SALES ADVICE LEONARD ZELL
COLUMNISTS
Gaining your customers trust
If you have been to seminars about how to gain your customer ’ s trust this is what you may have heard : “ You should have prices shown on all jewellery on display . Show the diamond grade on all price tags and tell them the grade when quoting the price . If it is a family store show pictures of your family . Display your GIA certificate and tell them the importance of the ‘ 4 Cs ’. Tell them about your warranty and I am sure you could add a few .”
These have nothing to do with gaining trust . What they do is let your salespeople show their ego . If there is one thing that turns your customers and friends off is showing your ego . If you don ’ t think so then ask your wife . Women have perception and they see through this right away . So how do you gain a customer ’ s trust ? Sell with your eyes , smile and establish a relationship by introducing yourself . Let ’ s take them one step at a time .
Sealing With Your Eyes - You may have all the right words but , if you are talking to a piece of jewellery while you are showing it instead of to the customer ’ s eyes , you are implying that you are not to be trusted . If you show discipline and do not look at the diamond ring , but look at your customer ’ s eyes , with a smile while you are romancing the jewellery it means you can be trusted .
When I point this out to salespeople they are astonished , especially when I ask them , “ How can customers trust you when you look away from them when you quote a price ? Right away , this implies the price can be negotiated . Hold your eyes on the customer ’ s while quoting the price or on their forehead if they are looking down and remember , don ’ t end the sentence on the price . “ This diamond is $ 1,500.00 and just
look at the brilliance .”
Your smile - this and your enthusiasm are your most powerful tools in selling . I always run this experiment in my seminars . I scan my students and slowly talk to each for about four seconds with a big smile and they in turn always smile right back . Then I do the same without a smile and they all tell me to stop . Try it yourself and you will get the same reaction .
It is easy to talk to your customer ’ s eyes when smiling because they will smile back and then you want to keep smiling . You don ’ t have to remind yourself to look at their eyes . If you are smiling , you will automatically do it . This is why I have observed in my forty years of training , salespeople who have a smile and enthusiasm outsell others who have more experience . This is why I advise all jewellers to , hire by the smile , experience is secondary .
Introducing yourself - ask yourself this question , “ How can I maintain a customer ’ s trust by selling him the most emotional product in the world and not tell him who I am and not care who he is ? I seldom see salespeople introduce themselves in any jewellery store , in the UK , US and all the other countries I have trained . This is one of the first things my father taught me . I saw him smiling first at his customer ’ s eyes and to continue to do so while introducing himself before pausing . The customer did the same and my father replied using his name and then a relationship was established .
I couldn ’ t believe it because it seemed so natural . I did this , but only using my first name . He corrected me and said for me to be proud of my family name . I thought about it and he was right . By using my first name I sounded like a
‘‘
You may have all the right words but , if you are talking to a piece of jewellery while you are showing it instead of to the customer ’ s eyes , you are implying that you are not to be trusted
‘‘ waiter . I wondered why my father had such a large following . He was proud of his name and introduced himself to every customer . I did too , and before I knew it I had a following . Your salespeople will too if you give them the opportunity by taking the time to train them .
My father took the time and this is how I sounded and with a smile in my voice , “ There is something I want to show that I believe is what you are looking for , by the way my name is Leonard Zell .” I held my eye on his and immediately he said , “ My name is Bob Larson . Nice to meet you Leonard . Mr . Larson , it ’ s nice meeting you too .” To remember his name I made sure I repeated it soon , within a couple of sentences , and then occasionally , but not too often , during the sale .
If I forgot his name it would be apparent because I would stop using it which implies introducing myself was insincere . This technique takes time to learn and the best way is to rehearse it is by roleplaying and to record it and then play it back on your phone . See my article in the July issue , “ Are You Training Your Salespeople ?” Remember there is only one way to increase your sales , without advertising and promotions , training your salespeople .
To help you get started , go to Leonard ’ s website , www . zellit . com and order his best selling sales manual of proven jewellery sales techniques . Now available , “ Leonard Zell Live ” a full day sales seminar recorded live on 3 CDs . You may also email Leonard at zellit @ aol . com for further information on this article and for answers to any of your questions on selling and management . Leonard welcomes your feedback and especially ideas you have that made your website successful . He will include them in his next article on web sites . Please email them to Leonard at zellit @ aol . com
48 JEWELLERY FOCUS
August 2018 | jewelleryfocus . co . uk