Hello spring!
The trade show season is in full swing, everybody is busy jetting off to the next trade show and coming up with different ideas on new ways to attract buyers to their stands. Why do we put ourselves through this exhausting process? The answer is easy, trade shows are extremely important to the jewellery industry and as draining as trade shows are, they are fantastic, because they truly are the best way to get your jewellery in front of a captive audience and see what your competition are up to. And even though your feet may hate you by the end of the trade show, the great news is, there’s nothing more powerful than a face-to-face meeting when you are trying to sell to a potential customer. You will gain more information, you can gauge their reactions and react to them, find out what their objections are and overcome them.
As we continue on the treadmill of jewellery trade shows all over the world, I have compiled a top tips list to help make your investment in trade shows and exhibitions more productive, more profitable, and even more rewarding.
As always I want to hear from you too. What top tips do you have on trade shows? What tricks have you developed over the years that have worked for you? Equally have you had any disasters that you are prepared to tell us about? Hit reply and tell me your tips!!
Have a great weekend!
Richard
Top Tips for selling at a Trade Show
1. Stand display. If you are a seasoned exhibitor you will already have developed your own ideas about what works best for you and what doesn’t. But it’s always worth refreshing your stand, take a walk around and have a look at other exhibitors’ stands. You can learn much from other exhibitors, good and bad.
– No clutter! Make sure you hide all half-drunk cups of coffee, magazines and half-eaten sandwiches where nobody can see them. If you have people with you to help and they are looking bored, send them for a nosy around the exhibition to report back to you with highlights, or to stand at the entrance with an engaging leaflet and direct interested visitors to your stand.
– Don’t have too much on display — it can all become ‘meaningless noise’ if you aren’t careful.
– Not too little either — it may look as if you aren’t really in business;
– Get your lighting right – nothing sparkles like a well-lit shiny piece of jewellery — don’t forget, you are after your visitors’ ‘eye-share’ first.
2. Body Language. When someone comes to your stand, you become the most important thing to them at that moment. So look them in the eye and smile, this will immediately show that you are approachable and willing to talk. Remember to keep your body language open, stand up and don’t cross your arms. Body language is very important when face to face with a potential customer as 55% of everybody’s communication is non-verbal.
3. Never ask “Can I help you?” this is an epic fail because they might reply with no thanks or I am just looking, and it is very difficult for even the best sales person to overcome those answers. Better to open a conversation with “What are you interested in?”
4. Overrule Objections. The people who are buying at the trade show are there to get the best jewellery they can find but also at the best price, yes you have a captive audience, but the same can be said of every other stall at a trade show. The best foot forward here is to work out what objections a buyer might raise and then prepare your response to those objections.
5. Engage With Everyone. No matter what time of the day it is, no matter how many people have been before or how tired you are, treat everybody who stops at your stall as a potential big sale, engage with them, ask questions and listen to the answers.
6. Be Passionate. Talk passionately about your jewellery, it’s your product and you are rightly proud of it – if you show pride in your work it is infectious and much easier to win someone over.
7. Don’t pounce. Resist the urge to jump in and sell too early. Let the client talk and tailor your pitch to their precise needs.
8. Prepare for the follow-up. After all the hard work of attending the trade show, it is so tempting to pack up and go home, take a hot bath and rest your weary feet, and then deal with all the emails and post you have missed while you have been away. But this is sheer folly. For most exhibitors, this is when the ‘real work’ starts, converting all those precious qualified leads into sales. So do prepare your standard follow-up contact-messages and literature in advance, set yourself a deadline to get these out — within the next week? And do make time for all those invaluable, top-priority follow-up calls.
9. The BIG PAUSE. Every salesperson in the world will tell you that the pause is THE most effective way to close a sale. But not filling a silence with continued chatter is excruciating at best. But give it a go, it really does work. All you need to do is ask at the end of the chatting to someone who is near to buying off you, “so, shall I make the order for you?” or be bold and say, “do we have a sale then?” and then say nothing, absolutely nothing. Complete silence. Don’t be tempted to continue to try and persuade, just say nothing. The first person next to speak has to be them. Try this just once, yes as I said it’s excruciatingly difficult to not fill a silence, but try it just once. It will work.
