A quiet revolution ...
blonnet.com
Outshining the yellow metal
Anjali Prayag
It's a tough task getting shoppers to switch from gold to platinum jewellery. But Tandrani Bhattacharya makes it happen.
It takes a woman of mettle to change a trend. And Tandrani Bhattacharya is nothing short of that. As a jewellery consultant at Ganjam Nagappa & Sons, a renowned store in Bangalore, she's changing jewellery options from `yellow to white.'
In recognition of her contribution to sales of platinum jewellery, she has been awarded the `Platinum Sales Manager of the Year 2002' honour by the Platinum Guild International, India. Mystery shoppers from the Guild chose her from among 130 sales staff across 102 jewellery stores in 23 cities in the country. Her winning points were her flair for jewellery presentation and product knowledge.
So what's so special about Tandrani or the award, one may ask. The most difficult part about selling this metal is `moving people away from the yellow feeling.' Changing the Indian mindset that considers gold `precious and auspicious' is not an easy task. The gold-buying habit in the country is closely linked to marriages and other auspicious events. And in a country that lives by its traditions, even attempting a small change is a Herculean task.
It is this challenge that Tandrani has taken on in the last two years. "Educating my clientele requires a lot of patience and determination. Hard-sell will not do here." In other words, it requires a lot of gentle coaxing and persuasion to move clients from the yellow counter to the white counter.
Persuasion at work
Tandrani says it's funny but true that all her platinum sales start in the same manner. "Customers enter and tentatively look at the platinum counter.
Since we have placed it right at the entrance, they cannot miss it. Then they walk to the gold counter and start choosing." As they are just about scanning through the displays and reworking their budgets, she gently suggests that they should have a look at platinum jewellery. "And all of them, without exception, reject it at first, saying it looks like steel or silver," she laughs.
Then Tandrani starts her campaign. "I start telling them to have a closer look at the jewellery. Then they very hesitantly move to the counter, while all kinds of doubts are flashing in their minds. "Do I need to spend so much on a piece of jewellery that nobody will know the value of?"
"When I can get something similar for 10 per cent of its price, why waste it on platinum?" etc.
This is when Tandrani becomes aggressive, without really getting overbearing. The clients have to be told how rare and timeless platinum is. And how unlike gold, it does not erode with time. "Gold loses its weight with the passing of time, but platinum remains the same," she says convincingly.
Then she reveals some interesting statistics:
It takes about two tonnes of the ore to make one ring.
Platinum is 20 times more rare than gold.
Less than 200 tonnes of platinum is mined every year as compared to over 2,000 tonnes of gold. The amount of platinum mined till today will just about fill a drawing room.
South Africa and Russia are major producers of platinum.
With platinum being 2.5 times costlier than gold, it takes a lot to convince women to invest in this rare metal. Then again, platinum jewellery is known for its contemporary designs that Indian women are just about beginning to accept. "It is easier to sell it to the younger generation. But even the older women have begun to see the goodness of the metal," Tandrani declares. And she's putting to rest the same doubts all the time.
Clients also feel that traditional Indian precious stones like rubies, diamonds and pearls do not gel well with platinum. "It's true that platinum jewellery designs are more modern, but we have used all these stones, even matched it with gold to make jewellery," she says. In fact, Kohinoor, India's most famous diamond, is set in platinum, she says. She recommends platinum for working women as it is "sturdy, contemporary, and subtle and can be worn to work."
Good fit for men too
In India, though rings are still the most accepted form of platinum jewellery, bracelets and studs are also getting picked up, according to Tandrani. Another interesting aspect of this new option in jewellery is its high acceptability factor among men. Tandrani says it's far easier to sell the metal to men than to women. "It could be because white metal does not look as ornate as gold, or because in India, gold is generally associated with women's jewellery," is her perspective.
Tandrani is in a rather tough position as sales executive at Ganjam because the store is well known for its traditional gold jewellery. "I have to make platinum sell without upsetting our standing in the gold jewellery business. And when my colleagues are trying to sell gold jewellery, I have to be very careful not to confuse the customer or hurting the image of the company," she says.
Picture by G.R.N. Somashekar |
