Do You — Or Don’t You — Do You Pursue Corporate Accounts?

Yes, I Do

➤ We give our corporate
partners discounts for service
anniversaries and birthdays. — Christi Weaver, The Polished
Edge, Liberty, MO

➤ It helps a lot to know someone
in the organization to get
it started. Once you get in, you
need to have a plan, logo ideas,
etc. — Cindy Smith, Smith and
Smith Jewelers, Marianna, FL

➤ We’ve had success with those
that have approached us but we
need to be more proactive! — Nicole Shannon, Keir Fine Jewelry,
Whistler, British Columbia,
Canada

➤ We had a brochure made,
and I go around in person or
sometimes we just send the
brochure. — Patty Wedemeier,
Elegant Jewelers, Sugar Land,
TX

➤ We reach out to the 4-plusstar
resorts. — Mia Chalik,
MiAmor Luxury Group, Coral
Springs, FL

➤ We do employee of the
month for a couple of giant
companies. — Emily Clark,
Spath Jewelers, Bartow, FL

➤ We ask clients who are
business owners, “How do
you reward your employees?”
— Todd Broadbent, Clarkson
Jewelers, Ballwin, MO

➤We have done corporate
accounts for award watches
many times. There isn’t an
incredible strategy we have
used. It’s as if the opportunities
have fallen into our lap. — Morgan
Bartel, Susann’s Custom
Jewelers, Corpus Christi, TX

➤ We get to know corporate
executives at club and community
events. — Ray DuBose, R.S.
Mann Jr., Jeweler, Newnan, GA

➤ We offer logo style timepieces,
Cross pens with corporate
logos, William Henry
knives. I mostly approach the
corporation via email, phone
call or follow up from a client
that shops in our store. I once
made a $40K corporate deal on an airplane to Vegas; I sat next
to the CEO of a local insurance
company. You never know! — Jim Alati, Simmons Fine
Jewelry, Meridian, ID

➤ The fact that we have a
Signature engraving machine
helps. We can engrave company
logos on glass, leather, wood
and of course all engravable
jewelry. — Jim Michael Rumanoff,
Rumanoff’s Fine Jewelry and
Design, Hamden, CT

➤ We have developed relationships
with several manufacturers
to have custom options
that we can offer to corporations.
Some corporations have
specific ideas, but others are
open to new offerings, and we
have found that it is essential
to know what you can provide,
and a pricing structure before
you can request a meeting or
opportunity. — Annette Kinzie,
Leonard Jewelry, Stillwater, OK

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No, I Don’t

➤ We can’t seem to crack the
existing market. — John Halsall,
JR Jewellers, Chilliwack,
British Columbia, Canada

➤ We help a lot of corporate
customers and appreciate the
business, but I would not say
that we pursue them. We are
fortunate to gain a lot of corporate
business by word of mouth,
and try to maintain our focus
on other areas of our business,
such as bridal. — Allison Leitzel-
Williams, Leitzel’s Jewelry,
Myerstown, PA

➤ In our area there are a lot of
high-wealth families. Their circle of friends and family create
an enormous revenue resource.
We have approached corporate
accounts as suggested by James
Porte but have found the effort/
follow-up/deliveries to be more
intensive than the revenue produced.
— Denise Oros, Linnea
Jewelers, La Grange, IL

➤ We don’t formally pursue as
in the past they have not been
cost-effective. The corporate
accounts we do have are from
spin-offs from satisfied customers
who work for corporations.
— J. Dennis Petimezas, Watchmakers
Diamonds & Jewelry,
Johnstown, PA

➤ We work with regular clients
who purchase corporate gifts
every year around the holidays,
but treat those transactions like
any other sale. Special clients
get special prices, especially
when buying multiple items.
— Jill Hornik, Jae’s Jewelers,
Coral Gables, FL

➤ I don’t feel we have enough
staff to adequately support and
manage that type of account,
but I would love to. — Elysia
Demers, Barnhardt Jewelers,
Spencer, NC

➤ For the most part they are
looking for a deal that makes it
not worth the trouble. — Valerie
King, King Jewelers, Cohasset,
MA

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