Voice on the High Street – Christopher James Jewellers

Tell us about Christopher James Jewellers We are a family-run business based in the north west, specialising in handmade fine jewellery. We have been established for over 35 years, and currently have a total of three showrooms in Liverpool and Manchester. What helps you stand out from your competitors? Our passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of jewellery is what sets us apart from the competition. We run the business with a select, tight-knit team of dedicated people, many of whom have worked with us for over a decade. Unlike a lot of our competitors who import pre-made pieces from the Far East, we hand make everything in the UK by our own specialist jewellers. The jewellery you stock is all handmade and designed in the UK, does this provide a noticeable draw for your guests? Now more than ever, the market is saturated with many jewellery shops and you do need a unique selling point. With the vast availability of information about diamonds through the internet, many consumers are armed with knowledge before they enter the store, and with the recent recession, people have become much more thrifty and understandably want a great deal more for their money. Jewellers are often undercutting each other to get the business and this can prove a problem. At Christopher James, we offer competitive, fair prices, but we also offer a USP in the sense that our designs are handmade in the UK and completely exclusive to us. This, paired with the excellent customer service and a lifetime guarantee, does provide a noticeable draw for our customers because they know that they are getting a quality piece. You recently won Retail Team of the Year at the Manchester Heart Awards, how important is customer service? Customer service is everything to us. Our customers expect a high level of customer service and rightly so. With a competitive market, customers expect an impeccable service in order to purchase. Our aim is to make every guest who visits our store feel special. Often, customers come to us to purchase something to mark a special occasion or milestone in their life and we want them to enjoy the experience. We are flattered to be recognised as Retail Team of Year as everybody has worked extremely hard. What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry? Listen. When I first started working at Christopher James I didn't know a lot about jewellery but I quickly picked skills up by watching and listening to my colleagues. One person gave me some good advice - people buy from people they like and trust, they told me to spend time with a customer, find out about them, and not just talking about what I was trying to sell. This advice really rings true to me. I think it's important to inject your personality into a sale, and not just talk about facts and figures. What does the future hold? This year our plan is to sharpen up our brand image and reach out a wider customer audience through new online selling platforms. This article first appeared in the April 2015 issue of Jewellery Focus