Dentists really have it figured out. When you go in for your twice yearly check up, they clean the heck out of your teeth and send you on your way with instructions on how to keep them clean and healthy until your next visit. Out you walk, baggie in hand, with a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss, plus instructions to brush and floss twice a day. Easy peasy.

We know from a survey we conducted that as many as 82 percent of women are not wearing a piece of jewelry because it needs to be cleaned. If their jeweler could make jewelry care as easy as tooth care, that statistic would be much lower. But when customers buy a new piece of jewelry or take a piece in for an annual inspection, they may not be getting such easy instructions. Many customers walk out admiring a beautiful, sparkling piece, lamenting that it won’t look that good again until it gets another professional cleaning.

Jewelers might take a cue from dentists to make it easy on the customer.

What’s not easy?

• Don’t offer vague instructions like “put a few drops of ammonia in water.” The customer is thinking, “What? I don’t have ammonia. I could get ammonia, but how much water do I need? Do I use hot or cold water? How many is a few drops?” Easy doesn’t require a degree in science.
• Don’t recommend a product that is made with harsh chemicals. Easy doesn’t require wearing gloves.
• Don’t require customers to come back in as the only recommendation for routine cleaning. That’s not easy, because they have to make time, get in their car and come in. Easy doesn’t require a car trip.
• Don’t suggest they clean their jewelry in boiling water. Easy doesn’t require pots, pans and time waiting for that watched pot to boil.

What is easy?

• Do have information on your website to educate your customers on how to clean their jewelry. It’s easy when she doesn’t have to leave her desk.
• Do offer a variety of cleaning formularies. You can help your customer find the safest way to clean every piece of jewelry from single stones to mixed metals. It’s easy when she can get the right information and product right from her jeweler.
• Do offer a professionally printed cleaning instructions that can be given to your customer at time of purchase. It’s easy when she has the information right at her fingertips.
• Do offer your customers an annual inspection and periodic cleaning in your store. It’s easy when she knows that her jewelry has been inspected and cleaned by a professional each year – no loose stones to worry about!

Sometimes when you are an expert, you forget what it is like to be a novice. Dentists get this concept. They recognize that their patients didn’t attend dental school and they don’t expect them to be dentists. Your customers aren’t educated in gemology, and they don’t want to be. They just want to keep their jewelry looking beautiful. Just like the dentist with her clever bag of cleaning tools, jewelry store customers can also leave with the correct tools and information to keep their purchases sparkling. If you just…make it easy!