Type of Company:

Diamond Retail industry.

Background:

Diamonds are high prestige and high value commodity, normally purchased by people who expect a certain standard of customer service. However, the retail staff manning the sales counters at the Diamond showrooms across the country lacked the finesse and discreteness that was expected on the job. Majority learnt through a process of on-the-job training by observing their seniors and learning from their own mistakes.

Business Focus:

The Diamond industry leaders wanted their employees to gain that certain ‘shine’ that was essential to not only meet, but also far surpass the demands of their customers. To this end, the Diamond industry wished to create an academy that would shape and hone the knowledge and skills of the employees, making these graduating cadres the finest available in the industry and the ones to create tomorrow’s market nationally and internationally.

The ELS Way:

In the absence of any formal documentation of past practices to fall back on, detailed research was carried out nationally, to assess the needs and the level of customization required. The research findings were thoroughly vetted with and ratified by the industry leaders, which, thereafter, became the basis for the design of the modules and creation of course material for three day workshops on the art & science of Marketing of Diamond Jewelry products, coupled with the superior skills Customer service required for the sale of luxury products. Separate segments of workshops were planned for:

• Showroom Managers / Owners - focused on managing & growing the business.
• Retail Showroom Staff - focused on enhancing the Customer interface experience.

The workshops were structured into three phases covering initial classroom learning, followed by on-the-job project and finally rounded off by a classroom academic input-cum-review session. The pilot workshops were conducted at the four zonal metros of Delhi, Chennai, Kolkatta and Mumbai and thereafter followed up by post-workshop reviews at selected showrooms at the metros.

The Outcome:

The workshops got an overwhelming response based on which it was decided to extend these workshops to the rest of the country.