Is the customer always right?

Handling clients who have misconceptions about buying diamonds can be tricky. Two retailers discuss how they manage it.

By Phyllis Schiller

ERIN WHELAN
SALES MANAGER, CECIL’S FINE JEWELRY
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS Since the birth of [online retailer] Blue Nile, we have had many customers who have come into the store with information that they have gotten from the paid ads that are linked to the diamond sites. Many times, what that means is, they have learned just enough to confuse themselves and to muddy the waters in reference to purchasing a diamond.

“In order to help clear up any misunderstandings they might have, we discuss diamond basics with them. That way, they can see the difference between the correct information they need to know to make an informed purchase, and what they already think they know based on what they’ve read on the internet. This can be tricky, because you don’t want to insult clients or make them go on the defensive. I try to keep things simple, while still touching on the fine points that they should know.

“As a small brick-and-mortar store, I think it really boils down to customer service, since we will never be able to beat the prices of the large-scale online diamond houses. We just do our best to create the moment/in-store experience for our customers that will make them want to come back to us rather than turn to buying online. We try and make every one of our customers feel like they are our only customers.

BRAD HART
CO-OWNER, HAUSER’S JEWELERS
NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA People come in, and based on information they’ve gathered, they have decided on certain parameters for what they want to buy. As a result, they have backed themselves into a certain necessity — whether it’s the metal or the quality of the stone they want to purchase. The position we take is that we have the experience and the information to help them. If what they think they know is true, we cooperate and can run with it. And if it’s something that’s not as important as they might think, we work around it. The most common misconceptions are about body color and the quality of diamonds. For instance, customers may come in asking to see a D, VS stone. If there is a context for why they want that — their mother has one, or their grandmother — we work with that. But if they only want that because it’s what they assume they should ask for, we discuss what qualities are important to consider when they choose a stone. If they are trying to streamline the price range they want to spend, we can show them there are many ways to do it that don’t fall off the rails in terms of quality or the look of the final product. Generally, we take a hands-on approach to help them sort out the facts. We show them actual diamonds so they can see that H doesn’t mean the stone looks like a canary and SI1 doesn’t mean it’s poor quality. For instance, we can visually illustrate for them that a G or an H diamond can be just as pretty as an E or an F. And that it’s not sacrificing so much that you’re doing yourself a disservice.

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - May 2019. To subscribe click here.

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