Why Won’t Rap Do Anything?
We lost a diamond sale to another local store in town and my sales associate wasn’t too happy about it so I told her—there is a lot to learn and after the holidays we will begin more diamond training—but before I train any of my sales associates I send them to the other local stores in town to diamond shop. I find that this tactic allows them to learn how others are selling in the market, learn tactics they might want to add to their presentation, and/or learn things that maybe we don’t cover in a diamond presentation that we might need to expand upon.
Before I could tell her we’d start this after Christmas, she ended up going to store to whom we lost the sale too. She came back with a blue folder—inside was two designer’s brochures, an education booklet stating info regarding the 4C’s, a brochure titled the 10 biggest mistakes when choosing a diamond, and finally a copy of RAP embedded into their propaganda (booklet)—rounds and pears of course.
When she came back we went over how to answer consumer questions regarding them being handed a copy of RAP—What to say? How to say it? And how to keep them interested in our product? You can find info regarding this in a blog I wrote last year titled, “The Jewelry Store that Hands Their Customers RAP!”
I went a little further and contacted Sherri Hendricks at Rap, and asked her, “What do you do about retailers handing out RAP to their customers?” Her answer, “We cannot control what people do with the list and if they choose to show it to a customer, we cannot act against them. However making copies is a breach of copyright and if we know of anyone breaching copyright, we will act against them. We would need some sort of confirmation of this before instituting action.”
Wasn’t RAP created for wholesalers and retailers—can’t they institute something so that retailers don’t copy it into their catalogs for their customers? Another jeweler killing our industry and another creator not willing to protect their clients.
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Jules Lester Rabalais commented:
There is a way to cure this from a selling standpoint. When
confronted with the Rap report from a customer, very quietly ask
the customer if they really believe that a retail store would
actually show them their wholesale price?. As far as Blue Nile
goes, use their game. A customer offers to pay you the same as Blue
Nile, say OK, ask for a credit card, write up the sale and tell the
customer that you will ship the diamond to them the same as Blue
Nile. (This gets their attention) If the customer protests, explain
that you are there in person, a part of the community, you donate
to local charities and that you pay local taxes.Ask them if Blue
Nile is willing to do these things for your community and then sit
down and explain to the customer the costs to own a store and
provide personal service. This is what they are paying for. SELL
YOURSELF AND THE STORE...
La Shawn Bauer commented:
Greetings Shanu Singh Guliani: A lot of things in the jewelry
industry could and would be addressed and INSTANTLY CHANGED FOR THE
BETTER if the jewelry industry as whole was really interested in
stopping a lot of UNETHICAL and UNPROFESSIONAL BUSINESS PRACTICES
within the jewelry industry. All it would take would be an
organized and concerted effect from all of the jewelry trade
associations and organizations to enact, support and strictly
enforce a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY of Truth, Honesty, Professional
Ethics, Professional Codes of Conduct and Professional Business
Practices as an integrated part of their membership requirements to
their organizations, associations and/or societies. The technology
and infrastructure is readily available and they, the jewelry
industry, as a whole could effectively police ourselves if they
were truly interested about doing such a thing. However in
today’s marketplace, PROFIT and SALES at any and all costs
overrule Truth, Honesty, Professional Ethics and Professional Codes
of Conduct. The sad fact is, that approximately 95% of all jewelry
stores nationwide are untruthful, dishonest and refuse to practice
any form of Professional Ethics and refuse to follow and practice
any type of Professional Codes of Conduct. I can prove and quantify
this statement as fact in a court of law!!!! Just Google my name.
LaShawn Bauer, GG High Sierra Gem Lab, LLC. Reno, NV
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Alan commented:
I have been out of the diamond business for many years but as a
wholesaler and then a retailer, this problem has existed for years
(Rappaport) and will continue to exist. It's what the industry
brought onto themselves. I started selling diamond to Jewelers in
1980 at the height of the certificate market. 1ct D-FL with cert
for $40,000.00 p/c. Crazy. As a retailer I did not lose to many
sales as I spend the time to educate the consumer. Most jewelers
dont know enough about diamonds and the most important "C" which is
CUT. Jewelers who hand out price lists are doing harm to themselves
and the industry.
Mervyn Cohn commented:
When "Not for profit" and "Open to the Public" became the montra of
the jewelry "Trade". Then Follow the money came next.
Homer commented:
Shanu, rather than complaining about this pernicious practice in
your blog, you (and other retailers who have to compete with it)
need to be much more proactive and aggressive in countering it.
Part of your sales presentation needs to address the existence of
Rap and what it is, that "wholesale to the public" is an oxymoron,
that claiming to sell at or below wholesale is illegal (an FTC
violation), that the prices in Rap aren't what they appear to be,
that stores using Rap like this are behaving unethically, and do
you really want to buy from a store that's deceiving you like this?
If more jewelers took this approach, I guarantee the problem would
go away eventually. Unfortunately, too many are too terrified of
even admitting Rap even exists, and that just lets the few
unethical stores pretend to be giving their customers access to
"secret industry price lists."
Shanu S. Guliani commented:
Rob--Nope! Blue Nile is an online retailer with lower prices. Just
yesterday my customer looked on there to educate herself but bought
from me because she could see the stones and compare them next to
one another--my prices are higher because of the service in house
that we offer--it just doesn't end with the sale--its about my
store helping her maintain and care for her diamond. The local
store is telling consumers Rap is used to buy diamonds--and for
many it is--that store is using Rap to show selling
strategies--personally I can answer any question related to Rap and
have sold diamonds to their customers as well--but the point is
that is created for wholesalers and that stores gimmick is "we sell
below wholesale prices to the public." I'm angry that they are
creating a bad image of our entire industry. This is a classic
example of a jeweler hurting us all. Our industry needs to
change--we all can make money and sell the product we all love so
much--what's the need for hurting us all (this is just telling
consumers that jewelry and diamonds are overpriced and can always
be sold for less).
Rob Bates commented:
Hi Shanu ... Isn't people printing out Blue Nile lists (which
anyone can access) more of a problem than people coming in with
Rap? Or am I wrong on that?
Jen commented:
That response from Rap sounds similar to what Ebay said when
confronted by Tiffany about counterfeit Tiffany goods for sale on
Ebay. I believe Ebay is now being sued bc of it ...
