Training Enhances Trust

Your store brand comes alive or becomes an empty promise based on the skill, service and demeanor of your staff. When customers have a good experience with a particular sales associate, research shows they are likely to return again and again – and will “talk up” the store to friends, family and business associates. Every associate, especially your sales associates, needs ongoing training to ensure they deliver the shopping experience you envision and advertise.

A well-trained staff can benefit your store in many ways:

• Improving efficiency
• Improving your company image
• Ensuring good customer relationships
• Improving sales of diamond jewelry
• Improving quality of sales presentations
• Raising standards and establishing a culture of excellence
• Demonstrating your company's commitment to your staff
• Building employee loyalty and reducing staff turnover

Keys to Consumer Confidence and Trust

A knowledgeable staff is critical to inspiring and reassuring customers. So, too, are strong communication and interpersonal skills. In the age of the Internet and technology advancement, the better your salespeople grasp the nuances of diamond quality, purchasing motivations and customer relationships, the better they'll serve your base.

• Ensure that your staff is educated in the technical qualities and features of your products.
• Take them beyond the 4C's to the significance of quality grades on diamond appearance and price.
• Customers have strong emotional reasons for purchasing diamond jewelry. By becoming good observers of human behavior, your sales staff can better understand the needs and desires of customers.
• By becoming good observers of human behavior, your sales staff can better understand the needs and desires of customers.
• Stress the importance of “clienteling” skills to building and maintaining a loyal base. That means building customer relationships through appropriate products, services and sales events.

“We believe strongly in giving our sales associates the knowledge they need to feel comfortable dealing with clients,” says Jim Rosenheim, owner and CEO of Tiny Jewel Box, an upscale store in Washington, D.C. Rosenheim's vendors visit his store regularly to provide information on their products. He also encourages employees to train at gem laboratories and keeps them abreast of current industry information and policies. “Our clients are well educated, so we need an educated and communicative staff.”

Building Trust and Confidence is Essential

The primary role of every associate is to be a Brand Ambassador who builds trust and confidence in your company. Once associates understand and accept that role, sales will increase, profits will build and your customer base will expand. Here are some essentials that should be top-of-mind for your Brand Ambassadors:

• Communication – Listen carefully to customers to show that you value them and respect their opinions
• Openness – Customers react positively to open and honest dialogue.
• Fair and visible prices – Discreetly displayed prices in cases or in catalogs will diminish customer anxiety about whether they can afford your merchandise
• Following up on promises – Regardless of whether or not a sale is made, it is imperative that the customer's expectations are fulfilled.

Employees Thrive with Training

Well-trained employees excel at sales, benefiting them – and your company – in many ways:

• They increase their knowledge and confidence.
• They develop new skills to provide exemplary service.
• They become enthusiastic about your products and services and motivated to sell at a higher level.
• They can successfully interact with customers on and off the sales floor.
• They learn the language, codes and ethics used by the jewelry industry, gaining a sense of belonging and loyalty – both to your company and to the industry.
• They feel valued and become more valuable.

Creating a Training Development Plan

To develop a successful and effective sales staff, you need a training development plan with its own budget and objectives. Take advantage of opportunities offered by your suppliers for product training, and consider each staffer's strengths and weaknesses so that you can improve their performance accordingly.

When developing your training plan, consider a few suggestions from The World Jewelry Confederation (CIBJO):

• Ensure your training is focused and relevant.
• Ensure that instruction and input are appropriate.
• Promote the training as a perk that will help further careers.
• Develop your employees' interpersonal skills.
• Develop your employees' product and service knowledge.
• Utilize discussion to ensure associates have absorbed materials and strategies and can pass along their knowledge to others.

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The primary role of every sales associate is to be a Brand Ambassador who builds trust and confidence in your company brand.