Convince, Cajole and Conquer

Geetika Chauhan, Store Manager
Waman Hari Pethe Jewellers
Indore

It is a prerequisite in the jewellery trade to successfully meet customer satisfaction. But it’s not an easy task, especially given the tight competition that thrives in the market. Most customers are bound to express their dissatisfaction the moment their expectations are not met. At such times, it’s essential for the staff to convince them and politely veer their attention towards the variety that the jeweller has to offer. Patience and perseverance are the keys to help the customer gain full satisfaction from shopping.

Understand Customer’s Mind
Whenever a customer visits a showroom, he comes with a preconceived notion and a few visits to other showrooms. So, he expects to see the design that he has in mind. Most often he will not tell the sales people what he is looking for. It’s the first step for us, the sales staff, to understand what the customer is exactly looking for. Without being nosey or inquisitive, we have to find out his choices, the purpose behind buying and whether it’s intended for daily or occasion wear. Once we know all this, it becomes easier to showcase the right pieces. Yet, some customers are tough nuts. Even after seeing many pieces, they get irritated. ‘Aapke paas to kuch naya nahin hai’, they will angrily tell us. At such times, we have to maintain our cool and patiently show them newer jewellery pieces. Also, the staff should keep them engaged in a conversation, trying to convince them about the variety that is in the showroom.

Go Out of the Way
Sometimes it helps to go out of one’s way for the customer. If a customer wants a special design, and even if it’s something that we do not specialise in, try to meet the design specification by consulting the kaarigars. So many times, a customer has wanted a jewellery piece to be delivered within 15-20 days and even though it was an uphill task for us, we have strived to meet his request. Also, many high-profile customers do not have the time to wait for the billing process, which normally would take 5-10 mins. So, even before they get irritated, we make sure that we quickly give them a manual bill and courier the computer generated one later.

Sell Hard
For new customers, who may just drop in without any plan of buying, the foremost thing to do is to gain their confidence. They may know nothing about the company or the type of jewellery stocked, so it’s important to give them the information. Also, show them the showroom’s unique jewellery pieces. They may not buy immediately but they will remember the unique jewellery and return soon. Customers always remember the exclusive jewellery that they saw at a particular showroom. Often, casual walk-ins get converted into sales if the staff is able to convince them good enough. Once, an American couple walked in to buy light-weight rings in white gold. Somehow, I have noticed, most foreigners shy away from buying yellow gold. We got talking and I offered to show some of our exclusive gold jewellery. The wife got interested and tried one set of gold bangles. They looked beautiful on her. We told her so and pressed her hard to buy them. We were not overbearing but gently persuasive. Ultimately, she agreed to buy those bangles.

Own Up If Wrong
It’s not humiliating to own up to a mistake. Conversely, if the customer is wrong and insists that he is right, accept it. After all the customer is king. Many times, it so happens that we send reminders to our regular customers regarding an upcoming instalment but they do not respond or pay attention to it. Later, they accuse us of not reminding them. We try to argue a bit but if the customer insists, we leave it and accept that the customer is right. There is no point in getting the customer angry.
Ultimately, what matters is the customer happiness and satisfaction. And that is what we should keep in mind when dealing with our customers.