Some Things To Say To Customers With Silver Repairs Or Custom Designs
I just had a jeweler ask me about how to handle a customer with a silver ring sizing, and another jeweler emailed me about a silver custom letter pendant sale he lost. The first jeweler had a customer bring a silver ring for sizing and her response was "That's more than I paid for the ring."
The second jeweler quoted a lady $150 for a silver pendant and silver chain and her response was that the pendant should cost about $20 and the chain $50. The jeweler wasn't worried about losing the sale, and he didn't want to let it go for such a cheap price.
The silver sizing jeweler has a laser welder and I suggested he use it in his sales pitch.
Here's what I emailed the silver sizing jeweler:
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Here’s a short story to tell your customer with the silver ring sizing:
“My dad used to own a Cadillac and he was frugal. The Caddy needed a new alternator so he bought one on his own at Pep boys for $300. He took it to his favorite car mechanic who charged him $150 to install it. Wouldn’t you know it, the alternator in my Honda died so I went to Pep boys and got mine for my Honda for $75 and went to dad’s mechanic. He wanted $150 to install my alternator too. I said to him ‘but the alternator only cost me $75, and that's double to install it for what it costs me.'”
He said to me:
“Boy, it takes 2 hours to install it in your dad’s caddy or in your Honda, and all I’m selling is time and expertise.”
“And so lady, that's all I’m selling to you today: time and expertise. I personally have worked on jewelry valued at $100,000-plus and have been doing this for over 25 years. I might be over qualified to size your silver ring but I promise you that you won’t be able to see where its been sized and that's because of my expertise and my $25,000 laser welding machine. The laser welder is perfectly made to size silver rings because it won't harm the metal, stones or the finish and you won't see where its been sized. It would be my pleasure to do this for you but it takes me longer to size a silver ring than a gold ring. But if you do take it someplace else, PLEASE make sure they size your ring with a laser machine or they might ruin it (This puts fear in them)."
(Yes I know you can size a ring with a torch, for those who don't have a laser machine.)
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I then posted this on Polygon (a jewelers’ network) and one jeweler posted that whether he takes in a $75 jacket or a $350 jacket to be dry cleaned, they charge him the same amount.
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On to the silver pendant jeweler. This is what I'd say, and I "assume" he looked in catalogs where he could have ordered a silver letter which would have been lower priced. That one said...........
"Mrs. Jones, I agree with you 100%, its a lot. But as you can see we're not able to find what YOU want for a lower price. I had the same exact problem a few years ago. In our bedroom we placed our TV in a caddy-corner spot so we both could watch Jay Leno while lying in bed at night. We went to Ikea and there were plenty of cabinets to hold the TV with shelves below for our DVD collection for under $250, but none were the right size NOR matched the color of our bedroom furniture. So we had a cabinet guy build it for us for $700 and we absolutely love it. I cringed when he told me the price, then I got over it because it was exactly what we wanted and I have not thought about the price until this moment.
“Please allow me to make this just for you. You'll love it forever and you'll think about the price one minute and then love it from this day on."
As the jeweler told me, "I didn't get the job", and he was not worried about it. Its impossible to sell 100% of everybody who comes into the store for anything. Most jewelers worry about the 2 or 3 people out of 10 who say no to a custom job while over 75% of showcase customers walk without buying. That's a lot of left over/non sold inventory in the case! But that's another story.
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I'm sure you have your own stories of how and why you personally paid more than you thought you would have for a purchase. Use those stories with customers. Spend time being empathetic and exchange stories why you paid more for something. At staff meetings, have everyone share one story openly so they can practice it openly - so they'll be ready when the time comes.
Have a great season,
David Geller
Director of Shop Profits
