Jeweller: The Great Diamond Debate - Round II

RETAIL SPECIALIST
The consumer conundrum: ‘Should I
buy a lab-grown or natural diamond?’
JIMMY DEGROOT’S KEY POINTS:
The first question jewellers should ask a customer is, ‘What is important to you in purchasing a diamond?’
Retailers should tailor their sales approach based on the customer’s answer and their attitude to lab-grown diamonds
Lab-grown and natural diamonds appeal to different types of customers as they offer different benefits
Jewellers need to take the lab-grown diamond
market potential seriously. I’m not saying
everyone must dive in with both feet selling labgrown
diamonds – and there is a great range of
opinions on the subject.
But as a jewellery store training specialist, I’ve had
many conversations with jewellers on both sides of
the issue, as well as many in the middle.
Typically customers fall into one of three categories
regarding these diamonds: the customer didn’t
know about lab-grown diamonds until the jeweller
brought it to the customer’s attention, the customer
was aware of them through advertising or social
media, or the customer had done research and was
adamant about buying lab-grown.
The first of these customers is typically delighted at
the cost difference between natural and lab-grown
diamonds, which allows them to purchase a larger
diamond with the same budget.
It’s easy to understand the benefits, and when
sticking to their budget is a high priority, they will
likely opt for the lab-grown diamond.
The most important question for any jeweller
to ask a customer is, ‘What’s important to you in
purchasing a diamond?’
Their answer will reveal their true desire and the
jeweller can then deliver a product and service to
match the customer’s requirement.
If the customer is aware of the lab-grown product
– but hasn’t done further research – they will
have many questions for the jeweller.
This is good and an important conversation because
it provides the jeweller with the opportunity to
create trust, value and a relationship with the
customer. How the jeweller handles this customer is
key to sales success.
Integrity is key in this conversation. The jeweller
should educate the customer, as much as possible,
as to the future value, trade-in potential, and
production processes of lab-grown diamonds.
It’s important, when speaking with this customer,
not to guess or speculate on the future of lab-grown
diamonds, which is ambiguous.
For the customer who is adamant about buying a
lab-grown diamond, the sales conversation should
be straightforward – yet I would still advise retailers
to practise full disclosure regarding the future value
of the diamond.
Again, asking the question, ‘What’s important to
you in purchasing a diamond?’ will confirm the
customer’s desires and priorities, as well as give the
jeweller a comfortable lead-in to the sale.
THE SALES SCENARIO
With more and more shoppers seeking lab-grown
diamonds, it’s important for retailers to know how to
respond – and how to secure the sale.
While it may sound extreme, some US retailers are
exclusively selling lab-grown stones with no natural
diamonds whatsoever.
De Beers’ Lightbox Jewelry – previously an
e-commerce business – is also undertaking a bricksand-mortar
trial with two high-profile US retailers.
Consumers are increasingly becoming aware of
lab-grown diamonds from blogs, social media and
advertising, and the number of consumers who
are passionate about the product is also increasing.
Retailers would be wise to take notice.
For retailers who have recently started stocking labgrown
diamonds – or who are considering doing so
– here are some sales scenarios:
You respond: “I don’t sell lab-grown diamonds”
– If a jeweller asks the key question mentioned
previously – ’What’s important to you?’ – they can
steer the conversation towards how the benefits of
a natural diamond match the customer’s desire.
If the customer wants a ‘big rock’ for the lowest price
possible, and the jeweller does not stock lab-grown
diamonds, an ‘off-make’ diamond may be the only
option. In that situation, the argument of ‘future
value’ does not carry the same weight.
Some jewellers may be afraid of the changing
diamond market. The sentiment generally sounds
like this: ‘We don’t know what the value will be in
three years, so how can we give guarantees, tradeins
or buy-backs?’
It’s a very good question – and there’s just cause for
December 2019 Jeweller 49