A JEWELER ONCE TOLD me, “Our unspoken principle in the shop is that we do not want anyone to think they have paid too much for a repair.” I get your point, but how does a jeweler know that a customer is about to pay too much? That’s a jeweler’s brain, not the customer’s.
I’ve visited many stores and connected to their books, and I usually see that their shop numbers are too low. When I tell them their prices are too low for the work, many will say, “My customers won’t pay.”
How do you know? How many times did you ask? And how many really said “no” before you decided that the price was too high?
Before we decide on a metric for determining your repair pricing, let’s look at your expectations of selling out of your showcase. If you see 10 customers and only three buy, you don’t think you failed in selling, even though 70 percent of those people walked! Fail or not, you have decided a 70 percent walk rate is good because “I sold a few pieces.”
Now, let’s look at selling repairs. Repairs typically have a 90 percent closing rate because repairs are not price-sensitive. What if you charge more and the closing rate drops to 80 percent, and you now at 80 percent take in more money than you did at 90 percent? Are you charging too much? Why not work less and make more?
Even if your repair closing ratio hits 70 percent (I see this all the time), it’s never ever that you’re charging too much.
The staff’s selling skills suck because they think you charge too much or they are not explaining to the customer the difficulty and expertise required in this repair. (And yet, even at 70 percent closing ratio, you’re doing twice as well as selling from the showcase.)
In 1986, I did $830,000 in sales, of which 75 percent was from our shop. I had a 95 percent closing ratio. But we were failing due to debt. Our prices were too low, among other things.
That’s when I wrote the Geller Blue Book. Once printed and used, our closing rate dropped a bit because we were all scared of quoting these much higher prices. After I started sales training and I personally went to a Harry Friedman class (on being a sales manager and trainer), our closing ratio went back up and sales went up.
Every time I have spoken at a jeweler’s meeting, I ask the attendees, “What do you charge to size a typical 1-carat, six-prong, 14K yellow gold engagement ring smaller?” Their answers range from $22 (yes, 22) all the way up to $65 and even once $85 dollars.
Guess what? All of them achieved a 90 percent closing ratio, and none of them thought they were overcharging.
People will pay for quality work, and charging more is the only way to fix the shop’s profitability, which should be keystone or better. Of course, you can lower the jeweler’s pay, but I don’t think that would go over well.