New Ways to Connect

by Michael Indelicato, CEO, RDI Diamonds, New York 

As we work from home and remote offices, we are all trying to make the best out of the situation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and move forward with our daily personal and business routines. Working from home presents challenges, as well as new opportunities to approach the way we progress as an industry. We are keeping our community of employees, jewelers and partners engaged with daily virtual meetups via Facebook, Instagram and Zoom. These meet-ups are designed to encourage social interaction and to connect like-minded jewelers to share their best practices and approaches to building business opportunities during this crisis. 

Here are six takeaways from these sessions to help you better connect with your customers and stay positive during these uncertain times: 

      Reach out and check in. This is a good opportunity to make a phone call and get to know the needs of your clients better. When calling clients, you can build a stronger rapport and let them know that everyone is going through this together. Keep the conversation upbeat as positive thoughts can help them feel at ease. Ask them about their upcoming celebrations-birthdays, anniversaries and other milestones-and how they plan to mark these significant moments in the future.

      Set up virtual appointments. As public safety is everyone's first concern, allow customers virtual opportunities to look at your products. Pull out one or two special pieces of jewelry and talk about what makes those pieces unique and special. Offer to find a delivery option that is most comfortable - and safe - for them and for you. Pay attention to packaging the product in a very special way. 

      Offer something new and unique. Take this time to research trends and new product lines. Think about something you can offer that your competitors don't. For instance, we recently unveiled a new premier line of diamonds called Rare and Forever, exclusively graded by De Beers Group Industry Services. We are the first to offer diamonds graded by De Beers Group Industry Services with accompanying grading reports. This will be a significant differentiator for our jeweler customers by enabling them to overcome the inconsistency and inaccuracy in diamond grading, thereby increasing consumer confidence.

Turn to social media marketing. Identify customers who are in the market for your inventory and target them with engaging new content that will help convert sales. This is a good way to keep the conversation going with your customers and prospects, especially when industry trade shows and other physical meet-ups are on hold.    

      Get ready to be bigger and stronger than you were before. Position yourself now for the boom to come later. Consumers will want to go back to normal, and I truly believe the economy will rebound. Clean and organize your store, rearrange it and get ready to do a grand reopening. This is the time to be creative. 

      Take time to do something for yourself. In this time of transition, the jewelers we are speaking with are upbeat and positive. This is a great time to consider how we spend our free time as well, balancing our days with new opportunities that promote well-being and personal growth. Read a book, take an online course (many are free right now), discover a new hobby, or pick up an instrument. This balance will allow us to be more focused after social distancing mandates are removed and will help generate a healthy mind when returning back to our regular schedules.  

I do believe the jewelry business will rebound and do very well in the near future. We need to take the time now to rely on the support from our industry colleagues and find opportunities for new ideas that spark industry-wide collaboration. Let's continue to build up our industry and prepare now for a strong recovery.