How does your store go above and beyond to make clients feel special?
The biggest thing for us are those one-on-one interactions. If it’s an out-of-town client and I happen to be in their city, I’ll call them up and see if they want to get together—not necessarily to try and sell them something, but just to keep the dialogue going.
If I had a special piece made out of ovals for a customer, I know they love ovals; if I then happen to get something oval in, I’ll call and let them know. Our customers like that they don’t have to jump through hoops.
We take care of them.
—Ronnie Agami, president/co-owner, Universal Diamonds, Atlanta, universaldiamond.com
We have two rules when people come into our [four] locations. First, the customer is always right. And second, if the customer is wrong, please refer back to rule number one. No problem is too big or too small. We put our phone numbers on the building in case of a jewelry emergency—and yes, we do get calls and we do meet people and take care of them. The more we’re inconvenienced, the more convenient we are to our customers.
—Lamar McCubbin, president, Sissy’s Log Cabin, Pine Bluff, Ark., sissyslogcabin.com
Building relationships with clients is central to the success of a shop in a small town like Carmel. We want our clients to have a memorable experience shopping at Fourtané and to know their business is appreciated for reasons beyond their purchasing power. Recently, we brought a basket with five carrots in it to a client’s home when we delivered a
5-carat diamond ring her husband had purchased as a surprise. We even fit the ring
to one of the carrots.
—Josh Bonifas, co-owner, Fourtané Estate Jewelers, Carmel, Calif., fourtane.com
Dang, we do a lot, and our sales have grown every year. Both my sons are on the floor with me some of the time, and we have 22 staff members we train almost every day on something. We send out birthday and anniversary cards and do follow-up calls. We sent out more than 150 sterling silver Christmas ornaments last year just to say thank-you, and that was a big hit.
—Alan Perry, owner, Perry’s Emporium, Wilmington, N.C., perrysemporium.com
