Top performing jewelry sales professionals are persistent.
They know you cannot be successful in jewelry sales if they just hold onto the rail, by always playing it safe.
We are so fearful these days of falling down, that we have resigned ourselves to be happy with any sale, with down selling just to say we had a sale.
Here is an all too familiar experience.
I walked into a local jewelry store the other day. The bright, freshly scrubbed sales associate greeted me with an honest smile and inquired as to how he could help.
I mention my upcoming 20th anniversary, as to which he replied, “Wonderful, let me show you our silver bead collection which is so popular right now!”
Really?
You could see it in his eyes as he talked about the shiny beads. He just wanted to make a sale, any sale, because his confidence was shot.
His selling persistence was gone.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan “Press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
Quote by Calvin Coolidge.
Too many people confuse falling down with failing.
When people go ice skating, so many of them judge their proficiency by how many times they fall down. For instance, “How did you do today?” The response being, “Great I only fell down twice”.
Does falling down twice really tell us whether a person can skate? How do we know they didn’t spend their whole time hanging on to the rail?
Or maybe they skate by taking baby steps.
Olympic skaters fall.
Well paid professional NHL hockey players fall.
Why?
Because they’re not afraid to let go of the proverbial railing. They’re more concerned with succeeding than with not falling down.
It is very easy to never fall down, just don’t ever do anything. Never take a risk, never try anything you’re not 100% certain you’ll succeed at, and never ever go beyond your own self-imposed limitations.
Never want to fall down on the sales floor?
Easy, just walk everyone over to the shiny, hot selling bead section and down sell them.
To be successful in jewelry sales over the long run, you have to be more focused on the success, than of falling down. Some of the greatest professional sellers I have ever met have had failures on the sales floor.
Clients they could not close, days that even the easiest of sales just did not go through.
The difference between them and everyone else?
They had the persistence to stop, brush themselves off, regroup, and give 100% to the next client through the door. Lingering doubts about their abilities never, ever materialized.
They knew they fell down, however, they never thought for a moment that they had failed.
They are persistent.
What rail are you holding on to?
Which limitations have you placed on your career, your personal life? Has enthusiasm and inner drive been replaced with a fear of falling, a fear of failure?
The ones holding onto the rail on your sales floor will give you every reason why you shouldn’t let go, why you should “just play it safe”.
Naysayers abound, they often whisper, “Look at her taking that risk selling an expensive piece!”, followed by, “What if she falls, everyone will see!”
My answer: Persistence pays off, let go of the rail, fall, get up, and let them watch you succeed!
Our “Inside the Jewelry Trade” Radio Show Episodes
The host of “Inside the Jewelry Trade” Radio Show – Jewelry Business Strategist – President of Four Grainer LLC. Author of the business books “A Reason To Chant,” and “A Reason to Chant – Jewelry Trade Edition.” Rod lives in Atlanta with his wife and two almost-human cats.