Confluence: an American Gem Society event

We spend a lot of time telling our customers how different we are. But conduct an online search for jewelry, engagement rings, appraisers, or watches, and you’ll quickly find that you and your competitors all sound the same.

It’s time we stop telling people we’re different. Start showing them you’re different.

It turns out one of the most effective ways to grow our online and offline business isn’t filling a funnel with low-quality leads. Instead, treat your loyal customers as your most valuable asset. It’s time to exploit our loyalty loop.

The loyalty loop leverages your existing customers and prospects to drive a steady stream of precious, high-margin, new business.

In this exhilarating, 45 minute-long session, best-selling author and marketing guru, Andrew Davis, will help you harness the power of the new consumer journey. You’ll learn how to build anticipation, harness the honeymoon period, and drive moments of inspiration that result in new business. Whether you’re interested in increasing your average sale or attracting new clientele, the Loyalty Loop is designed to build a powerful engine that never sleeps.

You’ll leave inspired to re-think the way you win over new customers and transform the way you service the customers you already own.

Are you ready to embrace the Loyalty Loop?

During this presentation, attendees will learn how to properly set up sales funnels using a variety of Facebook and Instagram advertising campaign types in order to achieve their goals. In addition, attendees will learn how to set up and target various creative, innovative, and effective cold and warm audiences to reach prospective customers and drive sales, acquire leads, increase website traffic, and boost engagement rates. 

Key Takeaways will include:

• Best practices and caveats around which campaign objectives to use, when, and why.
• Targeting tactics that include native platform audiences, custom audiences, and advanced targeting tactics such as utilizing UTM parameters and Instagram Ads Polls.
• Thoroughly understanding how to set up prospecting, retargeting, and re-engagement campaigns, along with a variety of examples of audiences to target at each stage in order to maximize results.

Today’s consumers demand a more personalized and intimate shopping experience, especially for items like jewelry that represent an emotional or milestone purchase. Social content across a number of different platforms can help you as a salesperson connect on a more personal level with customers and provide the tailored experience they crave. In this session, Laryssa Wirstiuk will explain how salespeople can effectively leverage the power of social content to increase sales and boost customer loyalty. You’ll leave with some actionable and scalable tips that you can start applying to your sales strategy today.

Ever look up a restaurant’s menu online before going out to dinner? It’s not just you. Your clients are doing the same thing and are using digital resources more than ever. They’re savvier about leveraging social media to make daily decisions. In this session, we’ll explore the pillars of how consumers consume information in the digital age, how they make decisions, and what your brand can do to win them over and maintain their loyalty.

When you offer website visitors a smooth browsing experience, you increase the likelihood they will spend money on your products or services. It starts with creating a well-designed website with relevant content and navigation. During this session, Debbie Miller will discuss five ways you can improve and optimize your website.

Social media is a tool that, when unleashed, can impact every business unit. Learn strategies for making your organization more social from top to bottom, empowering employees to act as brand advocates, helping to serve customers through social care, and how to measure the impact of the resulting transformations.

Businesses face new challenges on a daily basis. Organizations are figuring out “what’s next” to acknowledge the new reality, adapt to a shifting landscape, and thrive in this new environment.

Always entertaining and action-oriented, Joey will share examples of what’s working right now and spark ideas for how to apply these learnings to evolve both operations and offerings to make the most of this new environment.

Filled with inspirational case studies and real-world solutions, this virtual presentation is designed to help you with your sales and marketing strategies.

Customer expectations have taken a shift due to COVID-19 and as a result, merchants must switch gears. What used to be among a store’s best practices may no longer be their greatest strengths, and likewise, what may have not been their best attributes may have suddenly boosted in performance. Fortunately, not everything has changed, but in reality—plenty has. Among the most rewarding opportunities that jewelry merchants can benefit from in response to the global pandemic is finally welcoming omnichannel retail into their existing operations as a way to increase customer connectivity, boost store operations, and enhance sales.

Join this keynote session from Retail Minded’s founder, Nicole Leinbach Reyhle, as she unravels the realities of retail amidst COVID-19 while offering action-oriented insight to help merge your store online, offline, and every touchpoint in between. This session will highlight 10 omni-centric strategies that retailers can benefit from, ultimately aiming to help jewelry merchants increase their store profit and store visibility.

New Member Hub

Attention New Members: You are invited to join us in the New Member Hub! Mingle with long-standing members of the AGS community to learn more about how their membership has positively affected them and how they’ve gotten the most out of their membership. Plus, you’ll be able to brainstorm ways to get more engaged in the community! This is a must-attend event for new members.

Moderators: 

• Mitchell Clark, CG, Chair, Membership Committee
• Amanda Coleman-Phelps, CGA, Chair, Recruitment and Retention Task Force

Learn Year-Round with the Regional Guilds

The Regional Guilds of the AGS Community are groups of members organized for area meetings throughout the year. Guild meetings provide opportunities for educational programs and discussions on matters of mutual interest. During this networking event, attendees will learn more about the positive impacts that participating in your local Guild can have on your business and your professionalism.

Moderators:

• Phillip Bosen, CG, International Guilds Council Member
• Laura Stanley, CGA Instructor, International Guilds Council Member

Young Titleholder’s (YTs) Afternoon Mix and Mingle

Join the Young Titleholders (YTs) for a brief mix and mingle! We’ll be handling this one as an open forum where you can ask YT committee members about the benefits and programs this next-generation group offers to the AGS community and the jewelry industry at large.

Moderators:

• Sara Nanasi Russell, CG, Chair, Young Titleholders Committee
• Alexis Padis, CGA, Vice-Chair, Young Titleholders Committee
• Maria Brown, RJ, Secretary,  Young Titleholders Committee

Let’s Talk Employee Culture

How would you describe your employee culture? Is it a source of pride or a work-in-progress? In this networking event, Sarah Person, Chair of the Education Committee, will offer her thoughts and lead the community discussion to hear your challenges, solutions, and ideas. Denise Manfra, the Director of Human Resources for the American Gem Society and AGS Laboratories will also be on hand to offer her perspective on steps AGS takes to ensure a productive, diverse, inclusive, and happy employee culture.

Moderator:

• Sarah Person, CG, Chair of the Education Committee