Precious and Private

Precious and Private

ENTREPRENEUR by Dave Szymanski | Tampa Bay Editor

In person or by mail, Suzanne Perry, a former cosmetics executive, sells jewelry to affluent clients, and she likes it that way.

When in a hotel room while traveling for business, Suzanne Perry will sometimes poke her head out of her door. There, not far away, armed security guards sit outside, sometimes eating pizza.

Going back inside, she's on the telephone, setting up a meeting with a longtime customer, sending an email and product picture to another or packing a FedEx box with product for shipping to another.

Such is the life of Perry, 45, chief executive officer of Tampa-based Jewelry Hauture, a two-year-old custom-made and designer retail jewelry business.

Unlike Tiffany's, or other high-end jewelry stores, there is no crowded store or high-pressure sales moves at Jewelry Hauture. In fact, there are no stores. And Perry does not plan to open one.

Also, bucking convention, she sells none of her jewelry off of the Internet. She does have a minimalist-looking Web site, showing close ups of some of the diamond- and gem-heavy collection.

Instead, Perry sells jewelry by developing customers, picking the ones she likes, and shipping pieces to them when they need it. Or she visits them in person, taking them to lunch or dinner and eventually showing them pieces they might like.

Even with the tight economy, sales are up over last year. Why? Because Perry understands her customers, the affluent.

And by selling big-ticket items with an average price tag of $20,000 she can focus on building relationships, picking the right customers and serving them rather than moving merchandise.

Perry has two bases of operation. She lives in South Tampa's Hyde Park and has an assistant in Tampa.

She also has an apartment with a suite at the St. Regis in Manhattan, an office with a secretary on Madison Avenue in New York and a manufacturer she works with in New York. And she employs commissioned salespeople in Atlanta and New York. But after they bring in potential leads, Perry is the relationship-builder and closer.

About half the time she mails jewelry insured via FedEx or UPS to a customer. The other half of the time, she hops a jet and visits clients around the country, selling directly to them. If a friend from Minneapolis wants a certain product, she'll fly up there.

If a customer from Arizona needs to shop for a pair of diamond earrings, she heads west. Many of these customers have multiple homes, so the locations can change.

Sometimes she's sitting in her suite in New York with a client with diamonds, tweezers and champagne. Other times, the visit is brief. One time Perry flew to New York and a woman had three minutes to see her.

She was looking for a pair of $150,000 diamond earrings.

"They know what they are looking for," Perry says. "The woman needed phenomenal diamond jewelry."

While her average sale is about $20,000, many sales go much higher, well in excess of $100,000. One Naples woman wanted two 8-carat diamond earrings. Price: more than $200,000.

Work in cosmetics

The ability to choose who she wants to work with is one of the luxuries of her luxury business. That wasn't the case before.

Before Jewelry Hauture, Perry was a senior account executive in the luxury cosmetics industry for seven years, shuttling between New York and South Florida for Lancome.

She had several positions with Lancome, and ended up in Miami where her territory included Burdines (now Macy's). The largest-volume stores were in South Florida. They had just under 200 sales staff.

This position gave Perry a thorough understanding of prestige image, customer service expectations and sales.

But it was a hectic time, full of deadlines and a load of work. After that, she moved to Ocala where she was a society editor for a magazine and served on a charity board.

Eventually, she decided to get her formal gemology education and become an entrepreneur.

"I've had a lifelong interest in beautiful things," Perry says. "That grew into a collection of jewelry. I had a friend in the diamond business. I jumped in and got an education."

Perry spends a lot of time in New York, because that's where many customers are and that's where she has her custom jewelry made.

"I have a huge amount of clients in New York," Perry says. "If you shop in the stores there, you're pressured, rushed and there's no privacy. These people want privacy."

Her main expenses: airfare, postage and postal insurance.

And security. Because of the value of her jewelry, she often has to hire armed security to accompany her to an event or stand watch outside her hotel room. She does not bring her collection on the road, but instead carries a few pieces clients like.

"The business goes wherever I do," Perry says.

