The greeting your jewelry sales professional gives sets the stage for the client’s overall experience.
The money spent on advertisements, product lines, and architecture all become diminished if we drop the ball at the greeting.
Why?
It is because fine jewelry is a purchase literally dripping with emotion not strictly an intellectual purchase.
We are selling hopes, dreams, and memories.
Our clients want us to share in their excitement and be excited for them.
We set the stage for this emotion-filled purchase when we greet the client.
If we spend thousands of dollars to convey that we are a warm, sincere store to shop yet we give a cold, uncaring greeting at the door, where does that leave us?
What message will the client believe?
To prove this point, I took a skeptical jewelry store manager out to visit his competition.
The Greeting Sets The Stage
– Mega Mall Example:
The first store we visited was in a nearby mega mall.
It was midday on a Wednesday when we strolled over the threshold of this new store.
There was an associate at the front counter who was busy straightening a display case.
She quickly said, “Good afternoon, welcome to _______.”
The store manager with me leaned over and remarked how quickly she acknowledged our presence, to which I replied, “Yes, that is true, but she didn’t make a visual connection with us, so what did you really hear?”
In essence what we “heard” was someone too busy or not caring enough to acknowledge our presence, but trained enough to automatically say the words.
We felt as if we were imposing on her time and not really important to her.
-Small Independent Example:
The second store was a small but very successful independent located off of the main street downtown.
It was around four in the afternoon on that same Wednesday when we opened their door.
The associate looked up from the case she was straightening, smiled, and said, “How are you doing today? Welcome to _____.”
She then proceeded to come out from behind the counter to talk to us.
For the next five minutes or so she took the time to get to know us.
She took us around the store, stopping to introduce us to other members of the team and the highlights of their selection.
Within five minutes we knew her name, she knew and used our name, had been introduced to other members of the team, and had a tour of the store.
The perceived experience was night and day different from the mega mall store.
The skeptical store manager was converted to a believer on the spot.
The Greeting Comes Down To Three Key Points.
1.) Done quickly.
2.) Done energetically.
3.) Done with an eye to eye connection.
The wording is a matter of your personal style, as long as you avoid the worn-out phrase, “May I help you?”
All too often we sweat the smallest of advertising details but forget the importance of a simple greeting.
Remember it is the greeting that sets the stage for the entire store experience for your clients.
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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.