November 2022 | Lab Grown Magazine

November 2022 | The Lab Grown Diamond Resource Book 20 To advertise call (888) 832-1109 | Novmber 2022 21 Selling Fast vs. Selling Long losing loose or set lab-diamond jewelry sales quickly may look good from a margin and turn perspective on your quarterly P&L statement, but it may hide a symptom to a bigger, long-term problem silently eroding away at your customer relationship, trust and communication for future purchases. At times, “selling fast” in LGD (or any diamond sale) may need to be deployed, but it rarely builds relationships. It may, however, build returning customers - the type that seek refunds or exchanges. “Selling fast in the consumer diamond world often leads to lesser-than-positive post purchase anything,” stated Richard Franklin, VP of Maya Magal, one of London’s leading guild jewelry stores. They never considered offering lab stones but are starting discussions for a possible test next Spring. “We’re getting several young customers inquiring about lab-creations,” Franklin added. Experts are noticing the critical consumer-to-retailer trust spark to ignite a potential lifetime customer connection (expanding to their family and friends) may be snuffed out quickly with a fast sell maneuver of offering a larger LGD at the price of a smaller natural one. Remember, a new consumer’s reaction is based on the quality and honesty of their sales communication interface from every angle. “It can all happen in minutes, or continue for an hour or more,” offered Liam L’Liaie, lead diamond buyer at Wolf & Badger in London. “The difference between selling fast, selling long, or not selling at all is, in many ways, up to the jeweler.” In bridal jewelry especially, it shouldn’t be about closing a sale quickly to “secure it.” Forging a close consumer relationship means learning what type of job and lifestyle the engagement wearer reveals. If, for example, she’s a nurse, and required to take gloves on and off frequently, suggesting a lower profile ring setting should be considered. Remember too, a couple purchasing a LGD a LGD may move to a natural stone remounting, or opt for natural diamonds in their anniversary jewelry. The finest and most successful retail jewelers cater to the couple and don’t see a one-off sale, rather a relationship with the consumer and their jewelry. What’s your story? Consumers obviously have the final sales on their diamond dollar, but retailers are the front lines guiding where the consumer diamond dollar drops, and retailers are inherit storytellers. The question is, what story is being told? In a recent Rapaport Diamond Podcast hosted by diamond analysist, Avi Krawitz, his guest was Kieron Hodgson, managing director for commodities and A holiday window and ad treatment at London’s Wolf & Badger lines-up mined and man-made diamond engagement rings set in platinum, pallidum, and 18k gold. When asked why the store doesn’t identify the diamond difference, Tessa Metcalfe, a featured artist said, “Wolf & Badger never shows prices visually; that’s what sales conversations are about.” Photo: Luxe Licensing