Focus on the emotional value you offer your customers to get them to look at the artist behind the jewelry.
Dear Lilian,
We are studio designers and make one of a kind pieces. We’re not Cartier, but from a technical and creative perspective, we can compete with Cartier. How do we encourage customers to begin looking at the artist behind the jewelry?
From A Master Artist in New Mexico
Masaa’ al-khair, my dear readers! This is Egyptian Arabic for “good afternoon.” To which you’d reply, “Masaa’An-nur!”
Why am I greeting you in Egyptian Arabic? Because I just had an absolutely fabulous 16-day 40th birthday adventure through the Land of the Pharaohs in December and January and I can’t stop thanking my personal tour guide, Mahmoud Saad Sobeih of Koki Tours. I also can’t help but curse him because clearly every birthday after this one is just going to suck in comparison!
In any case, Mahmoud and I had a conversation similar to this latest PR Advisor question from a talented jewelry artist I spoke with in Las Vegas.
Mahmoud planned an extraordinary three days for me in Cairo, where he introduced me to people and places you’d never find on traditional tours, yet he was barely breaking even given how little he charged. I ended up paying double his fee in tips because of how beautifully unexpected my experience was.
He felt he couldn’t charge me outright what I ultimately paid because other Egyptian tour guides charged less. He was trying to be like everyone else and base his fee on a number rather than the experience he provided — or more specifically, how much I valued the experience.
And herein lies a common business mistake: you can never be like anyone else. You can only be yourself. And as yourself, you must focus on the emotional value you offer your customers.
Jewelry is one of the most personal things women own. Every important piece in a jewelry box has a reason for being there. And for one-of-a-kind gems, that piece also has a story unique to the designer.
