One of the most famous phrases in business is KISS, or “Keep It Simple, Stupid.” It stems from a principle that applies doubly to the customer experience at the retail jewelry store these days.
KISS was a design principle that originated in the United States in the 1960s, attributed to Clarence Leonard ‘Kelly’ Johnson, who was an American aeronautical and systems engineer. The phrase means that most systems work best if you keep them simple and uncomplicated.
At BriteCo, the KISS principle means that simplicity is the key goal when designing something. In our case, we offer free appraisal software that retail jewelers can readily use to assign value to fine jewelry and watches. For the jewelry customer at retail, BriteCo offers the fastest and easiest way to properly insure their jewelry purchase based on their appraisal, backed by an AM Best A rated insurance company.
For jewelers striving to create a delightful and memorable experience for customers in their retail stores, the phrase means:
“Keep Insurance Simple, Stupid!”
Why should jewelry retailers care about insurance for their customers?
Because research shows that up to 50% of jewelry customers walk out of the store either underinsured or not insured at all! There are a lot of reasons why this happens.
Many customers think their homeowners or renters’ insurance covers their fine jewelry purchases. What they don’t realize until it’s too late is that typical homeowners’ policies only cover a limited amount, such as $1,000 or $2,000. Plus they almost always have a deductible that can run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If and when a customer makes a claim, they discover they are responsible for a big out-of-pocket cash expense to replace a lost or stolen piece of jewelry.
Our BriteCo jeweler partners (those who use our appraisal software) also tell us that their customers don’t want to insure their jewelry on their homeowners policies, especially in coastal states that have experienced hurricanes or other weather disasters. That’s because policy costs are skyrocketing and deductibles for homeowners are increasing to thousands of dollars just to keep coverage affordable. They prefer to keep the risks (and costs) related to home and jewelry completely separate from each other.
BriteCo coverage
BriteCo makes insuring your customers’ prized jewelry and watches simple and easy. Once you finalize an appraisal in our Appraisal Management System, the customer gets a text or email inviting them to get a quote from BriteCo. They click a button, answer a few questions, and get an instant insurance quote. They can literally be insured for comprehensive replacement coverage in two minutes.
As one of our BriteCo jeweler partners in Gulfport Mississippi told us, “It takes some of the pressure off us as the jeweler, when we know our customer can get insured even before they leave the store if they like. We also really like that customer replacement claims are always referred back to us, so that we can take care of them.” That’s because BriteCo insurance doesn’t use preferred networks, nor do we require a jeweler to work with specific vendors or diamond dealers.
Their jewelry insurance policy from BriteCo has no deductibles and covers jewelry up to 125% of appraised value (to help avoid any out-of-pocket expense) for loss, theft, mysterious disappearance, and damage.
Claims are simple with BriteCo
How does that work when a customer makes a claim? Just ask Bob Hill at Geiger’s Fine Jewelry in California. He recently had a customer, a young man, buy a BriteCo insurance policy for an engagement ring, naming his fiancé as a co-insured. Within a couple months his fiancé had chipped the diamond in the ring and contacted BriteCo.
The fiancé used the BriteCo online form to submit her insurance claim for a replacement. All she had to do was stop by Geiger’s to pick out a replacement diamond. Bob Hill helped her to choose a new diamond and told her he’d have the restored ring ready in a few days. There were no deductibles and no out-of-pocket costs to her. Geiger’s then received a check from BriteCo for the replacement stone.
Completing the cycle from claim to replacement was accomplished within a week, “making for a very happy customer,” according to Hill. “I’ve been doing appraisals and handling personal insurance claims for many years,” he told us, “and in all that time, I remember only one other instance where I was able to get our customer taken care of with a replacement in a week.”
Also Check:
Why now is the perfect time to reinvent your jewelry business
BriteCo introduces Resource Hub for retail jewelers
For the BriteCo jeweler partner, KISS has several meanings when it comes to their customer’s shopping experience in store: ‘Keep It Short and Simple‘ or ‘Keep It Simple and Straightforward.’ And the one we like best – ‘Keep It Smart and Simple.’
Blog
