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Banking On Success At The Diamond Vault Of Troy | March 04, 2015 (0 comments)
Troy, MI--Randall 'Randy' Cole, CEO of The Diamond Vault of Troy, has a career built on hard work and a bit of serendipity. Cole fell into the jewelry business by answering an ad looking for a young man who was career minded. That was the start of his 40-year career in this industry. "That's not an ad they could run today," said Cole.
The ad was for a junior salesperson. It ran for one day and netted Cole a job, a direction and an industry. "I had no family in the industry and no training. I had basic experience in sales." Cole had found a home in jewelry.
Cole says the landscape of the jewelry industry in 1975 was quite different than today. "There was no Internet, and driving information to customers was difficult. People were shopping for A and AAA diamonds and GIA hadn't taken off at that point." Customer education was a must to make a sale.
Cole's job was with a cutting firm in Detroit, Charles Kent Reaver Company, who cut diamonds and then sold them (the company is no longer in business). They worked by appointment. The sales process relied heavily on education. "We wanted people to understand what they were buying," said Cole. Cole was there for eight and a half years and then worked in wholesale for 20 years after that before he decided to move on.
"I was tired of working 80 hours a week for someone else. I decided I'd rather work 90 hours a week for myself." Cole's next venture was an Internet based store, followed by a regular retail store in 2004 in Birmingham, MI, with partner Timothy Mayer.
"Our building had high rent and bad service. I went to Timothy and said, 'I am outta here; I'm not renewing our lease.' Timothy wanted to stay and I wanted to go." While the partners figured out the best next move, Cole went hunting for a new location and he eventually he found one.
"I needed a safe location." said Cole. "I thought, 'What's better than a bank?' So I started calling around to banks. I knew a bit about banks from my brothers, who are policeman." Cole was looking for a money counting room that he could turn into a jewelry store, all inside a bank. Finding one was not easy.
Two banks said no. At the next bank, he talked to five people. Most wanted to know how he even knew about a money counting room. "The next guy said 'Why would you ask a question like that?' And then I knew they had one from that question. They didn't want to divulge anything about it. Finally I asked if it was available and how large was it. I got an answer and I told the guy I wanted to see it now." Twenty minutes later, Cole and Timothy were looking at it.
"The room had not recently been used," said Cole. "It was very dirty and hadn't been kept up. Timothy said, 'It's a terrible room.'" And Cole's thought? "It's perfect for us." The two partners managed to resolve their differences and the former money counting room, an actual two-story vault, became their new location for the next six years.
Randy Cole inside the vault.
Cole's serendipity, luck, or blessings (or a combination of all three) had led him to his new location. He later found out that the 1,200 square foot space had been empty for seven years; the bankers thought they would need it again so they kept it. The room was kept a secret and it was protected. The morning that Cole called, the bank had met and decided at 10:20 a.m. to put it back into use, as a storage room. Cole called at 10:35 a.m. "We got the space."
Today The Diamond Vault of Troy has moved to the first floor of the Huntington Bank, with a private entrance (the old drive-through was converted to their new outside door, with private parking) and expanded to 2,300 square feet and is currently planning further expansion of an additional 1,300 sq feet.
Diamond Vault of Troy owners Randall Cole (left) and Timothy Mayer, (right) hold the ribbon for the official cutting by Mayor Pro Tem Mary Kerwin.
They also have an armored car. "We use the car for special car show events and people get to get in it. Also, it sits on Big Beaver road as 60,000 cars drive by every day. It’s a beast to drive," says Cole.
Cole says The Diamond Vault's business is unusual. "We specialize in engagement rings; that's the market that is consistent. We like to work by appointment; we educate the customer on diamonds. We want them to know what they get for their money. We work to understand their needs."
"We listen to our customers," says Cole. "That's what sets us apart. We react to their needs. We sell loose diamonds and custom settings. We have about 500 rings in the case, we can drop in any diamond into the top of the ring to show it, then make it in the customer's size and with quality matched side stones." The Diamond Vault of Troy also offers customers a GemPrint on each stone sold. Cole inside the interior of the actual vault.
Recently, The Diamond Vault of Troy was named "Outstanding Retail Partner" along with Craig's Fine Jewelry and Bailey's during the Centurion Vendor's Choice Retailer Awards at the 2015 Centurion Show. "We have great successes and great partners. I thank my vendor partners."
Cole receiving Outstanding Retail Partner Award at Centurion 2015.
While The Diamond Vault of Troy specializes in engagement rings, they also deal in coins and carry some fashion jewelry. "We are 90% engagement," says Cole, who adds the company's average sale is a 'very nice' price point. Selling diamond brands like FireMark, FireCushion and Ideal Square with GIA or AGS reports makes it easy.
So how does a jeweler inside a secure, by appointment location market to customers? Cole makes it look easy. "We are a four time winner with The Knot, 'The Knot with Distinction.' And we are going for the fifth. We hope to be the first jeweler to get five in a row. And we believe in online review. We work hard for our customers and we ask them all to go online and write a review. All we ask is that they spell any brand names correctly so they come up in the search engines; we don't give any editorial direction. About two out of 100 customers do reviews. We have the most reviews in our geographic area. We're well represented on Google, YP and Yelp.com and we have over 150 reviews on both yellow pages, yp.com and Google."
Cole has found that his target audience, Millennials, are driven by data on their phones. "We find if a potential customer is at a local mall or a high-end store and they are not happy, they check their phone for good review. They see us and think, 'There's a store half a mile away with 150 reviews? We should be there!' And they come."
Cole is also active on a pair of local radio stations that 'gives us our biggest bang in our market area. Between the two stations, they reach all age groups." The store also hosts a fall event for about 700 customers annually that is more fun than work—for that evening. The very next day the sales start.
Interior view of The Diamond Vault.
The Diamond Vault of Troy has enjoyed tremendous business since 2010. "Our business has doubled annually each year from 2010 to 2013," said Cole, who for five years took no money out of the business, living on a side income from consulting on strategy. His own strategy clearly has worked. The business has seven employees, three of whom are devoted to sales, including Cole himself.
Cole takes good care of his vendors and they do the same with him. "I come from the wholesale side," says Cole. "I cut checks every Tuesday and every Thursday. I get paid, I send out the money. Thanks to this, I can get the stones I need to keep business moving."
And business is moving. Cole mentions the best thing about the original two-story diamond vault and the main vault they occupy today: the opening and closing routine. "The bank kept $100 million in cash there—everything in there is safe. I close the vault door, set the alarm and go." Ah, a dream for every jeweler.