The Blue Man Group

It was either the second or third time I went down to JCK Las Vegas that my wife Jana and I went to see The Blue Man Group at the Luxor.  We had seen these funky dudes on television commercials and had been intrigued by the massive billboards at McCarran Airport.  We didn’t really know what we exactly were getting into.

Once seated, I was sitting there thinking, “man this had better be worth $80 per ticket.”  I was thinking about what row we were in, the cost of the drinks in the lobby and how much the front row tickets must have been worth.  I was operating exclusively in my left brain.  The left brain is the half of our minds which process logical thought.  Our right brain is the seat of creativity and imagination.

Before the show began ushers ran through the audience and handed-out narrow strips of white paper about 2-3 feet long.  No explanation, and nothing written on them.  Pretty soon though, you noticed some people tying them into bows, and others turning them into neckties.  Some brought out pens and drew on them or ripped them into finer strips or shapes.  So began a collective migration from our left-brains to our right brains.  The audience member who was fully operating out of their right brain enjoyed the show immensely.  My wife’s uncle, the math professor, who doesn’t seem to have a left-brain probably would have been analyzing the number of rotations per minute required to create the visual effect of the dancing statues.  I was entranced.  I forgot about the $160, and what row we were in, what time it was and even where I was.  I was in another world.  If you’ve never seen the Blue Man Group, I would obviously highly recommend it.

Your best jewellery sales will happen when the right brain is fully engaged and telling the left brain, “don’t worry about the cost – this thing is gorgeous and we’ve got to have it!!!”  Never forget this.  If you allow your clients to make their purchases while using their rational minds, you’ll spend all of your time calculating discounts, price-per-carat, and time-frames.

Let’s say you’re faced with a gentleman buying an engagement ring.  Men have a hard time processing from both sides of the brain at once.  In order to move the discussion to the right brain, ask qualitative questions.  Make sure you know the girlfriend’s name, and then begin asking about her.  What kinds of activities she enjoys, what kind of clothing fashions she wears and what jewellery designers she’s pointed to in the pages of wedding magazines.  When showing designs, talk about their contours and the visual impact.  Talk about how this will fit into her lifestyle and her wardrobe.  Talk about what her friend might say if they saw her wearing such a stunning ring.  Once you’ve established a right-brain desire for a certain design, then and only then should you begin to talk about price, alteration options and delivery-time.  Sell the right brain, and then bring the decision-making left-brain on board to negotiate the close.

Once the Blue Man Group show was complete, they unfurled giant rolls of white paper over the audience, which we had to tear-through in order to leave the theatre.  It was symbolic that we had begun with a small effort toward creativity and then finished with our imaginations expanded to massive proportions.  Once the sale is complete, go back to the right-brain and remind your young groom-to-be what a great job he did at finding the right ring that will not only symbolize their commitment to each other, but fit her lifestyle to a tee.