What Else Is Happening
The Oscars, every designer’s favourite red carpet
While we were celebrating that Leo finally won his Oscar and applauding his global warming speech – even though he is yet to be forgiven for supporting synthetic diamonds – there were also some Oscar worthy baubles on display too; here are a few of our favourite jewellery moments, from ultra-long pendants to choker necklaces adorned with sapphires to diamond chandeliers;
Charlize Theron, donned a plunging neckline to best show off the $3.7 million worth of Harry Winston Diamonds. The diamond necklace was a 48-carat Secret Cluster, with matching Winston Cluster Diamond Earrings totalling 15.49 carats, Cushion-Cut Diamond Ring with Micropave, 8.78 carats, Micropave Diamond Band Ring, and Queen Diamond Ring, 7.44 carats, all set in platinum.
Jessica Biel looked stunning in her Piaget emerald and diamond earrings
Tina Fey – who has accused this year’s Oscars speeches as too preachy – wore a stunning Bulgari sapphire necklace.
Olivia Munn wore a beautiful white diamond serpent bracelet by Forevermark
Olivia Wilde, was another member of the glitterati that chose a daring plunging neckline dress to best show off her super on trend, Neil Lane vintage style choker.
The Goldsmith Craft and Design Awards (The Jewellery Oscars)
The Goldsmiths Craft and Design Council awards, fondly known as the ‘Oscars of the Industry’ they reward outstanding technical skill and design ability. The Awards are open to anyone in the United Kingdom engaged in designing or working with precious metals, gemstones and other allied materials. There are three main categories for entering work and we encourage all members of the trade to enter.
The 29th February saw a glittering force of over 300 top craftsmen and women gather at Goldsmiths’ Hall to watch the prestigious invite only awards ceremony and see who has won the Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council’s awards including the competition’s highest accolade, the Jacques Cartier Memorial Award.
For a full list of awards visit http://www.
craftanddesigncouncil.org.uk/
the-awards/the-awards/
March Birthstone – Aquamarine
The gemstone Aquamarine is the modern March birthstone, the most common hue for this stone is blue green, and in modern times it is seen as a symbol of youth, hope and health. This beautiful gemstone is also the suggested gem to give on 16th and 19th wedding anniversaries.
Aquamarine is a member of the beryl family and ranges in colour from an almost colourless pale blue to blue-green or teal. The most prized colour is a deep-blue aqua colour. It is 7.5-8 on the Mohs scale of hardness.
The legends around this stone are endless. In the Middle Ages claimed aquamarine was the most popular and effective of the “oracle” crystals. When cut as a crystal ball, it was thought to be a superior stone for fortune telling. Many methods of using the stone as a divining tool were described in ancient literature. Powers of revelation were also said to help one in search for lost or hidden things. However the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Hebrews valued aquamarine greatly as a symbol of happiness and everlasting youth. While the Romans believed that if the figure of a frog were carved on an aquamarine, it served to reconcile enemies and make them friends. The Greeks and the Romans also knew the aquamarine as the sailor’s gem, ensuring the safe and prosperous passage across stormy seas and render soldiers invincible.
Latest Gem Scam
According to the Times of India the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating a New Delhi-based firm which had put up lab-grown diamonds with natural diamond GIA certificates for sale online. Sources are also reporting that this fraud certificate scam is operated from China and Hong Kong.
Industry insiders revealed that genuine natural diamond grading reports issued by reputed international gemological institutes are being sold for $100 in China and Hong Kong. According to the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s (GJEPC) data, Hong Kong is the biggest importer of polished diamonds from India. Average annual exports of polished diamonds to Hong Kong is pegged at $9.5 billion. US, at $7 billion per annum, is the second-largest importer of polished diamonds from India.
Diamonds exported to Hong Kong are re-exported to China, which is the world’s second-largest diamond jewellery consumer market with an annual turnover of over $15 billion. A Gujarati diamantaire in Hong Kong admitted that diamond grading reports issued by reputed gemological laboratories are of no use when diamonds are sold in China. “The diamonds are imported with diamond grading reports from reputed gemological laboratories in Hong Kong. We export the same diamonds to China with certificates. However, Chinese traders and jewellers have to compulsorily grade the diamonds at their own laboratories. Thus, the grading reports of GIA or any other laboratory are of no use. The diamond grading reports are sold for $80 to $100 depending on the size and quality of goods. These reports are sold to buyers in India, Antwerp and Israel.”
Meanwhile, Diamond Intelligence Briefing (DIB), which had exposed the New Delhi scam last week, has identified the mastermind as Diwakar Dhyani. He and his partners trade on internet platforms and sell lab-grown diamonds with genuine natural diamond certificates.
The post Best Foot Forward with our Trade Show Sales Tips appeared first on Coloured Diamonds and Loose Gemstones | TheGemBank.
