The Challenge
With eight stores in Florida and Georgia, International Diamond Center isn’t exactly a mom-and-pop shop. Their regional presence allows them to offer a better selection than smaller jewelers without sacrificing the personal touch.
Despite a boutique feel, the business struggled to keep up with the demands of online customer engagement. “You’ve gotta be constantly engaging with your consumers,” says Brian Stamey, managing principal and family owner. “We saw that we were way behind, and we really liked to be a market leader, so we started researching potential companies that could help us.”
That’s when International Diamond Center discovered Podium.
The Solution
International Diamond Center was immediately struck by Podium’s simple, easy-to-use format. “It seemed pretty simplistic,” says Stamey. “It aligned with people being more intimately tied in with their mobile phones and texting, and I think it just was a natural fit.”
While Podium seemed like an obvious solution to connect the jeweler to customers, it also proved an easy system to implement. “It was pretty turn-key,” says Stamey.“We didn’t really require a whole lot of work on my side. It was just getting the information disseminated.”
International Diamond Center also knows that it if it ever needs a little help, Podium is there for extra support. “Podium is a great partner,” says Stamey. “They’re in constant communication with you. It’s not a set-it-and-forget-it mentality.”
The Result
Once International Diamond Center implemented Podium’s Webchat, potential customers immediately reached out. “I think the first day we turned it on, we had probably 12 or 15 inquiries,” says Stamey.
International Diamond Center was finally able to leverage its web traffic for greater customer engagement. “It’s a way for us to really capitalize on the 35,000 to 40,000 people that are coming to our site each month,” says Stamey. “Our engagement with those customers has gone up significantly since then. If I had to guess, I think you could say it’s easily a 200 or 300-percent increase in engagement with customers. It’s less challenging for them to ask a question and get an instant answer.”
Increased online engagement has yielded in-person benefits. Some customers who’ve reached out online later visited the store to make purchases, making Webchat a helpful tool for lead generation.
With Podium set in stone, International Diamond Center is on its way to becoming a market leader.
