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22 www.thejewelrybook.com T H E M I L L E N N I A L M Y T H A N D B R I D A L O P P O R T U N I T I E S I N D U S T RY N E W S Sometimes it is easier to subscribe to a myth, a half-truth, or a conve- nient excuse when it comes to self-assessing our own businesses. If someone tells us that something is 'fact,' and that fi ts our self-narrative, it is easy to get caught up in that misdirection or, in the worst cases, that delusion, as being a convenient truth. Social scientists have a term for that called "Confi rmation-bias." It means that we have a set of beliefs about something and we seek to reinforce those beliefs by fi nding only the evidence that supports those beliefs. Politics is the best and most insidious example of "Confi rma- tion-bias" but it happens in our businesses all the time. We display "Confi rmation-bias" when we hire people; hearing only what we want to hear and conveniently ignoring information that might contradict our biases. One of the myths that is perpetuated in retail – and retail jewelers in particular – is that Millennials don't buy jewelry and that they do all of their shopping online. The main demographic for our industry is 55 – 64-year-olds. Most of us would have guessed in that range and, if you want it to, that can serve as compelling evidence to support a bias that millennials don't care about jewelry. Here's the problem; that demographic is only true if you include watches. If you exclude the $10 - $12 billion watch-business, the biggest demographic for retail jewelry stores is Millennials. They are your number-one customer and the sooner we wake up to that reality, the better we will be able to cater to their needs. Retail Dive reported in June of this year that 76 percent of millenni- als browse the internet before buying, but that 67 percent of those millennials then make their purchases in retail stores. I might argue that if we were to isolate just jewelry – as opposed to the broader scope of Retail Dive's fi ndings – the numbers for engagement rings would refl ect an even higher rate of purchase. There are more than two-million marriages a year in the United States and, despite prognostications to the contrary, the overwhelming majority of those marriages are marked by a diamond engagement ring. While it might be convenient to believe that most of those couples are buying their rings online, the data just doesn't support that belief. Amazon, the great behemoth of retail, does just north of $1 billion in jewelry (all jewelry). If we accept that the amount of engagement dol- lars in that number refl ects our own experience (and it's probably less, given the category) in brick and mortar retail, then it is not unreason- able to assume that their engagement ring sales are somewhere in the region of sixteen percent of that number. Blue Nile, long perceived as a thorn in the side of brick and mortar retailers, does less than $500 million. Even if we assume that much of that is in the diamond/bridal category, that still leaves a huge amount of business being conducted in retail jewelry stores. The single biggest disconnect – and the reason that millennials don't often return to jewelry stores after they have purchased their en- gagement rings – is that the retail experience provided by far too many in our industry is just not good enough. Our model hasn't evolved suf- fi ciently from years past, and it is that lack of a great experience that is providing the biggest challenge. I have written in the past about that lack-of-a-great-experience and it might be worth revisiting in a future column. For now, however, I would offer four important pointers to win the loyalty of bridal shoppers. 1) Have a great website 2) Have a clear vision for your bridal story 3) Hire a great staff 4) Conduct relevant, ongoing training Great Website Your website should be mobile-fi rst and clutter-free. The less you say, the more your customer will understand who you are. If you want to be the bridal player, that should be patently clear from your homepage and throughout. This is not the place to communicate that you are all things to all people. If your website is fi ve or more years old, it probably needs updating. A Clear Vision for your Bridal Story Having a clear idea of what differentiates your bridal story from every- one else in town is essential. Make life easier for your customers by having a fi nite number of interesting and relevant stories. If your story is 'vast-selection' you're probably living in the wrong era. A Great Staff To be successful in bridal, you must have a team that can emotionally connect with younger shoppers. That doesn't mean that you need to hire all millennials, but whomever you put in front of your customers should be wired for sales, have great energy, and a real sense of excite- ment for what's happening in their customers' lives. Relevant and Ongoing Training Beyond the necessary product orientation, training your team ongo- ing in selling techniques and philosophies matters more than ever? Today's customer interactions are the best content for tomorrow's sales discussions (what worked/what didn't/wins/losses/challenges etc.). The next best thing, is my book Sell Something…available on Amazon. Really. The last point I will make, and it is particularly important with Bridal, is that customers today place a real premium on their time. Getting in and out of stores on their agenda has never been more important – and especially so to younger customers – so tell succinct, relevant stories and close the sale. Don't for one second believe that your customer wants to hear every detail and nuance of every diamond and ring you have in your inventory. Happy Selling! The Millennial Myth and Bridal Opportunities BY PETER SMITH 30 www.thejewelrybook.com P L A N T S E E D S F O R S A L E S I N D U S T RY N E W S My friend Andy recently called me to share a success story. As he told it, a cus- tomer came into his store to pick up a $30 bracelet that she had ordered. Andy, because he's wired for sales—and because yours truly trained his team about the value of planting seeds for sales at every opportunity—decided to show the client his new private-label diamond brand. During the presentation, Andy demon- strated so much passion that his customer got excited and bought a $6,900 diamond band. Andy was understandably ecstatic to see the strategy pay off and couldn't wait to tell me. He knows I love retail success stories. Teaching your staff to understand the importance of planting seeds at every opportunity is critical. If you ingrain the right habits long before the holiday sea- son—where as much as 40 percent or more of business happens—there's every reason to believe that you will reap the rewards far ahead of the fourth quarter's arrival. Addressing your customers as though they are willing and able to make impor- tant purchases has never been more important. Every customer visit—be it for the $30 bracelet pickup, repair drop- off, or watch-battery change—represents a sales opportunity. Mark Ryski wrote in Conversion: The Last Great Retail Metric that at a basic level, sales are "A function of three vari- ables—the number of prospects who visit your store, the percentage of these visitors who make a purchase, and how much each one buys." So, if fewer customers visit your store, converting more of them to a higher average ticket makes a notice- able difference. Data from the Edge Retail Academy underscores this point. Year-over-year unit sales for 800 retailers reveals an 8 percent drop. Those same retailers, however, experienced a 1 percent increase in sales- modest, for sure, but not insignifi cant considering the unit decline. Most impor- tantly, it means that average sales are up. A few days after Andy made the ring sale, the customer came back to his store. After a slightly nervous greeting (fearful of a $7,000 return), the customer pointed to her diamond band and said, "This makes my engagement ring look like heck." She then removed her engagement ring and asked Andy to remake it so that it would complement her new diamond band. A week later the customer paid Andy $6,000 for a remodeled engagement ring. If I were to tell you that a $30 purchase could result in $13,000 in sales, you might think that I was crazy. If I were to tell you that most salespeople and owners would simply have greeted that customer, placed her bracelet in a bag, and wished her a pleasant day, you might say, "Not in my store!" But the truth is that this happens every day. Every single customer who visits your store is an opportunity for a sizable sale to happen. For salespeople, planting seeds as a non-negotiable strategy has never been more important. Just ask Andy. Plant Seeds for Sales with Every Customer BY PETER SMITH Addressing your customers as though they are willing and able to make important purchases has never been more important.

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