A Completed Sale

100% commissions are paid on completed sales only. From this point forward, gross commissions are divided into a 75%-25% split. The 75% of the commission is earned by making the sale. The 25% of the commission is earned by doing completed sales as defined by this policy. In order for the 25% commission to be earned on any sale at Leo Hamel Fine Jewelers, the transaction MUST meet the criteria of a completed sale as per this policy.

Definition – A sale is a sale when it is “complete.”

A sale is complete when:

1. It is fully paid for.
2. It is in the hands of the customer and accepted as satisfactory (with some exceptions).
3. The invoice, charge slips or terminal, and applications if any, are signed by the customer.*
4. The invoice has been fully completed and turned in by 11am the following morning.
5. The computer is fully updated with all important data.
6. All related transactions are handled completely, such as trade-in paperwork done properly, trade-in accepted by inventory, New Name and Contact Source correctly indicated, if a referral, who referred them entered in BM logs, etc. and all data is correct.
7. A marketing demographics survey is completed and attached to the invoice (see PL Surveys Required).
8. The customer has been asked to leave a review.
9. All the above is ideally done on the day that the item is delivered and accepted, or at the latest, by 11:00am the following business day.

Number 1 means exactly what it says.

Number 2 means that the customer has taken it home with them. If it’s a loose diamond, it means that it’s been paid in full and invoiced as a final sale, and if there’s a setting, it is also invoiced and paid in full. Sizing, setting, or alterations can be done as a separate transaction.

Exceptions can be made to this requirement by the COO. Today’s technology allows us to show the merchandise to the customer via photos in email or on the website, so that the customer can accept the merchandise without actually seeing it in person. Also, a customer may have already seen the merchandise in the store but requested to have it shipped to their out-of-state address.

Number 3 means that our copy of the printed invoice from Business Mind is signed on the back by the customer, and that any credit card charge slips, finance charge slips, finance applications, are all signed by the customer. If a 5-digit invoice was written and signed rather than one from Business Mind, attach the 5-digit invoice to the BM invoice. *In the case of interstate sales, the charge slips and invoices will not be signed, unless the customer is paying in store and having the item shipped out of state.

Number 4 means all paper work is done, is correct, and has been turned in by 10:00am the next business day. The name, address and phone number of the customer are in the file so that they are on the invoice (unless the customer paid in cash in which case the name, address, and phone number are optional). The address is verified if it is already in the file. The description and price are correct on the invoice. Any special arrangements are noted on the invoice and in the computer file.

If the invoice is entered by a cashier, the Pricing Form must be attached that the salesperson completed before turning the sale over to be invoiced by the cashier.

Every error, or incomplete part of a sale, slows down other parts of the company and this is simply not necessary and means that the sale is not complete.

The invoice with everything attached must be completed and placed in the invoice basket by 11:00am the following morning at the latest. Other departments must record the invoices starting at 11:00am and if any are missing, it causes those departments to have to do double the work to enter the missing ones later.

Number 5 means the computer must be updated constantly as the sale progresses and afterwards when it is done. Updating the contact log completely is very important for many reasons such as in understanding the sale if a problem develops later. In addition, the data needs to be easily visible to the next person who writes a letter or follows up on the sale. The data must be easily visible by the salesperson who attempts the next sale to that customer.

Probably the MOST important part of number 4 is the data of how the sale went and what happened during and after the sale. This part of number 4 includes:

• What did the person buy?
• Who did they buy it for?
• Why were they buying? Special occasion? Self-purchase for promotion?
• At what level was the price (full price, small discount, big discount)?
• Did they negotiate heavily?
• Did they ask for special concessions?
• Were there any additional factors involved?
• A summary of what happened.

In other words, ALL the data pertaining to the sale itself, the customer involved, etc. This is not a complete list but just examples of what kind of data should be recorded.

Examples are:

• Bt Rolex Sub $3800. Grinder.* Demanded 3 year warranty, box & papers. Wouldn’t buy one that has a minute scratch on the buckle. We ended up getting him a new one that we called used. *(negotiates repeatedly for discounts)
• Bt 2ct Pear $12,000. Wanted only AGS. Spent hours going over proportions. Brought brother-in-law as an “expert.” Bro-in-law didn’t know shit and was a distraction. Shopped 10 stores. Wanted lifetime guarantee. Very irritating.
• Easy customer. Paid list price. Got IWC Portofino Chrono $8500. Loves Chronographs.

