NationalJewelerNetwork.com has a story about how independent jeweler’s are handling the down economy, and Asheville’s Wick and Greene Jewelers gets quoted liberally. Sounds like it’s all about avoiding talk of the bad economy, and pushing the positive.
As the story notes, “instead of succumbing to what analysts predict will be a less-than-merry holiday shopping season, they will concentrate on creating an upbeat store atmosphere and hosting special events for customers. (A NationalJeweler online poll revealed that 19 percent of jewelers planned to hold more events this year, while 52 percent were holding fewer and 27 percent planned to hold the same number of events.)”
Here’s the Wick and Greene portion of the story:
The same kind of cheerfulness will be cultivated at Wick and Greene Jewelers in Asheville, N.C., where owner Michael Greene has begun role-playing exercises with his staff, training them on how to handle customers who bring up the economy or personal financial woes.
“We talk about how you talk about the positive things and keep people on a positive mindset,” Greene says. “It’s not as dire as many people would have us believe.”
Greene, who advocates the new American Gem Society sales training program, says the management team always emphasizes the importance of add-on sales to the store’s staff, with this mantra: “The best customer you have is the one who is buying something right in front of you.”
The store also utilizes wish lists, completed at the time of any purchase and sent via e-mail or through a phone call, to a person of the purchaser’s choosing. Greene says wish lists almost always yield sales.
“Does it work with everybody?” he says. “No, it works nine out of 10 times. It works exceedingly well. Wish lists are very important.”