The power of an effective display

Last June, a client commissioned the large Victorian-style pendant lying next to Karbo’s book on the first page. I was given a lot of latitude in its design, which meant incorporating a personal favourite of mine, filigree. The 14-karat white and yellow gold piece was to have a large oval ruby as its central focus and accented with many small white diamonds.

I finished the piece in early August, but the customer could not get into town to pick it up until October. In the meantime, my employer put the pendant on prominent display in one of our store’s wall showcases, suspending it from a spinning clock movement and using a large magnifying glass to show off the detail work. A saw frame and blade brought the display together, along with cards describing the piece and the tools used in its creation. At first, I was a bit embarrassed by this gaudy display, that is, until I saw the results. Every customer who came into the store stopped at the case to watch the pendant spin. It received so much attention that we got a second order for the same design from a customer who wanted one made as a Christmas gift for his wife. From that point on, our sales staff developed talking points about the display. It wasn’t long before we got a third order from yet another client.

The moral of this story is, enthusiasm drives sales. If you are a custom jeweller, it is important to show off your work and to educate your sales staff about how items are made. Excitement is contagious—our customers will want to purchase the items we are most motivated to sell. So don’t miss an opportunity to highlight a piece and sell it with passion.

Where possible, make it personal

Signature pieces are all about the customer. They are meant to be a celebration of the client’s life: their likes, successes, favourite colours, etc. Start by interviewing the customer to find out as much as you can about them. For instance, we used a ruby for the first pendant because the client was born in July. She also likes antique lace and is proud of her family name, hence the ‘S’ design we came up with for the back.”¨ In addition, the client wanted to wear the pendant on many different chains, including a strand of pearls.