Why Valentine’s Day is more important than you think

Too many jewellers look at Valentine’s Day as just another day to sell more jewellery than they would on an average day. They prepare for it by making sure they have enough heart-shaped jewellery and perhaps more diamond stud earrings then usual and that’s about it.

What a mistake. They have no idea the potential sales they are missing. If this is how your competition think then let them, however if you want to steal a march on them, read on.

Most salespeople prejudge men on a Valentine’s Day purchase assuming they are going to spend much less than on any other occasions. If you jewellers knew what this is costing you, you would be shocked.  Valentine’s Day means more to a woman than most men think it does. It is the only day that love is absolutely synonymous with.

The role of the salesperson is to get the importance of Valentine’s Day across to their male customers. A saleslady could say: “Valentine’s day means a great  deal to me.” She could follow it up with: “I am sure it means a lot to your wife.” A salesman could say: “Valentine’s Day means so much to a woman because your gift is synonymous with love.” You can construct your own sentence by thinking what you would want a salesperson say to you that would Connect your emotions?

Too much jewellery is sold without any emotion whatsoever, like it’s a commodity. This is counter productive especially on Valentine’s Day, the most emotional day of all. Add to that, what is the most emotional gift you can give someone? It’s jewellery. It is the only gift that has a lasting memory and many times becomes a family heirloom.

My father, Harry Zell, got this point across to me the first day I started selling in our family store, Zell Brothers by asking me: “Leonard, what do you see in our showcases?” I thought that this was an obvious question, but I replied: “Diamonds, sapphires, ruby and emerald rings, earrings bracelets.” He replied: “No, that is not what is in our showcases.” I said, “OK what is in there?”  My father replied: “Memories.” He knew how to make a point and I knew then how important it was to connect to a customer’s emotions.

What happens to their emotions is the same thing that happens to you when your emotions get the best of you and you buy something more expensive then you had in mind. The same thing happens to your customers when you connect to their emotions.

Why prejudge them showing something for less and instead show them a more expensive piece of jewellery like you would show them on Christmas? Why stop there? Your customer is in the mood to buy. Are you in the mood to sell? This is the time for an add-on sale. In fact you will find the add-on sale closes faster then the first sale. Just imagine the emotions of his wife when she opens the gift to see the diamond earrings and necklace and the hugs and kisses he will get! This is all because of you. They both will remember that moment and you will have customers forever.

By Leonard Zell. This article first appeared in the February 2017 issue of Jewellery Focus