Big Survey

For Most Jewelers, Customers Are Still the Hardest Sale

But for some, selling ideas to staff or to family and friends is tougher.

Published

3 years ago

October 20, 2021

Chris Taylor

JEWELERS ALL AGREE, selling yourself to the bank is hard; selling your ideas to your staff is hard – even selling your ideas to your family and friends is tough. But for more than 30 percent of respondents to the INSTORE 2021 Big Survey customers are still the hardest sale of all.

Just over 26 percent of jewelers said that selling ideas to staff was the hardest sale and for nearly 23 percent selling ideas to family and friends was the toughest, but 32 percent said that customers still headed the list.

“For a very long time it was selling our ideas to our staff,” said one jeweler, who added: “Thankfully, we have an amazing team now and I can say it’s … selling our goods to a customer!”

But anyone can fall into the category of “hardest sale,” with one jeweler noting that the hardest to deal with were “people who think they know more about jewelry than I do.”

Meanwhile, some jewelers, of course, are more than happy to leave the pressure of sales to a key offsider.

“Being a bench jeweler, I leave sales up to the expert: My wife,” said one.

The 2021 Big Survey was carried out between August and September, attracting more than 600 anonymous responses from owners of independent jewelry stores across the United States and Canada. The full results will be published in the upcoming November issue of INSTORE.

Related Topics: Big Survey 2021 Featured

Chris Taylor

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