly, comfortable approach — but in some ways, they’re a little different in terms of what they want to hear and how they want to communicate. Here are some things to keep in mind when selling to millennials:

Coming up with the right questions can make the difference between a defensive client and a lifelong customer.

This article originally appeared in the February 2016 edition of INSTORE.

Want to know what’s worse than assaulting a client with bad breath or smelly body odor? Asking them what their budget is!

It’s not enough to educate the client.
You have to reassure her as well.

This article originally appeared in the March 2016 edition of INSTORE.

Remember first grade, when you brought your favorite toy to class for show-and-tell? You told your classmates all the things you loved about your toy. But they didn’t have to love it. They didn’t even have to pay attention. When you’re selling jewelry, it’s not enough to list all the things you like about a product. You’ve got to romance the product, reassure the client, and close all the way through your presentation. Only then will your client fall in love with your product and your store’s buying experience. I call this “show and sell.”

70% of clients would benefit from
a team-selling approach, if done right.

This article originally appeared in the April 2016 edition of INSTORE.

The biggest problem for every sales team is teamwork. People don’t want to share the load, or they don’t know how to do team-sell (or T.O.) effectively. Here are four areas to practice:

A salesperson can only deliver an awesome experience if he’s taught to do so.

This article originally appeared in the May 2016 edition of INSTORE.

I’m always amazed that when I ask audiences how many stores do one-hour sales meetings every week, it’s almost always less than 10 percent of those in attendance. In our industry, we have a bad habit of setting up new people for failure because of the lack of training. The learning curve in selling jewelry is a long one — approximately three years before a salesperson is truly comfortable and competent when selling the product. That alone should convince you to hold sales-training meetings once a week, but if that’s not enough, here are some more reasons.