Do you have “clerks” in your jewelry store?
Chances are you do and that is why your store’s volume has leveled off.
After a while, it gets easy to spot the clerks from the sales professionals the minute you walk into the store.
The telltale signs are evident even before you look at their sales figures.
Checklist to see if you have clerks behind your jewelry cases.
– They reach for a calculator instead of reaching to shake your hand.
The entire sales presentation of a clerk can be summed up like this, “Hi my name is _______. Is this a birthday or anniversary gift?
I have diamond studs.
They are H/I and SI2.
The price is $1,200 but I can give you 15% off.
I can ask the manager for a better price.
Can I wrap them up for you?”
That is their entire selling process with the only exception being the merchandise.
They are never more than 5 steps from a calculator.
Sales professionals want to cultivate a long term relationship more than trying to get a single sale.
– Clerks guard the front door.
Because clerks either cannot or choose not to develop a long term business relationship with their clients, they must rely on new people walking through the door.
Take a clerk away from their perch at the front door and watch their sales nosedive.
Sales professionals have repeat business from clients that know and trust them.
They are not as reliant on day to day traffic because they can generate their own traffic by picking up the phone.
– Personal calls vs business calls.
Clerks think nothing of picking up the phone to make personal calls yet are speechless when asked to call clients for a special event.
Pros know that to develop a business relationship.
They call for the same reasons that they call their friends because they view their clients as their friends.
If your only contact with your client over the phone is to tell them about a special event then you are a clerk.
– Every sale was theirs, should be theirs, or was stolen from them.
Sad but true.
Clerks are mostly in it for the commission money thus they take every advantage to voice their concern over the sales of others.
Seldom will a clerk congratulate another member of the team for a big sale.
Every change by management is met with resentment unless it enhances their pocketbook.
If you have a store full of clerks expect to spend time resolving, “That was my client” issues.
Clerks are seldom team players at their core.
Any of this sound familiar in your own jewelry store?
Any names that instantly come to mind?
If you have more clerks than sales professionals I would imagine that your special events produce lackluster results and your store’s overall volume has leveled off.
As an owner or store manager, you ultimately control the makeup of your team.
Now that you know the signs of someone clerking you have to ask yourself an honest question, “Do you have clerks in your jewelry store?”
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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.