Sell to both bride and groom – Part III

Salespeople tell me why bridal couples can be difficult customers: ∙The groom acts less enthusiastic than the bride and won’t talk much. ∙Halfway through he gets up and leaves to look at watches. ∙She wants a larger diamond then he can afford. ∙She wants to look at every engagement ring we have and then can’t make up her mind. ∙We hear this too often, this is the first place we’ve been. “Can we have your card?” I could tell you how to answer these challenging remarks, but instead I am going to do something better. I am going to tell you how I learned to avoid them. If any of you jewellers read my article, “Are There Difficult Customers?” in a past issue of Jewellery Focus you would have known the answer; “Rarely.” How can a bridal couple be difficult when they are coming to your store for the happiest and most important purchase of their life? So where is the problem? When I began selling I asked my father that question. He surprised me when he said, “Leonard, look in the mirror.” I didn’t quite know what he meant. I was sure the bridal couples were the problem until he told me to observe him and taught me how to avoid being challenged. I knew right away I was the problem. He did everything I should have done. ∙Greeted the couple with a smile and enthusiasm as soon as he saw them entering the store. He said, “It looks like there is going to be an important occasion.” They in turn replied with a smile and told him about their engagement that no one knew about and my father said, “Your parents will be thrilled.” That put on a high and this is when my father made the connection. “I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Harry Zell.” He addressed them by their names and said, “Mary and Bob, today will be the one of the happiest days of your life.” They smiled, looked at each other and she said she cannot wait to see the engagement rings and my father said, “Mary, you must be looking for something special.” Why did this happen? My father treated that couple as his friends and never as customers. What did I do? Just the opposite. I smiled somewhat and was serious because I assumed this was a more serious than happy moment. I asked question after question, which almost all salespeople do and ended up talking more than them. I didn’t realize that over talkers turn customers off. I also was uncomfortable introducing myself and didn’t realize that by remaining nameless throughout the sale, how could they trust me? My proudest moments were when a mother of the bride came into our store and asked to see the Mr. Zell who waited on their daughter. I said, “I will get him for you, but perhaps there is something I can do.” The mother could not wait to tell me how my father made her daughter feel so special. Her daughter could not stop talking about him and came in to especially thank him. When I introduced him, before I knew it they were addressing each other as Harry and Sylvia and they became friends. Most jewellers would have talked to her for a while, thanked her for coming in and said: “Have a nice day,” but not my father. He said, towards the end of their conversation, “Sylvia, chances are you have an anniversary coming up?” and she said, “Harry, not for a while, but a big birthday.” That is all I needed to hear. I wanted to be just like my father and he was a wonderful mentor. I could not believe the change in my customers when I greeted them with a big smile. They smiled right back and that relaxed me and it was easy to introduce myself. I was surprised that as soon as I told them who I was, I seldom heard a challenging remark. The reason was we became friends. You follow my lead and you will be surprised how friendly your customers become. It will be a new experience for you and put new joy into your selling.