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Are We Ruining the Minds of Our Customers By Stressing Quality?
October 11, 2007
Why are we so obsessed with talking about quality? Have we forgotten how to romance the selling of diamonds?
My new staff—new to Guliani’s but sales associates who have been in the industry working at other retailers for 10 years plus—were very upset that I didn’t put the quality of the diamonds on our tags. They expected the quality to be placed on every piece, even pieces containing melee. If I’m wrong in saying this hopefully Gary Roskin or Rob Bates will correct me—GIA doesn’t even grade diamonds less than 15 points plus they only grade diamonds that are loose. My thoughts on this:
- When you buy melee half the time wholesalers are accustomed to using the words TLB, TLC, white knots, etc. but will use VS, SI to help make it easier on the buyer.
- Much of the finished goods I have purchased are not branded and some that are branded do not stress the quality at purchasing time. The makes are good, the diamonds sparkle, the finish is great, and the piece itself is of excellent quality.
- Then there are those brands that say the melee is VS or SI and I really feel unless out of the setting you can’t tell.
I want my staff to be confident in their selling techniques and not have to reiterate what’s on the tag. One of my sales associates pointed out that at another store everything in stock was given a quality and said the Charlotte market demands it—so told me I might have to change.
I called up a bunch of my friends in the industry to find out their thoughts and then I went back to some of the other stores in my area and found out the ones I went to did not have such information on the tag and that my friends told me they didn’t do that either unless the diamond came with a report, certificate, or diamond grading document.
What about studs? Do you place the quality of every diamond stud on the tag? How would you react to sales associates complaining about quality not being present on the tag?
Isn’t diamond grading an opinion and not a science? If you were to do this, think about the contract appraiser who comes in and differs with your opinion of the quality that is on your tags? Receipts—do you place the quality of every consumers receipt? Or only on appraisals?
Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on October 11, 2007 | Comments (1)
