Exceptional Customer Service: Every Business Can Implement It.

One of the most indelible memories of US has been its customer service at department stores big and small alike, restaurants, coffeeshops and everywhere else. So naturally when I came back after a 4 year stint there I tried to imbibe this culture at our jewelry store.

I am fortunate to have a family which supported me all along when I wanted to implement ideas I learnt from the west to the jewelry store. But there were voices of dissent among relatives, customers who wished us good and friends who thought Indian customers are too untrustworthy to place the trust on.

The customer service I am talking about ranged from 30-Day Money BAck at Targets,Nordstorm etc, free dessert because we made you wait for it a little too long at Applebees in Salem, Oregon, or dont worry about the wallet you forgot you can pay us next time at Starbucks, Wilsonville, Oregon. I was bound to get infected and bound to give this a try in its own flavor back in India.

Besides Customer satisfaction, there is a business case for it:

Joel Spolsky puts that in words what we had all along known and I quote from his blog

The no-questions-asked 90-day money back guarantee was one of the best decisions we ever made at Fog Creek. Try this: use Fog Creek Copilot for a full 24 hours, call up three months later and say, “hey guys, I need $5 for a cup of coffee. Give me back my money from that Copilot day pass,” and we’ll give it back to you. Try calling on the 91st or 92nd or 203rd day. You’ll still get it back. We really don’t want your money if you’re not satisfied. I’m pretty sure we’re running the only job listing service around that will refund your money just because your ad didn’t work. This is unheard of, but it means we get a lot more ad listings, because there’s nothing to lose.

Over the last six years or so, letting people return software has cost us 2%.

2%.

Similarly, Over the last 11 months since we implemented a '30-Day 100% Money back' in our store we haven't had a single return. And I am not kidding.

Wishing You a Happy Diwali

Wishing all the readers of this blog, A very HAPPY DIWALI.

May this joyous occasion bring peace, prosperity and purity to your family and loved ones.

Making Charges In Gold : A Classic Overhyped Marketing Gimmick!

Seth Godin would have loved to point this in his book All marketers are liars. The case in point is the making charges in jewellery of any kind be it gold, diamond or semi-precious stones.

Making charges are what a consumer pays above the price of gold(on a certain day) for crafting the gold into jewellery. This varies from item(viz. bangles) to item(viz. chains) and from one jeweller to another. Usually the going rate starts upwards of Rs.60/gram.

Somehow for some marketers this parameter is the most important thing to consider when buying/evaluating gold from a retailer. You cant miss this fact especially on different radio channels where every other jeweller is trying to beat the competitor on just this parameter.

Infact so intense is the competition and so unmeasurable the delight of consumers that I recently came across a customer who boasted of Rs.10/gram of making charges from another jeweller.

Why has this parameter stolen the limelight when there are parameters more worthy to consider or highlight?

This stems from the basic instinct in humans: To get a good bargain for the deal at hand.

So whats wrong with that?
This takes me back to what said earlier. There are more than just one parameter to consider when buying gold. FInd out the return policy on your jewellery. You should ideally get a trial period of atleast a month beyond which expect to lose only making charges when you return your jewellery. The diamonds should be certified by reputed houses like GIA,EGL and IGI. The jewellery should be BIS hallmarked. It should indicate all the 5 signs BIS recommends.

On prompting more the customer pointed that his low making charges were on unhallmarked gold jewellery. Here rests my case.

Related Posts:
How to avoid the Low Making Charges Trap in Jewellery

Thank You... Trendylicious!

So the news of our unique offerings and services is reaching places. I want to thank the trendylicious team for doing a wonderful job of covering our offerings and bringing us in front of their readers.

FOr the new readers of this blog, spend some time around on this blog and leave comments on how you like this blog and what you would like to know about jewellery.

Our website is getting revamped,It will sport a new look by the end of this week. So bookmark it to visit again.

For those of you who haven't read the article its here.

Related Posts:
Custom Made Engagement Rings

Tip # 1: All Gold Is Not Created Equal

I have been thinking of starting jewellery tid-bits in a digestible format for the readers of this blog.

Once I have a decent number of them I will make an e-book out of these.Here's my first one.

Gold used in Diamond jewellery is 18K whereas in Gold sets, Kanthi Sets the gold is 22K pure.

Why so? The reason is pure gold(24K) is very soft and cannot be used in jewellery of any kind as it is. So alloys are mixed in gold to make it stronger.

