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David Geller

David Geller: Take Your Shop To the Next Level

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Outstanding customer service is not just about your reputation: It’s a business multiplier and profit booster.


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

“Customer service” is a widely used but not-done-enough-in-practice phrase. Extraordinary service gets people talking about your store, lowers advertising costs and increases sales. How? Your customers come back to you rather than go to a competitor and they send their friends in as well. In addition, repair sales are trust sensitive. That means that when you have won customers’ confidence through superior service, they will turn to you for their higher-end repairs and custom work.

Here are 10 ways to improve
customer service in the shop:

 

1 Have jobs done on time. If a job can’t be done on time, have the staff call the customer so the customer doesn’t make a pointless trip to the store. Adopt some type of system to manage this. Most POS systems have a shop-tracking module. Some stores use a calendar on a board with customers’ names next to the due date. You can buy “Day of the week” stickers and attach them to the envelopes before they are given to the jewelers. (Buy them at: instr.us/11154.)

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2 Deliver all repairs and custom jobs back to the customer in a suede or leather pouch. Even inexpensive jewelry is a treasure to customers.

3 When taking in or delivering jobs, handle them with the same care as you would a fine piece of jewelry. Place a pad on the counter when handling items.

4 After delivery, put the delivered envelope in a “week from now” box. Have the staff call each customer a week later to check up on the repair or custom job. Imagine their response: “The store called me to check up on the ring I had fixed. I spend $1,000 for car service and they didn’t acknowledge me.” Then after calling, file the envelope away in your normal fashion.

5 Make yourself a calendar system and on the anniversary of the date the customer’s custom design was delivered send the ring a birthday card: “Happy Birthday, Jennifer’s Ruby Ring! Another great year helping to make Jennifer smile. Be sure to come in this month for your free Clean & Shine so you’ll look great all year.”

6 In the process of custom making a piece, take progress pictures and email them to the customer. “Here’s our jeweler Marvin making the design on the computer.” Then later, “Here’s your ring having the stones set by Marvin. Next he’ll detail the ring and polish it to a great shine.” People love the TV show How Do They Do That? and this is similar. It will cause excitement and better yet, your customers will have a photo they can send to their friends via email, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or other social sites. You’ll get exposure for free — on top of an excited customer.

7 In the showroom, have brag books with pictures of things you’ve made in the past. Or better yet, have a slideshow on a separate computer screen running all the time.

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8 If possible, position the shop so people can see work being done through a window from the showroom or even from the street.

9 There should be a dress code for shop staff as they are occasionally seen in the showroom. It can be as simple as the jewelers wearing the same style polo shirts or aprons with the store logo.

10 Send a thank-you card through the regular mail even if you send out email or text thank-yous. Yes, even for watch batteries. It’s a nice touch and yet so few retailers do it. Think about how many thank-you cards you received this year despite all of the money your family spends. Almost zip, I’m sure. We sent postcards for any work under $250. Above $250 a handwritten thank-you note in an envelope was sent.


David Geller is a consultant to jewelers on store management. Email him at dgellerbellsouth.net.

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He Doubled His Sales Goals with Wilkerson

John Matthews, owner of John Michael Matthews Fine Jewelry in Vero Beach, Florida, is a planner. As an IJO member jeweler, he knew he needed an exit strategy if he ever wanted to g the kind of retirement he deserved. He asked around and the answers all seemed to point to one solution: Wilkerson. He talked to Rick Hayes, Wilkerson president, and took his time before making a final decision. He’d heard Wilkerson knew their way around a going out of business sale. But, he says, “he didn’t realize how good it was going to be.” Sales goals were “ambitious,” but even Matthews was pleasantly surprised. “It looks like we’re going to double that.”

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