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JEWELRY TRAINING

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CEO CORNER

CEO CORNER

Graduate Gemologist Appraisals Have Arrived!

We will now be providing stores with GIA Graduate Gemologist Appraisals for some of the jewelry we are selling.

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) is the world's foremost authority on gemstones, and they invented the most common system and standards used worldwide for grading diamonds.

The strategy of providing appraisals on some items has proven to increase sales, profit, and jewelry turn as well as provide company credibility and build customer confidence for the rest of the jewelry we sell.

1/2ct and larger diamonds, and jewelry selling for more than $1000 USD are the types of items that will benefit from having an appraisal.

Appraisal benefits to share with your customers: 1.GIA Appraisals are valid for Insurance companies all over the world. 2.$100 value but is free with the purchase of the appraised item! 3.The “Retail Replacement Value” I use is comparable to the Retail Selling Price – Not an inflated, unrealistic value seen on many other independent appraisals. Display Tip: Print an extra tag and/or starburst and place on the appraisal near the Retail Value. This way the customer can see that we are selling far below the typical jewelry store price, and they are getting a fantastic value!

The first round of appraisals will come with some of the diamond stud earrings we purchased for all stores.

We will expand the In-house Appraisals Program to include other items in January 2022.

For the Caribbean stores, I will be appraising select items when we are shipping inventory to the stores, as well as appraising special items that can be brought to me at HQ.

For the US stores, items can be brought to HQ for appraisal for a 1-week turnaround.

This appraisal service is provided free for our stores, so if you have an item that customers have been asking if it comes with an appraisal, or you think an appraisal will help you sell it – make sure to let your manager know and get the item to HDQ.

Greg Weiss, AJP, GG (GIA) Director of Jewelry Operations

JEWELRY TRAINING

Engagement & Wedding Band Add-on Sales strategy

AllThese are the Top 5 Days to Get Engaged, according to WeddingWire…

#1 Valentine’s Day #2 New Year’s Day #3 Christmas Day #4 Christmas Eve #5 Fourth of July (US Independence Day)

Knowing this can help you take advantage of one of the most common missed opportunities when selling engagement rings.

When buying an engagement ring, most customers are focused on the engagement ring and are not thinking ahead about the wedding bands.

Most salespeople assume that their customers will come back to buy the wedding bands when they are ready.

What happens in most cases is at some point in the future when the customer is in some random store and a wedding band catches their eye, they often will buy it before they get back to your store.

Rather than rely on chance, be proactive at the time of the engagement ring sale and get the customer to put the wedding bands on layaway, guaranteeing a future sale while also making their wedding planning go easier and less stressful. During your presentation, make sure to ask when the wedding date is.

Then after they decide on an engagement ring to buy or put on layaway, say something like…

“You have a lot of things on the list to plan for your wedding over the next six months; why don’t we look at some wedding bands now, and you can always put them on layaway. That's one less thing to worry about for the wedding.

Let’s provide world class service and intentionally focus on adding on wedding band layaways this Valentine’s engagement season.

Your customers will love this extra level of customer service, and you will have a guaranteed future wedding band sale; everyone is a winner!

Greg Weiss, AJP, GG (GIA) Director of Jewelry Operations

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