Five Things I Know For Sure About Selling Bridal: Marcus Majors

Published

8 years ago

September 22, 2015

Marcus Majors

Sam L. Majors
Midland, TX

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

Marc Majors, great-great grandson of J.P. Majors, a railroad watch inspector who founded the family business, is passionate about selling diamonds, and a huge believer in earning trust. Together they make an unbeatable combination. “You’re not going to grab every sale, but you have to take on every customer looking in your store with the conviction that you are going to be their jeweler,” he says. “Every customer has potential. you just have to be the one who captures it.” — Eileen McClelland

1
Ask open-ended questions right off the bat and really listen to their feedback. Questions pertaining to preferences in the four Cs are important to get a good foundation, but I also like to ask questions such as: Are you just starting to look? Have you been to several different stores?

2
Make them feel comfortable. Whether a girl is looking by herself, with a friend or mother, a couple looking together or a guy by himself, I try to keep things light and smile a lot. And if I can find some common ground between us I’ll definitely talk about that. We went to the same college, we have mutual friends, grew up in the same town, etc.

3
We carry a very tailored selection and sometimes we just don’t have what the customer is looking for, so I have to reach out to my resources and I use the best in the world. I’m really good about finding or making the perfect ring; it’s a passion of mine. And customers like this. It’s not one piece out of 500 in a bunch of showcases that I’m pulling out to sell them.

4
You have to understand that people shop around … a lot … and you have to be ready for all kinds of questions. You have to stay on top of trends and you have to be full of knowledge. A little Texas charm helps too! But passion, knowledge, trust and a taste for quality will take you a lot further than just trying to sell on price and volume.

5
I love diamonds and I love selling diamonds! There is something really special about working with a couple and delivering the perfect ring to them. You have to have passion in this business and you have to believe in the romance of bridal sales. Too often people get caught up selling specs, certs and commissions and they lose focus on the more important aspects of the whole process in an engagement ring sale.

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”