Why Salespeople Get Returns

by Leonard Zell

My students often ask me, "Leonard, what should I say to a customer who tries to return a piece of jewelry?" I tell them instead of telling them what to say (which I will do in my next column), which would strictly be a band-aid solution, it's better to show them how to avoid the return and analyze why it happens.

Too many times salespeople blame their customers' fickle minds. Actually that is seldom the reason. The fault, more often than not, lies with the salesperson. Let me explain. Was the jewelry really sold? Probably not, otherwise it would not have been returned. More than likely, the romance factor was left out. The way you romance jewelry to your customer is the way they romance it to a friend. In fact, they enhance what you say, providing you say the right thing. Avoid saying, "The ring is gorgeous, beautiful or it looks great on you." That doesn't cut it. Those are just your opinions, something a customer wouldn't necessarily pass on to a friend.

Romancing jewelry is an art in itself that few salespeople really do well. Women do it better than men because men think it isn't macho. (If only they knew how much this attitude costs them!"

Those salespeople who know how to romance seldom, if ever, get returns. I know this for a fact because I had the best teacher. I watched my father sell for 25 years, six days a week. He was a master at it. He seldom got returns.

My father romanced in three categories: brilliance, style and color, and it started as soon as he placed the ring on the lady's finger. This is where most salespeople fall down. They get tongued-tied at that point and say something like, "What do you think of this? Isn't it beautiful?" as if they are not sure of it themselves, or worse yet, they sell it like they are selling a washing machine. "This is a 1 ct. Diamond ring surrounded by diamonds weighing 53 points. Notice how the diamond is set in a 6-prong setting and is in 14 kt. gold." Someday a customer is going to reply. "So what?" The salesperson would deserve it. Because he is implying that his customer is blind or too stupid to notice. Yes, some customers would consider this demeaning to their intelligence. I ask salespeople what they give this long obvious description and they answer. "I don't know what else to say."

All of these examples have a common disadvantage - they do not touch the customer's emotions that create the desire to buy jewelry. Jewelry is a person's badge of achievement and therefore must be sold with romance and enthusiasm. Here's how. Let's go back to those three categories: brilliance, style and color. When showing a diamond, say "Just look at the sparkle coming off the different prisms," or for color; "Just turn the diamond ever so slightly and you'll see all the colors of the rainbow," or for style, "The way the diamonds surround your carat diamond makes it appear like a diamond halo." If it is an emerald,, you might say, "Just look how vibrant the green is and the diamonds that surround it make it sparkle even more." Now this is something that touches your customer's emotions because you are painting a picture for her in her mind. Better yet, it is something she will definitely pass on in an enhanced version to a friend. Let's face it, the way we are sold something is the way we will sell it to our friends.

Let's go over those sentences again. This is how the customers will repeat it to a friend. "Mary, just look how my diamond dazzles you, especially when I get it in the light. It was the most brilliant diamond they had." Or, "These smaller diamonds are all so perfectly matched they give a halo effect to my big diamond." In the case of the emerald, "Just look how radiant my emerald is. The more you look at it, the more vibrant it becomes."

Now after your customer says something like those examples to a friend, do you think she will dare bring it back? Of course not. In fact, by being so positive, her friends have to endorse it whether they like it or not. This makes your customer feel even better and the jewelry is definitely sold. Because of the nice things her friends said of her ring, she has more confidence in you and will be a repeat customer.

I want you to notice one very important thing in the romantic phrases: there were no questions. All positive statements. Positive statements imply that you know what you are taking about. Questions simply imply you are in doubt and that is why the jewelry comes back. "Isn't it lovely?" they will ask the same question to a friend and if they don't get an enthusiastic reply it will surely come back. Questions do not elicit enthusiasm while positive statements do. In the case of where I described all the features of the ring, ("This is a 1 ct. diamond, etc.") if the customer repeats all of that they will get a look back from a friend that will imply, "So what?" and the ring will come back.

Beside staying with the positive statements there are two other important selling techniques that you must do to romance effectively. When you romance, do not drop your eyes and talk to the ring like 99 percent of salespeople do. You must romance it to your customer's' eyes. Even if they are looking down, their eyes will come up )see "Selling With You Eyes," The Diamontologist July/August 1998). The second thing is you must keep a smile throughout the entire presentation. This shows your enthusiasm and is infectious to your customers.

This technique take a lot of practice using role playing. There are many things to be perfected but once perfected just watch how much easier it is to close your customers. Now you have created genuine desire and, better yet, the jewelry stays sold.

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Leonard Zell is a professional sales trainer specializing in fine jewelry sales techniques.

Author's Note: I welcome your comments about this or any of the other artcles presented here. LZ