RapNet Blog
In today's world of options, what is it that makes a customer come into your store to buy diamond jewelery? Why does a customer choose you over all the online diamond jewelry stores and other businesses? With so much selection it is easy for customers to pick and choose. They vote with their wallets and determine if your store is the one for them. How do you stand out?
Your Workshop Can Set You Apart
One area that can really make your store stand apart is the workshop – the repair and custom make side of the business. The workshop can be your point of difference, your WOW factor and a great way to significantly enhance sales and your bottom line.
Now, just by having a workshop doesn't mean you'll reap the rewards. The experience of the workshop from the customer’s perspective and the processes of the workshop from the store’s perspective is where the real rewards can be discovered.
The Manual Based Workshop
Let's look at the traditional style manual based workshop through the eyes of the customer:
An existing customer walks into the store to have their engagement ring resized. The customer came back to this store as their first purchase was a good experience. They bought a piece of jewelry from the showcase, the item was scanned into the point of sale system, a receipt was printed and they left promptly. No waiting and a nice easy transaction.
This time, expecting the same service, the customer hands over the ring to be resized. A staff member pulls out a packet and commences asking them for details. The staff member handwrites out all the details of the job to be performed, taking several minutes of the customer’s time and asking for the same information the customer had already given the first time they visited. The customer plays along patiently and finally they get to leave the store.
A week passes and the customer returns. Asking for their job, they wait as a staff member looks in the finished box of jobs completed. Still waiting, the staff member then looks through box, after box. Finally, they find the job packet on the jeweler’s bench only to find it is not finished.
The customer is quite annoyed at this point as they made a trip in especially to pick up the ring. The staff member says they will call when it is ready.
Another week passes and no call, so the customer rings the store to see if it is ready. When they answer, she finds out that the phone number that the store had written down for her was not legible enough, so they could not ring to let her know that the job was complete.
Finally, the customer can pick up the ring. After leaving the store, the customer thinks to themselves; "Well I was going to come back to purchase our wedding rings here, but maybe after this experience I should try another store".
There will always be times when you need to tell a customer a job is not ready. But the process and the customer experience that goes along with that can determine whether this customer will come back.
Transforming The Traditional Workshop Into An Amazing Experience
With a cloud based retail management point of sale system, you can quickly and easily change the traditional workshop into an amazing experience for the customer and turn each and every customer into a customer for life.
Let's look at the above scenario using the cloud based retail management point of sale system.
The customer walks into the store with their engagement ring to be resized. The staff member greets them with a tablet and asks for their name. “Welcome back, Miss. Jones,” they say, “how can I help you today?” They then enter the resize information quickly into the tablet and the job receipt is emailed to Miss. Jones so she has a copy. The staff member looks up the workshop calendar to see when the job can be completed and books in the job. As the system automatically knows how long a resize will take, it allocates the necessary time needed into the calendar to ensure no double bookings.
Two days later the customer receives a text message to say the ring is ready to be collected and Miss. Jones comes in and collects the ring. The staff member enters the name “Miss. Jones” into the cloud based POS and it shows the exact location of the job. The credit card is swiped and a receipt emailed to the customer.
"Miss. Jones," the staff member says after processing the card, "I noticed that your wedding is seven months away, are you looking to design your own custom made wedding rings?"
"Well, yes." says Miss Jones.
"Great, would you like to book in a time with the jeweler to start on your design ideas?"
They proceed to book a time into the calendar. Miss. Jones then receives a text message two days before the booking to remind her of the appointment.
The second scenario here took less time to complete for the staff member and yet created an experience for the customer that was worlds apart. If the job in scenario two was running overtime, by having the tools to see what jobs are due, the customer can easily be contacted by text message, email or phone to let them know that the job is delayed and what the new expected date will be.
Cloud Retail Management POS - Your Store’s Biggest Asset
These simple yet powerful web-based tools can transform your workshop into your store’s biggest asset and create a competitive advantage over your online and offline competitors. The workshop is where you can create loyal customers, repeat sales, and ultimately more revenue.
More Benefits to Cloud Retail Management POS
The extra benefit of having such a system is that you know such details as how many jobs you are processing, how long they are taking, the exact cost in time and materials and the exact profit on every single job. This vital information allows you to maximise your workshop earnings and allocate staff accordingly.
An Enhanced State of Being
The key message here is that by using web based retail management POS tools designed for your diamond jewelry store, it makes life easier for your store, your staff and brings to your store an amazing customer experience. Today's consumer won't settle for second-rate service, and your bottom line won't settle for servicing jobs that cost more than you are charging your customer.