Here's the article:
I’M OFTEN REMINDED OF MY INITIAL MEETING with the owner of the jewelry company brave enough
to give me my first real job. There I stood during my second week in the store, a 16-year-old smartass, having just walked a ‘fl y-by’ mall customer, when he stepped into the store.
to give me my first real job. There I stood during my second week in the store, a 16-year-old smartass, having just walked a ‘fl y-by’ mall customer, when he stepped into the store.
“What is your job here?”
“To sell jewelry, I guess,” I said.
“Never in a store with my name over the door,” he said.
Then he said: “As long as you represent my name to the public, your job is to fi nd out what each person who
comes in the door needs or loves and to deliver it — without fail — every time. If you can do that right, from
the heart, you’ll never have to sell anything.”
From that point forward, in my mind, presenting jewelry in general has been about understanding symbolism and communicating emotion.
“To sell jewelry, I guess,” I said.
“Never in a store with my name over the door,” he said.
Then he said: “As long as you represent my name to the public, your job is to fi nd out what each person who
comes in the door needs or loves and to deliver it — without fail — every time. If you can do that right, from
the heart, you’ll never have to sell anything.”
From that point forward, in my mind, presenting jewelry in general has been about understanding symbolism and communicating emotion.
For me, an eff ective designer jewelry presentation requires that I clearly understand both the client’s message and the designer’s inspiration and vision, and that I can make the match between the two.
What I’m really off ering is the designer’s passion — not the name, and not the materials from which the piece is made. There was a time when the value proposition for designer jewelry was tied to the brand itself — a time when consumers would pay the price on one side of the tag simply because of the
name on the other. Those days are long gone.
For today’s consumer, value is far more practical and far more personal. It’s not about what they pay — it’s about what they get for what they pay — about how the product in all of its elements suits his or her personal style or how well it represents his or her intended message. The more I know about the designer’s passion, the easier it is to build a value basis that speaks to my client.
Designers pour heart and soul into creating a look that is distinctive and personal. This inherently means that with any designer collection, there will be some who love it and some who don’t.
Great salespeople know, however, that you don’t have to love a designer’s style to present his or her creations eff ectively. You only need to have a passion for passion — to appreciate the drive and inspiration behind the work, and to know how to transform that inspiration into the message your client is trying
to create.
What I’m really off ering is the designer’s passion — not the name, and not the materials from which the piece is made. There was a time when the value proposition for designer jewelry was tied to the brand itself — a time when consumers would pay the price on one side of the tag simply because of the
name on the other. Those days are long gone.
For today’s consumer, value is far more practical and far more personal. It’s not about what they pay — it’s about what they get for what they pay — about how the product in all of its elements suits his or her personal style or how well it represents his or her intended message. The more I know about the designer’s passion, the easier it is to build a value basis that speaks to my client.
Designers pour heart and soul into creating a look that is distinctive and personal. This inherently means that with any designer collection, there will be some who love it and some who don’t.
Great salespeople know, however, that you don’t have to love a designer’s style to present his or her creations eff ectively. You only need to have a passion for passion — to appreciate the drive and inspiration behind the work, and to know how to transform that inspiration into the message your client is trying
to create.
Kate Peterson President & CEO of Performance Concepts
No comments:
Post a Comment