Prongs used in diamond jewellery to hold the diamonds need to be strong. Hence it is 18K( more alloy). Gold used in necklaces containg semiprecious stones, kanthi necklace sets and antique design gold sets are made in 22K gold(less alloy).

Save Money! GO Custom!!!

Yes this can be true. Sounds counter-intuitive so Let me give you 2 examples.

Dell: The famed computer giant from US has become huge by offering customers the option to customize their laptops for virtually any configuration.

Bluenile.com : For the uninitiated this is the largest online retailer of jewelry in US. Here you can custom make rings that fits your budget, style and occasion. All this at prices well below any offline store can offer.

Alright but how do they actually save money?

The answer lies in the economics of shelving cost. Simply put every item you find in the shelves (or jewelry boxes) of a retailer carries an overhead attached to it. This overhead is the interest money a retailer pays to its investors, banks or whomever they might have borrowed the money from. This cost is directly passed on the customer and the retailer adds some of his own margin to the final MRP.

So your final price tag looks like this: Actual cost of the product + Interest Cost + Retailers Margin.

These giants have very cleverly eliminated the "Interest Cost" part in the equation effectively bringing down the prices.

How do we do it?

At Kathana Jewellers we have effectively emulated this strategy at our offline store. This allows us to give our customers virtually any kind of ring they desire within a budget determined by them.

With a back office in the diamond city : Surat, Gujarat, we are well connected with the diamond manufacturers . After an order is placed we order your diamond directly with the manufacturer and set in the design of your choice. All this in 2 weeks time.

And yes we have more than a dozen satisfied customers. You not only get a ring of your design , You actually save some money in the process.

Please note this is not an e-commerce initiative. You can find our exact co-ordinates here

Related Posts:
Custom Made Engagement Rings
Thank You ...Trendylicious!

Color:

Theory teaches us that diamonds are allotrope of Carbon and hence diamonds composed of pure carbon are colorless. However such stones are extremely rare. Rather, most of the diamonds found in nature have slight shades of yellow or brown. The color in diamond is attributed to the presence of small traces of other elements such as Hydrogen, Boron or Nitrogen, all of which are known to impart color. The shades of yellow or brown are in particular attributed to the presence of Nitrogen.

Scale to Grade Color of a Diamond:

To grade the color of diamond, the entire diamond industry now uses the color grading scale introduced by GIA in 1950. This scale goes from D to Z, where D stands for colorless diamonds, while Z implies the presence of light yellow color.

• D (Colorless) – This is the highest color grade your diamond can be. D stands for colorless which means that the diamond is absolutely white. This color emits unequaled brilliance, and is extremely rare.
• E (Colorless) – This color grade suggests that diamond contains some minute traces of color. E-colored diamonds too emit unsurpassed brilliance and are very rare.
• F (Colorless) - Diamonds falling under F-grade of color have minute traces of color which can only be detected by a trained gemologist. F-color diamonds qualify as a high-quality color grade diamonds.
• G, H (Near Colorless) – Diamonds under G and H color fall under noticeable color category. The color is prominent only when the diamonds are compared to higher color grades diamonds. To the untrained eyes the diamonds still appear to be colorless.
• I, J (Near Colorless) – Color grade I and J imply that the diamond has a slightly detectable color. But these diamonds are great value for money as they appear colorless to the naked eye yet doesn’t cost as much as higher color grade diamonds.
• K, L, M (Faint Yellow) – Diamonds falling under K,L and M category have noticeable color. Despite the presence of color, these diamonds can still be brilliant and emit fire.

Though colorless diamonds are deemed expensive, there is a whole range of fancy colored diamonds which are just as rare as exquisite. A color more intense than the “Z” grade on the color scale stands for a yellow colored diamond and falls under the class of fancy colored diamonds. There are other rare colors such as blue, pink, purple, or red which tend to be very expensive and just as beautiful!

Quick Fact: Compared to other shapes, brilliant round-cut diamonds, regardless of color, look brighter because of their ability for greater light dispersion.

Moissanite Or Real Diamonds?

