Columns

3 Tips to Capitalize on Engagement and Wedding Ring Shoppers

Follow up with customers who meet certain criteria.

Published

2 years ago

March 24, 2023

Peter Hannes Instore April 2023 Issue

2022 WAS A record setting year for couples, with 2.6 million weddings in the U.S. 2023 is projected to dip slightly to 2.2 million weddings, which means we are all going to have to be at our best to sell as many wedding bands as possible. A stat that I also have always found amazing is that only 60 percent of customers buy their wedding bands from the same jeweler where they purchased their engagement ring. 100 percent is not realistically attainable, but it should be our goal. At the very least, we should focus on what is in our control. As we head into bridal season, here are some key ideas to keep us on our A game.

1. Reach out to every customer that bought an engagement ring in 2021 and 2022. It’s up to you and your sales manager to be able to pull up this kind of list almost instantly.

Reach out to see if they’ve sent a date (hint: Google them, and you can find a lot of dates on couples on The Knot) and remember that anything inside of a year is “coming up soon” and they should set an appointment to look at wedding bands.

2. Contact anyone that is in your lead list but hasn’t purchased an engagement ring yet. This works two ways. Either they have their engagement ring and this is your chance to be the 40 percent that buy their wedding bands elsewhere, or they haven’t found an engagement ring yet, and as they see their friends and family getting married this time of year, that pressure only intensifies.

3. In addition to it being peak wedding season, it is also peak anniversary season. Not only should you be prospecting your brides-to-be, you should be prospecting those celebrating anniversaries. It’s easy to forget about our couples once the bands are purchased, but I would argue that a couple is not a client until their first non-wedding purchase.

As we reach out, there’s one thing I encourage us all to keep in mind: These couples are busy, and most are tired of planning. I’m getting married in May, and the thought of seeing one more wedding vendor gives me a migraine. The thing is, we’re not just one more wedding vendor. Technically, we’re the first; it started with the engagement ring. We’re also the most important (with the possible exception of her wedding dress). The food and drink will be gone, music will end, and you have to leave at the end of the night. Our rings are forever. We owe it to our couples to put into context how important they are.

Four Decades of Excellence: How Wilkerson Transformed a Jeweler's Retirement into Celebration

After 45 years serving the Milwaukee community, Treiber & Straub Jewelers owner Michael Straub faced a significant life transition. At 75, the veteran jeweler made a personal decision many business owners understand: "I think it's time. I want to enjoy my wife with my grandchildren for the next 10, 15 years." Wilkerson's expertise transformed this major business transition into an extraordinary success. Their comprehensive approach to managing the going-out-of-business sale created unprecedented customer response—with lines forming outside the store and limits on how many shoppers could enter at once due to fire safety regulations. The results exceeded all expectations. "Wilkerson did a phenomenal job," Straub enthuses. "They were there for you through the whole thing, helped you with promoting it, helping you on day-to-day business. I can't speak enough for how well they did." The partnership didn't just facilitate a business closing; it created a celebratory finale to decades of service while allowing Straub to confidently step into his well-earned retirement.