In the first two examples, we have a more complicated customer. This data is IMPORTANT to the next person who reads the file. That next person may just be writing a letter or it may be the next salesperson that helps this person when you are out of the store. The data helps us make future sales to that customer.

There must always be a note after the sale summing up the sale.

If the person comes in more than once or calls more than once, the customer contact log is updated EACH TIME.

Examples:

• Called re HOF 1ct.
• Came in w/ sister and looked at HOF and GIA. Liked GIA better. Will be back Friday.
• Came in w/ stack of papers from Internet. I showed him a deal on 2ct GIA, SI2 G for $12,000.
• Called to discuss proportions of 2ct.
• Came in w/ mom and put deposit on $12,000 2ct. $200 down. Will pay off in 2 weeks.
• Came in and put another $2000. All is well.
• P/U (picked up) diamond and will come back in Feb to get mounting. Liked HOF item 615262 in plat.

Because all the notes are there, anyone – including the original salesperson – can follow up and see what is next for this customer.

Every contact generates a note in the contact log and a summary at the end. If they come in only once and you sell them, write the summary that day. NEVER wait for a day or two as you might forget key points. If you have to stay late to update the computer (because you were so busy that day) then so be it. Your future income and that of the store depends on this action being done the same day, and for every transaction.

IDEALLY THE COMPUTER IS UPDATED THE DAY OF THE SALE.

Updating the computer right after the sale is ideal. If you are so busy that you can’t do it right then, then jot down the key points so you don’t forget and update the computer at the end of the day, or as a last resort, by 10:00am the following business day.

This is so important that if the computer is not updated by 10:00am the next morning, then the 25% of the commission will be forfeited on that sale with no more discussion, changes, or gripes about this policy.

Number 6 is there because the Accounting people find errors on invoices and errors take time to correct. Inventory finds mistakes on trade-ins or costs, and the time it takes to fix these cost the company money and take away from the profit of the sale. Marketing finds mistakes on Contact Source and Referrals and this can cause stats to be incorrect and money spent on incorrect marketing campaigns. This would also include things like putting the loose diamonds back in their correct papers after you show them, returning memos brought in for the sale to the vendor, and ANY related aspect of the sale being completed.

These specifically must match up when a new referral comes into the store, otherwise the salesperson is not paid the 25% commission:

• Contact Source – referred by friend or referral- unknown
• BM Logs – define who the referrer is, or if it is unknown

Number 7 means that a marketing survey form must be completed in full and attached to the invoice (see PL Surveys Required). Surveys are also required on the first deposit or layaway invoice for any sale, because the customer will only remember why they came in at the first visit, not weeks or months later when the sale is finalized.

Number 8 means that all of the above need to be done by 10:00am on the business day following the sale. It is not to be done later.

The above 8 points make a competed sale. Anything less is not a completed sale. The 25% commissions are paid ONLY on “completed sales.” No 25% commissions are paid on incomplete sales. (If it is discovered at a later date that the sale was not complete, the 25% commission will be deducted from the current week.)

The Sales Manager or COO will perform spot checks weekly on these points and recommend the deduction of the 25% commission on sales found to be incomplete per the above eight steps. Invoices will be checked along with computer files to insure we have completed sales. Incomplete sales will not be eligible for the 25% commission since a sale is not considered a “sale” until all eight of the steps above are completed. So, make sure that you have a “sale” as defined by steps 1-8 before you count (stat) it.

Split sales

Whoever generated the invoice for the completed sale is responsible to see that the invoice is complete, including attaching the customer survey and entering the correct code for sales source. The person who closed the sale is responsible for updating the computer fully. This applies even if the customer is not assigned to you in Business Mind.

This is not a change in policy. This is not a penalty. This is keeping in force the policy that you earn full 100% commissions on completed sales only.

The reason for this policy is that incomplete sales waste company resources through unnecessary additional work.

Computer files that are not updated cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost sales per year because we cannot find out “who wanted what” by doing searches on the computers.

Thousands of dollars have been lost due to customers not being entered into the computer so that they could be sold additional items.

The intention of this policy is to have completed sales.

Any manager, who is paid on commission based on the sales of their juniors or their department, will also NOT be paid on any sale that is not a “completed sale” exactly per this policy.

If you did not earn the 25% commission due to an incomplete sale, then please graciously accept that you made a mistake and move on. Any attempt to complain or sulk will be grounds for disciplinary action.