Best of Tips on Selling: how jewellery retailers can sell more in 2021

We have all had them, right? The angry and furious customer!  Customers expect the process of dealing with a store to be easy and they expect jewellery staff to be friendly and also expect staff to be rational.

Jeannie Walters says it’s all too easy to dismiss angry customers when they make owners, managers and staff feel uncomfortable, defensive or threatened. However, she firmly believes that jewellers can learn a lot from furious people and their comments should be seen as a ‘gift’ for improving your business.

An easy way for jewellers to increase sales is to discount. However, is the easiest strategy the best approach? Bryan Pearson doesn’t think so!

In fact, he says discounting can actually cost retailers millions in lost sales because all too often they miscalculate the discount rate when they fail to include pertinent factors in the formula, such as timing, product type, category and popularity. His advice could save you 'heaps'!

That said before you even think about discounting you should consider How to get the price right.

When it comes to setting retail prices, the process is more science than art – and knowing how to price jewellery correctly will have a significant impact on your store’s bottom line. 

Thomas Young says that, in the end, any retail price should equal the value that your business delivers to customers via its products and services.

How do you set your prices?

In an ever-changing world, especially one following the global COVID pandemic, all businesses will need to focus on customer service. While the jewellery industry is changing the way it delivers customer service one must ask: is customer service itself any different?

According to Shep Hyken, customer service is just a customer needing service, whether it’s having a question answered or a problem resolved. In the end, the aim is that the customer is happy. That’s it. Simple!

So why do so many retailers fail to keep customers happy?

Jewellery store branding will become increasingly important, especially with consumers turning more to online sales during COVID. Branding is the personality of a business. A brand has a character, a look, a tone of voice and a way of behaving and delivering an experience, so that customers return, time and time again!

Elizabeth Boyd notes that reducing customer churn by 5 per cent can increase profitability by 25 per cent to 125 per cent, while a 2 per cent increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10 per cent.

Clearly, 2021 is the year jewellery retailers should review their own brand.

And finally, you can have the best marketing and branding, set your prices and discounts appropriately but if you don’t have the best sales staff, everything falls over at the last hurdle.

Doug Dvorak notes that the sales industry is filled with people who never reach their true potential, because they fail to look for new horizons. He offers five hot tips on how to succeed in retail sales by discussing how sales professionals can take their game to the next level.