Sales and Customer Service Associate

The Company

Elizabeth Locke Jewels (ELJ) designs and sells high end, hand-made gold jewelry. Elizabeth Locke personally designs each piece using stones and artifacts that she finds around the world. Twenty goldsmiths in Thailand produce the pieces individually by hand.

The jewelry is sold through about 35 stores across the US; department stores like Neiman Marcus to smaller independent jewelers.

Most of the stores have the jewelry on consignment (loan). They only pay for the jewelry when it is sold. Until that point of sale, ELJ owns the stock. As pieces are sold the store must be billed and replacements must be shipped. In addition, each store’s stock needs to be rotated regularly to keep it looking fresh in the eyes of its customers.

ELJ has a website. ELJ also takes telephone orders from individual customers who do not live near a store. We also operates a store in Boyce, Virginia. It is open from 12 to 5 on Saturday and Sunday.

Incoming shipments of jewelry arrive every two weeks. Each piece must be entered into a database, photographed and shipped to a store.

There are several thousand pieces spread across the country at all times and the location of each piece must be monitored until it is sold. Bills must be then be sent and payments collected.

To further its sales ELJ conducts trunk shows at retail locations that carry the line. ELJ also creates brochures and runs ads in major national and regional publications.

All of the tasks mentioned above are completed by ELJ’s Boyce, Virginia staff. Currently there are 4 fulltime employees and 3 parttime employees. Elizabeth Locke and her husband are also very active in the firm. A few of the employees specialize in one area but in general, everyone participates in all the tasks described above.

The Position

The general classification of the position is a combination of administrative and customer service. Job duties include:

Customer Support:

Stores are constantly calling to see if they can get a specific item for one of their customers. They also ask for information. (Do you have a ring with ____.) ELJ prides itself in the customer service it provides. There is no automated call system. Calls are answered by staff members.

Individual customers also call asking information or advice. Often they have seen an ad and want more to learn more about a piece.

Jewelry Tracking:

Thousands of pieces of jewelry go in and out of the Boyce office and the location of each piece must tracked in the ELJ Database. This requires computer skills and attention to detail.

Sales (telephone and in-person):

ELJ is not a “hard sell” operation. We don’t make outbound calls. Individual customers call in and usually have a general view of what they want. The ELJ staff offers advice and guides customers through the sales process.

ELJ prefers its staff members to be able to work in our Boyce store at least one weekend a month. (These days are compensated at a higher pay rate.)

After gaining some experience, staff members may travel domestically to conduct trunk shows in stores. These trunk shows are planned months in advance. Most are conducted in the spring or late autumn. Trips last from three to five days. Insurance requires experience before travel with high value goods is allowed but we expect that within 6 to 12 months some travel could be required.

Clerical:

Jewelry must be shipped according to strict rules due to its high value.

Bills need to be paid.

Receivables need to be tracked.

Documents must be filed.

E-mails must be answered.

Other:

Marketing materials need to be written

The ELJ website needs to be updated and maintained.

Desired Skill Set

Personable attitude

Good verbal skills (phone and in-person)

Good written communication skills (mostly for e-mails)

Detail oriented (errors can cause huge problems)

Computer skills (Word, Excel, and ideally experience with FileMaker)

Analytical skills (good/comfortable with numbers)

Accounting/bookkeeping skills helpful but not required.

Website - social - media knowledge

Pay: $30.00 - $40.00 per hour

Benefits:

• 401(k) matching
• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Work Location: In person

Salary : $30 - $40