Perry has developed a list of customers through friendships and activities. One of those is horses. Her husband, Roger Perry, 58, has a horse, Visionaire, that raced in the Kentucky Derby.

Roger Perry started a pet retail business in Ohio, grew it into a chain, then sold it to Petsmart. Born and raised with horses, Roger Perry owns a horse farm in Kentucky and gravitated to Ocala, home to many horse farms. Roger and Suzanne met in Ocala.

"Horses are a big commonality with my business," Suzanne Perry says.

The social and charity functions she attends are also fertile ground for new clients.

"I'm around affluent people," Perry says. "That ties in to what I am doing. If I'm at function in California, word spreads. You could be a fabulous jeweler, but with no access to people, it is more difficult."

Unique designs

Perry designs her own jewelry and she also sells other collections, such as the Elizabeth Taylor line. She also has jewelry once worn by others, such as one piece worn by Clint Eastwood's wife.

But most of it is new. Even though many clients like to simply own the jewelry, when they wear it to a function, they do not want to see another woman with the same earrings.

"Sales are good," Perry says. "Right now, with the economy, people are more cautious, but they are not discontinuing to buy."

Her customers bring her a lot of repeat business, removing the pressure of building a huge pipeline for new clients, however she says she meets new potential customers almost daily.

"When I walk in a room, where people are rich and famous, some companies want to walk around and meet 400 people," Perry says. "I don't work that way. I will meet one or two people. My goal is to meet two that trust me and want to work with me going forward, so they are comfortable to pick up the phone."

Although she likes to grow the business, Perry is not looking to build stores or double the staff. Part of the reason is that Perry values her family, which includes her husband Roger, and son, Matthew, 11.

Private jewelry sales is a line of work that is almost anonymous to the general public, because of the value of the jewelry and the privacy sought by clients. Advertising is non-existent and marketing is subtle.

"People are cautious about security and are very, very careful," Perry says. "A lot of people who do what I do are anonymous. A guy in Atlanta doesn't even have a business card."

Clients are not average people. One of Perry's is the spouse of an owner of a major NFL team (not Tampa Bay).

"She said she felt embarrassed to be buying this when the economy is bad," Perry says. But she still bought.

What mistake has Perry learned the most from? She originally spent a ton of money on packaging and marketing materials without thinking it through. It had to be pitched.

"I didn't take the time and design an appropriate program," she says. "I have tens of thousands of dollars in boxes and bags. The advice I learned is, take your time, take a deep breath and slow down. Hire the right professional to think it through for you."

Her annual insurance cost is very high. It costs $200 in insurance to ship a box of jewelry valued at $125,000.

Like any good relationship, it takes time. The first time she visits a client, Perry doesn't take any pieces. She is not there to sell something, but to get to know them.

"It is normal to meet with them several times before you do business with them," Perry says. "They are friends first, clients second."

So how does Perry get people to buy? She doesn't. She doesn't even make many telephone calls. It is mainly email, visits and mailed notes.

"There is no sales pressure at all with what I do," Perry says. "Calling is invasive. It's hard to get them on the phone. A lot like text. They like emails. There are photos I can send them. A lot of clients, this is the way they like it. They look forward to getting their box."

Inside the boxes, besides the jewelry and a note from Perry, is a preaddressed return package, in case the customer wants to send it back.

While most of her customers are women, she sees a fair number of men, who are looking for something for their wife, or are about to propose.

While they are smaller sales, the engagement ring sales, especially the first timers, are actually her favorites.

"They are smaller sales for me, but absolutely charming," Perry says.

Serving the affluent

1. The affluent are extremely service-oriented. You have to sincerely care about what they want and need. They need to feel they can trust you.

2. They want exclusivity, one-of-a-kind products or services.

3. Service is not complicated. Be approachable. Take care of your customers.

4. They are very time-restricted. Respect their time.

5. They need privacy. Some don't want to even shop in the stores at the bottom of the buildings they live in.

Source: Suzanne Perry,

Jewelry Hauture

REVIEW SUMMARY

Company: Jewelry Hauture

Industry: Retail jewelry

Key: Select the right people who fit the sales growth strategy and continue to offer value to customers