Lessons in Relationship Building with
Since 1912, Ben Bridge Jeweler has made it a mission to help customers mark special moments and milestones by providing highly curated jewelry and personalized experiences.
The company’s values — curation, craftsmanship and community — shine through in every aspect of its business, from hiring and product sourcing to sales and customer service.
“The company has a long-standing slogan that says, ‘Your personal jeweler since 1912.’ As a fifth generation family-run business, that is absolutely at the core of who we are,” says Stacy Speicher, Vice President of Marketing and E-commerce at Ben Bridge Jeweler.
It’s all about relationships
On the buying side, Ben Bridge forms long-term relationships with its vendors, explains Mary Todd-Mcginnis, Vice President of Customer Experience. “We buy carefully and we do it very well so that our customers get great value and purchase from us again,” she says.
Ben Bridge also goes to great lengths to find the right vendors and products. “Our buyers fly all over the world (though not during the pandemic) and form one-to-one relationships. They don’t just dial in; they’re on the ground sourcing the most beautiful jewelry for the best value they can find,” says Stacy.
As for building strong ties with customers, Stacy says that it starts with hiring great people. “Finding someone who truly enjoys interacting with people, who likes serving and delighting them, is paramount to the business,” she says.
Ben Bridge’s customer communications strategy
Like with any relationship, constant communication is critical. Clienteling was already a part of their strategy even before the company adopted an official clienteling and virtual selling platform. “It’s a strategy that many of our best people were already implementing, but they were using their own personal devices,” explains Mary.
This presented some challenges for the company like maintaining the customers’ contact information in the company’s database. Having associates contact people on their own also brought up compliance issues.
Ben Bridge implemented the Salesfloor platform to enable its associates to connect better with customers with video and live chat, text messages, e-mails, and appointment scheduling (virtual and in-store). What’s more, associates are credited for sales they make online too.
“Salesfloor gives us a vehicle to not only monitor usage rates and interactions, but to bring them up to the same level as the other top associates by making sure that they’re staying in touch.” Mary Todd-Mcginnis, Vice President of Customer Experience, Ben Bridge
Features like automated tasking help associates engage more effectively by knowing when, why, and how to reach out to customers. A recent task that was executed by an associate resulted in a $14,000 fine timepiece sale in store.
As Mary puts it, “We now have the opportunity to engage those associates who weren’t practicing clienteling and virtual selling in the past. Salesfloor gives us a vehicle to bring them up to the same level as the other top associates by making sure that they’re staying in touch.”
“There was so much functionality all in one place,” adds Stacy. We looked at various solutions for making appointments, chatting with customers, and implementing virtual selling. Salesfloor gives us one nice integrated solution that we really value.”
A recent task that was executed by an associate resulted in a $14,000 fine timepiece sale in store.
Presenting a more polished look
In addition to giving associates a way to communicate with customers across multiple channels, Salesfloor allows Ben Bridge to provide a consistent brand experience to shoppers.
According to Stacy, “If an associate wants to virtually showcase a piece of jewelry, they don’t have to snap the photo themselves. Through Salesfloor, they access templates and a beautiful image library that are professional and brand-appropriate.”
Learning opportunities and stronger accountability
With a single managing its clienteling and virtual selling efforts, Ben Bridge easily see what features its associates are using and who’s leveraging the platform.
“We’re able to see things like which associates are reaching out more frequently or associates whose sales aren’t as high as the others. We can determine if they’re not completing their tasks on time or they’re not adding as many contacts, and take action if there’s a coaching opportunity there,” explains Mary.
“We’re able to look back and see things like which associates are reaching out more frequently or associates whose sales aren’t as high as the others. We can determine if they’re not completing their tasks on time or they’re not adding as many contacts, and take action if there’s a coaching opportunity there.” Mary Todd-Mcginnis, Vice President of Customer Experience, Ben Bridge
Bringing it all together
All in all, Salesfloor serves as a valuable tool that not only enables Ben Bridge to keep in touch with customers, but also helps the company to improve its staff performance.
This is crucial, because in today’s hyper competitive retail landscape, an engaged workforce that’s equipped with the right tools will give you an edge and allow you to thrive.
See the Salesfloor platform in action and discover how you can use it to win more loyal customers.
