Jewelers of America Offers New Online Courses

Jewelers of America (JA) has released three new online courses on its J-Biz online program, the J-Biz Education Center. The courses, which cover topics such as selling colored gemstones and explaining lab reports and gemstone treatments, are being offered in advance of the holiday sales season to help jewelers and their sales associates close more sales in this period.

“We know it’s crucial for the J-Biz online courses to be not only convenient and affordable, but also engaging and worthwhile,” commented JA Director of Education David Peters, who designed the courses specifically for the web. “That’s why our first online releases are focused on usable sales skills and knowledge that associates can take directly to the customer.”

The first three courses are:

• Counter Intelligence – a multimedia self-study course designed to educate sales associates about professionalism, ethics and legal compliance.
• Communicating Color: Selling Colored Gemstones – a course to give practical knowledge about popular faceted gems, colored stone value factors and gemstone enhancements and disclosure.
• Treatment Talk: Discussion Gemstone Enhancements – a course about different types of treated gemstones and stability and care and cleaning issues.

All courses are self-study and are designed to assist retailers in their overall professional development plan for staff. JA initially launched the J-Biz online program in March, and its courses are available to JA members at www.jewelers.org.