Top salespeople tell their secrets

[h3]Chantelle Deimling[/h3]

[h5]Becky Beauchine Kulka, Diamonds and Fine Jewelry; Okemos, MI[/h5]

[componentheading]PROFILE[/componentheading]

[dropcap cap=T]o get psyched up for a day at work, I always talk with my husband before work. My husband leaves for work at 4:30 a.m. every morning. I take our children to school and after they’re dropped off I head for work and give my husband a call. Those 15 to 20 minutes I spend connecting with him by phone get me ready for the day. He’s my life line.[/dropcap]

[componentheading]INTERVIEW[/componentheading]

• The most memorable sale of my career was selling a fancy yellow diamond to a couple who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They had been searching the country for the perfect yellow diamond and after about a six-month search decided to stop into our store. Their budget was set at $50,000 — “$1,000 for every year of marriage.” I contacted our supplier and together we found a fancy yellow diamond that was perfect. It was $10,000 over their budget, but it didn’t matter because it was the perfect diamond for represent 50 years of marriage.

[blockquote class=orange]There’s always some new product that makes selling jewelry interesting.
[/blockquote]

• If I weren’t selling jewelry, I’d probably be a stay-at-home mom. However, I will most likely continue to sell jewelry until I’m of retirement age because I’m very content and challenged by selling. There’s always some new product that makes selling jewelry interesting.

• One thing I ask my customers is “What do you want to say with this piece of jewelry?” Whether the message is “I love you” or “I’m sorry”, knowing what the customer wants to say helps me find the perfect piece to convey the message.

• My customers trust me because I focus on teaching them about the jewelry items they are interested in — not just selling them. Spending time on establishing the value of the jewelry makes them comfortable as they are considering the purchase. I give them all the information they will need to make an educated decision and in the process establish a trusting relationship.

• One memorable movie about sales for me was What Women Want, with Mel Gibson. When watching the movie I could appreciate the creative concepts that seek to get in to the mind of the consumer. I find it helpful to try to get into the minds of my customers by looking at things from their perspective to understand what they need to say with their jewelry purchase.

• Teamwork is incredibly important at our store. Each team member is incredibly helpful. If I need them to step in or take over a sale they’re easy to work with or hand off a sale to. And, I know that if I have an important family obligation I know I can count on my team to give my customers that same level of service they’ve expect from our store.

• I can’t believe that five years ago I was working part-time, filling coffee cups and wrapping gifts, and that now I’m a full-time sales associate. I went from wrapping gifts to selling $60,000 rings.

• My specialty would have to be diamonds. They’re what I love the most, and it’s the product I know the most about. I also enjoy doing custom design work. Our goldsmith is incredibly talented. I appreciate the craftsmanship he puts into every custom order when we create a piece of jewelry. The anticipation of the creative process is exciting.

• If I met someone on their very first day in jewelry sales I’d tell them to know the inventory in their store. Selling jewelry with a full knowledge of the store’s inventory means selling with confidence and allows a salesperson to give tours of the store. Then get to know the other things your store offers, then they can offer customers alternatives if what they want isn’t in the store.

[blockquote class=orange]I was working part-time, filling coffee cups and wrapping gifts, and that now I’m a full-time sales associate. I went from wrapping gifts to selling $60,000 rings.[/blockquote]

• I like to be sold the same way I like to sell — with in-depth product knowledge. For example, my twin daughters have a condition called Osgood-Schlatter disease. It causes a great deal of pain in the knees of many athletic children and can be very painful. One day when shopping for soccer shoes for the girls, I happened to walk into a local store that was offering injury clinics. I inquired about it with the salesperson and she invited us back to have the doctors take a look at my girl’s knees. We came to the seminar where they explained to our girls the condition they have and helped us find the perfect things like special inserts for their soccer shoes and better shoes for practice. The information they provided helped us make great buying decisions. If I translate that into what I do I will seek to identify with customers and their needs to help them find the jewelry item that will convey exactly what they want to say.

• The first piece of jewelry I ever owned was an enamel set of apple jewelry from Avon. That was my first memory of jewelry. My mother still has a picture of me wearing that jewelry that I wanted especially for my first day of school and for my middle-school pictures. Years later I find myself going back to those years as we sell much in the way of jewelry by Nomination and Cheri Dori to young girls. Those same girls may also come in later in life for that special diamond.

[span class=note]This story is from the November 2004 edition of INSTORE[/span]