Southern Jewelry News

Going above and beyond for the customer

09:50

February

2008

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Article Autor: David Rodgers

Marketing Concepts

I took my mother to my favorite restaurant last week. Expecting to wow her, I ended up having a not-so-great feeling about the visit. The restaurant is Middle Eastern and offers traditional hummus and yogurt as side dishes. While ordering, my mom asked whether it was possible to change the stated yogurt side dish for the same amount of hummus (she is lactose intolerant). We were informed that they can’t do this, and it was clear that the waitress had heard this question before.

Now, I realize perfectly well that the hummus likely costs more or is harder to make than the yogurt. However, I also know that if they had swapped the yogurt for the hummus, they still would have made money on my mom’s meal. After this minor annoyance, my mom was somewhat less likely to agree to going to the restaurant in the future.

So maybe in a year’s time, my mom and I will go to the restaurant two less times than we would have if had they only made the swap to hummus. Therefore they lost selling four meals for the benefit of saving maybe 25 or 50 cents by not substituting items.

The point I’m trying to make is that the little things count and make the customer feel special. The following are three ways to go above and beyond for your customer, which will cost you little and will satisfy many:

1. Don’t turn down special requests
Special requests are the customer’s way of saying, “I do for you, you do for me... kapeesh?” And fulfilling those requests is your way of saying, “kapeesh... keep coming back to our store and I’ll take care of you nicely.” So if a customer asks for a diamond they bought a few weeks ago to be cleaned, go ahead and do it. Or if they ask for mounting to be included when they just bought the ring and the stone, it’s probably more than worth your while to honor the request. You will likely gain a lifelong customer and one who will refer your business to many others over the years.

2. Hold preferred customer appreciation days
Keep a list of customers who have made more than one large purchase, and e-mail them or direct mail them letting them know that certain days, preferred customers only get an additional 10% off your best advertised price – or they get free mounting or cleaning, etc. In addition, you could even hold an invitation-only party with refreshments where “preferred-customer” deals are marked and given all over the store. This type of promotion makes the customer feel special, and often many sales can be made at this time. It can be done as much as once a season, or even more. However, it might be best to do it only once or twice a year because you want to increase the prestige of the party and make it a “can’t miss” event.

3. Follow up on purchases
Especially for large or important purchases, it is a great idea to make a phone call or e-mail the customer to see how it worked out. If something was a problem, encourage them to let you know because often you can come up with a solution. This will make them feel better about making future purchases. Also, make sure you let them know during the sale that they are free to call during store hours about any issue that might arise.

Going above and beyond is often simple and not too expensive cost-wise or time-wise to accomplish. At the same time, your efforts will surely be repaid in the future with more sales, and referrals, which in turn equals even more sales.

David Rodgers recently became Business Director for the JewelryTalk service, which provides informative, fun-to-read weekly columns for jewelry stores to use in their newspaper advertising. He also owns DR Jingles, a radio-advertising firm specializing in jewelers and small businesses. Contact him at jewelrytalk@yahoo.com or 248-514-9376.