Know-How Exchange : Strategy

A website generally adds credibility. It makes you seem more permanent, trustworthy and professional (particularly as you're asking for money upfront). It doesn't have to be expensive or all-singing-all-dancing though, - simple but properly done. A good quality brochure or leaflets are another tangible sign of quality.

In-person will depend on the market and the buyers. How do they normally conduct business? How do they like to work? Again the money up-front may mean they want to see who they are dealing with.

You will need an address, but whether you need a physical office will depend on whether you expect buyers to come to visit you, or whether you intend to take on employees/expand. If not then I doubt it is necessary. As a middle option virtual offices with an address and a receptionist are available.

You are selling high-end diamonds - now your father's in the business already, which means when you say "high end" I'm assuming that you really mean high end. That is to say, the sort of thing you'd buy on Bond st. in London.

The most important things here are that you're honest and that you give a guarantee. You also need to express this through your website which need not be extensive, it does need to be suave and totally genuine. Your father will know that forming a relationship with the buyers is crucial, and your website is one potential first step.

If you are using Facebook , their new algorithm allows you to put in spreadsheets of data and they'll do all the hard work to get in touch with the people who have Fb accounts. As importantly, they will offer to bring you people like the ones who've expressed interest. You can work with this too in that you know who's actually buying - and fine tune things from there. In this context, Fb advertising could work for you extremely well. To my mind just having a Facebook page wouldn't be enough - you need traffic that's tailored to your exact needs. You can then use this information to advertise in printed media - Fb will include some of their likes (for example tht they all read Forbes or a trade mag). That means you can advertise there and not waste money advertising through magazines that your audience isn't reading.

That'll do for now; what do you think?

You'll sell high end stones to local buyers where? At what price points? At what carat weight? Retail or trade? Cut or rough? Set or loose? These minor points might make a difference to your sales.

Three points to begin with:

In-person consultation is important.

Facebook probably isn't enough. Nor is e-mail.

A physical location establishes credibility.

With no stock in hand (and no place of business in which to present said stock) you do little to establish trust. This places all the creation of belief and all the risk of purchase on your customer.

A lack of trust and belief makes people nervous. Nervous people find it difficult to arrive at decisions.
Undecided buyers either buy less, or they tend not to buy at all.

Every point of contact between you and your potential buyers needs to reinforce credibility and generate buyer belief. Without credible belief there's no trust and without trust, you're hosed.

Few people go to social media streams to spend money. Even fewer go to Facebook to buy high end merchandise such as diamonds. Unless you have a solid track record and all your buyers know your name and trust you to the hilt, the idea of selling through e-mail and Facebook strikes me as a way to do business on the cheap.

Your buyers may also feel better (and you'll probably sell more stones longer term), if you can offer proof that your stones are guaranteed, certified, and assured in some way.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

If you're selling diamonds B2B, then not having a storefront may not matter. If you're selling to the general public, then you'll need to determine if you target audience will buy from you. This sounds like something straightforward to test using PPC/Google Display Network. Create a landing page for your business, connect it to the relevant keywords that you're bidding on, and then see if you get inquiries. You'll likely need to fine-tune your offer based on the price point, location, specialties, etc.