“There are a few absolute rules you absolutely have to follow to sell fine watches successfully, wherever your market is,” said jeweler and AGS board member Charles Lacy of Charles Lacy & Co., a 60-year-old business in El Paso, Texas. He offered his advice in the June 2 session “Selling Watches,” during the two-day educational conference series at The JCK Show ~ Las Vegas. Lacy himself is a successful watch retailer, with a specially designated area of his store for fine watches.

“You absolutely must introduce fine watches to your customers,” he stressed. “Don’t wait for them to come in and ask about it. They may not even know about the brands that exist or new models introduced at the annual Swiss watch shows in Basel or Geneva.

Lacy also discussed the issue of trust. “Build trust in your customers, so that they will know that what you advise or recommend to them is true.”

He also advised showing watches in a knowledgeable and attentive manner—asking customers questions and listening to them. “If they like the watch and your presentation, they’ll buy another,” he said.

A store’s watch salespeople, buyer, and watch department manager “absolutely need to be incredibly knowledgeable” about the watches a store sells, said Lacy. They need to be expert and able to inform and advise a customer about any watch brand and model. That helps them make their decision. Lacy applies the rule at his own store: “We want the best-educated, well-trained sales staff. We don’t let anyone sell watches who doesn’t know enough about the product. We train them thoroughly, and then we test them—and if they don’t pass the test, they don’t sell watches.”

Lacy added, “You have to have a passion for the watch product. You have to decide you want to have—and they must want to be—the best watch salespeople there are, not just in your market but anywhere, period!”

JCK