Moissanite: Another interesting topic I have been so long wanting to write about. Hindustan Times ran a very interesting and thought provoking article about Moissanite on August'27'2007. Copied are its contents in the quotes below:

" Are your diamonds for real?
The diamond that you bought may be a moissanite far cheaper than the real thing, but with properties that could fool an expert. A diamond lookalike, moissanite (silicon carbide), has been in India for two years now. And a random check by HT revealed that well known jewellers in Delhi, even after a couple of checks, declared it to be a diamond. "When I started dealing in moissanites, many small-time jewellers suggested I market them as diamonds," says Niraj Johri, a Gemological Institute of America (GIA)-trained gemologist. Nidhi Jain of Sital- dass and Sons in Connaught Place adds, "One dealer said the profit margin is huge in this business, but we refused." GIA India director Deepak Bagai says that it's very tough to figure out a moissanite, especially in mounted jewellery, as most jewellers don't possess a moissanite tester.

STONES APART: Moissanite has a refractive index (brilliance) of 2.65-2.69, while a diamond's is 2.42.
Moissanite's hardness is 9.25 (on the Moh's scale) diamond's is 10.

Reference: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Default.aspx?selpg=2035"

A quick research into the subject helped me find these facts, which I hope is going to be very informative to you all. Let me list these as dot points so that we have a cleaner interface of understanding:

1.) Moissanite is a naturally occuring mineral. It was first discovered in fragments of the meteorite at Diablo Canyon or Meteor Crater in Arizona. Natural moissanite is very rare.

2.)Moissanite are also synthetically created in laborateries. This Silicon Carbide mineral is popularly known by its trade name "Moissanite" in the jewellery world. The name moissanite is interchangably used for both naturally or synthetically occuring mineral.

3.) Though very similar in its properties (eg. refractive index, hardness and physical appearance) to diamonds, Moissanite can still be distinguised from diamonds using the following dissimilarities:

a.)Structure: Diamonds have an isometric structure while Moissanite is hexagonal. Owing to its hexagonal structure, Moissanite is doubly refractive.

b.)Edges: The face of a moissanite stone shows double facet edges whereas a diamond's edges are single in appearance.

c.)Density: Moissanite is slightly less dense than diamond.

d.)Color: Moissanite is rarely colorless. It very often has pale shades of green.

e.)Clarity: Unlike diamonds, natural flaws are absent in moissanite. Simply stated this means that Moissanite often has clarity: "Internally Flawless". What Moissanite does have are tiny, unnatural, white, ribbon-like structures caused during the growing process.

Using these guidelines and the right tools many jewellers are able to differentiate between the two stones. Yet, there are quite a few, who in the absence of information and awareness are tricked into buying and selling Moissanite as real diamond rings .

As a customer, I can understand your inability to distinguish the real diamonds from their syntheic counerparts. And, the best advice I can pass on at this stage is to buy your diamond jewellery from a Jeweller who is not only into trading diamonds, but is also professionally trained in this arena. A diamond merchant with a diploma/ degree or course under his belt is more likely to distinguish diamonds from Moissanites, than some one who has been in the business for years. Sometimes, we need to back up experience with knowledge. Additionally, you can also insist on certification of your diamonds from institutions like GIA, IGLS etc.

If you have any questions or concerns on this subject, you can post them on the comment section, and we would get back to you. Alternatively, you can call us at: 91-11- 27353489/ 91- 11- 27354284, Tuesdays through Sundays from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM IST. You can also reach us through email on info@kathana.in

Custom made Engagement Rings.

In our constant endeavor to serve you better and meet your expectations, we have come up with yet another offer on our palette: Custom made Diamond Engagement and Wedding rings.

So, if you have been eying a particular design in some magazine, online or someplace else, bring it to us and we will gladly replicate the ring for you. And yes, all this can be done within your budget and at no additional labor cost. For more details, drop by and speak to our in-house jewelry expert :Ankur, who always has some very valuable tips to give.

As of today, we have over a dozen customers beaming with joy with their custom made finished products. Of these, many have confessed that though they were apprehensive initially, the finished products have far surpassed their expectations!

Doing business with you has always been a pleasure, but to be a part of your life's celebration....well thats a real reward!

The Trinklet of the Hour...

For all you fashion divas, here is the "in thingy" of the moment: Large pendants on a beaded string. Combine diamonds with other precious or semi precious stones like rubies, emeralds etc. on a white gold base and you are all set to rock the party!
By the way, do you know that silver color is going to be really big this season...and what would compliment silver better than platinums with diamonds studded. On a more sombre note, if you prefer the contemporary and a more classy look, then intricate kundan work pendants with real uncut diamonds and other stones is the accessory for you. Do you know that Nicole Kidman was sporting a beautiful bracelet with over 300 carats of uncut diamonds (kundan) for the academy awards? So don't just stash away your Kundan Sets yet! For all we know its going to be the next big thing in the fashion world.