Business Tips

What your customers are saying about you online is more important than your website, social media posts, or paid online ads. Many people will read reviews of your store and your products before making their first purchase. Discovering how to manage online reputation and reviews is one more learning curve for jewelry companies. In his session at the JA New York Show on March 13, "Power to the Consumer: Effectively Market Your Business with the Rise of the Reviewer," Matthew Perosi, of Sapphire Collaborative, offered simple steps to help jewelers navigate online reviews.

Technology is changing fast and the jewelry industry is taking note. Designers and manufacturers are using 3D CAD design software and smaller retailers are starting to build more sophisticated websites to keep up with consumer trends. It’s all very exciting, but one trend you can’t let slip off of your radar is security.

On Monday, March 13, Jewelers of America held its first "Idea Exchange," a gathering of jewelry professionals to discuss topics that keep them up at night. JA held this first event of a new knowledge sharing series during the JA New York Show, and jewelry store owners and managers as well as manufacturers and suppliers were in attendance. The group split into two tables to discuss two hot topics for jewelry sales: social media and customer acquisition. Here's a quick summary of the ideas exchanged during the lively discussion. You can read a further recap at NationalJeweler.com.

Jewelers of America’s Jewelry 101 sales training program features indepth jewelry product knowledge and sales training. The “Selling” module, based on lessons in Diamond Council of America's sales courses, covers all the steps necessary to close a jewelry sale: Greeting, Rapport Building, Profiling, Presenting Choices, Overcoming Objections, Closing the Sale, Adding On and Following Up. Here is an excerpt from Jewelry 101: Selling on Customer Profiling:

Who’s there? A store buzzer system could be your answer for increased security
Robberies caught on surveillance often show criminals rushing into a store without anything stopping them. Some jewelers opt to install a door system for added security. Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company explains the differences between two of the most common -- a door buzzer vs mantrap.

With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s the perfect time to review, revise and refresh your and your staff’s sales techniques. Let’s face it, you have stocked up with the latest merchandise, increased your advertising, mailed and posted news about your store, but the key to a successful holiday season is a trained professional sales team. These are not new sales concepts, just reminders from the Silver Promotion Service of the key retail selling principles with the added value of the benefits of sterling silver jewelry!

It's not just when you're home alone -- or in the store after hours -- that thieves come to call. Be prepared with these tips.
Holiday sales are critical to the success of retail jewelry businesses. Jewelry stores are handling an influx of customers, ready to purchase the perfect gift to put under the tree. With all the excitement of the holidays, the increased sales and increased foot traffic, now is definitely not the time to let your focus on in-store security falter. Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company provided three tips to Jewelers of America that will protect your jewelry store from holiday crime.

The jewelry shopper's mindset and motivation for purchase increasingly seems to be a mystery, but it doesn't have to be. Luckily, Synchrony Financial -- the leader in luxury consumer financing -- shared insightful consumer shopper trends and data in a September webinar for Jewelers of America Members. In case you missed it, here are four surprising jewelry shopper trends related to jewelers' websites, the in-store experience and financing.

There's no question the jewelry industry is struggling to adapt to new technologies of retail and the expectations of the mobile shopper. Online sales and e-commerce is the future, not an option, with features like virtual shopping and 3D immersion bound to alter retail in a major way. Think that's a distant future that doesn't affect your jewelry business? Think again. To help jewelers understand how to sell online successfully, Shane O'Neill, Vice President of Fruchtman Marketing, revealed steps to prepare an e-commerce strategy in an August webinar for Jewelers of America Members. In case you missed it, here are his five steps to creating a successful online sale experience for your jewelry business.

Here are six business practices that experts in jewelry industry believe are hurting jewelry business, as revealed during Jewelers of America's Education Program at the JA New York Show in July 24-25. If your company is doing any of the bad business habits listed below, don’t hurt yourself -- stop it!