How to Succeed in Business: Tips From a Superstar Discriminating Gems and Jewelry Private Clientele Specialist

Private Clientele Specialist with FABRIKANT, Marjorie Borell, has participated in a number of our TEND Success Series™ Workshops. Her dedication and entrepreneurial spirit reflect how much importance she places on relationship building.

Marjorie also is no stranger to the value of patience in building a business. You must trust yourself and learn from mistakes, she tells us. I’m sure you’ll find her insights extremely valuable.

David: What do you do to help reduce stress for clients and people you work with?

Marjorie: Most importantly, I believe, is to create an atmosphere of trust.  In the case of clients, to convey the sense that you are advocating for them and looking out for their best interest. They should believe that you would rather lose the business than mislead them in any way.  With diamonds, especially, trust is paramount because it is a big-ticket item and most people are only partially informed at best.

As for co-workers, trust is important so that they view you as part of the team.  Aggressive competition among workers is not productive in the long term.  You may need their help and cooperation one day.  Competition within yourself to achieve goals higher than your coworkers is something else entirely, and healthy I believe.

David: What are some of the biggest roadblocks you experience in delivering the best possible experience for your clients?

Marjorie: Just about everyone I meet knows somebody in the jewelry business – or a has a “guy” that they think will get them a good deal when, in fact, chances are that we supply their “guy.”  Getting people to open their minds to talking with a new resource is a challenge because people are comfortable with the familiar.  After all, they may not know our brand, may not have been referred by a trusted source or know our reputation within the industry.  Getting them to meet with us, even for a second opinion, is key.  More than half the clients that meet with us purchase from us because we are totally transparent.

David: What was the most important thing you did to grown your own career?

Marjorie: Network, network, and network some more.  I believe that networking and referrals is the way business is conducted today.  Ads no longer carry the credibility they once had.  Personal and professional referrals, and of course happy customers willing to give positive testimonials, are powerful tools to attract new business.

David: What traits do the most successful people share?

Marjorie: Knowledge, passion, and patience.  There is a saying that everything you want to do will take twice as long and cost twice as much as you originally planned.  With the exception of the tech industry, which changes at the speed of light, this maxim his has been proven true.  If you believe in your product or service, you sometimes have to wait for the market to be ready for it. No amount of promotion will force an idea on the public that is not ready to accept it as necessary and valuable.  Overnight successes can take 15 years or more.

David: What counterintuitive idea would most small business owners do well to adopt?

Marjorie: Trust your instincts.  If you listen to 99 opinions you will only end up confused and frozen in your tracks.  Most business people and entrepreneurs learn that failure is not a life-defining experience but rather the impetus for another and better thought-out attempt.

Marjorie Borell is a Private Clientele Specialist at FABRIKANT. You can reach her office by email or by telephone, at 646-398-8383.

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