By Sanjeev Kotnala
It is the festival and marriage season. And gold is crossing all known limits. It’s also Tanishq time.
It is natural for the middle-income household to be doubting purity and buyback values of their gold that they are buying, exchanging, repairing or melting.
Karat meters are working overtime across more than 280 Tanishq showroom across the nation are busy shaping dreams.
Diamonds after Nirav Modi are failing to find favour among jewellery buyers. But at Tanishq, it’s a bit different. There is trust which gets amplified with the 100% buyback on them at current prices. Diamond start getting a new sparkle.
TANISHQ HEARTFELT GOLD.
I recently saw these three beautiful films on the Tanishq website. I have not seen them on TV, and not much is spoken about them on social media. Maybe I missed them. They seem to evoke the right emotion and reactions from consumers and people I could check. wit
What I was interested was in seeing how far does the brand take what it promises on its site. And that took me to the showroom at Borivali and Oberoi Mall in Goregaon.
I was suitably impressed by the near-templatised humanly perfected identical treatment. I can endorse what Tanishq says about their customer service. “We strive to ensure that every employee at Tanishq is welcomed into the folds of our protective family with their best interest being one of our main concerns. Our Karigars are provided with world-class facilities, a safe and supportive environment and are well taken care of with benefits like health care and financial aid. With the advancement of jewellery making equipment and technology, our workers also gain training and access to these top-of-the-line machines to aid in the creation process of their masterpieces.”
TANISHQ JEWELLERY MAKING CHARGES.
Tanishq has become a benchmark of purity and customer service in gold jewellery. People, after experiencing carat deviation between claimed and actual on their old jewellery, have shifted. They are now willing to pay a premium on making charges once they are assured of the purity and carat of the gold they are buying. Though Tanishq talks of every jewellery piece being crafted to give it a signature finish and the availability of a wide range of gold jewellery where the making charge start at 8% only. Now, this is the standard ploy; you hardly find much jewellery at 8% making charges. Mostly it is around 18-20%. Maybe a Tata brand could be a bit more transparent than starting at 8% gimmick.
PUSHING THE PURCHASE VALUE.
The team of salesperson take good care and keeps you engaged. It is their role to push the value of the purchase. Hence if you say you want a jewellery costing Rs 1 lakh, they will show something starting at 1.5 lakh. This strains customers from the middle-income household who walk in after doing their complete maths.
The customers finds themselves constrained in the ambience of the showroom. They feel hesitant voicing their concern. Their body language closes out. There would be a feeling and a question if they were better at the family jeweller.
The joy of buying gets threatened. Maybe it is nice to show 1.5 lakh but please show then the lakh piece too.
THE KARAT METER MAGIC AND ISSUES.
The state-of-the-art Karatmeter present in every Tanishq store is a very accurate way of measuring the purity of Gold. I have personally experienced the trust it evokes and has seen it tilt discussion in favour of Tanishq.
THE MELT BEFORE YOUR EYES MAGIC.
When a customer brings old gold for exchange at Tanishq, he or she sees the old gold melt in front of their eyes. The pre-and-post melt weighing is done right in front of you. The result, the weight and the karat reading are always right.
THE MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE CUSTOMER.
Here is what I witnessed at one of the Tanishq showrooms. The Tanishq team takes the pain to explain to mathematically inclined jewellery exchange couple how a 40 gram 23-Karat and a 10 gram 20-Karat gold after melting can become 50 gram of 18.3-Karat. They are convinced only when another customer who is watching the argument and steps in to explain. It is all about soldering – tanka in the old jewellery.
The couple understands and compliments, saying they have got their old jewellery checked in two towns across three Tanishq showroom getting precisely the same reading. Maybe some amount of pre-explanation is required.
THE GOLD HARVEST SCHEME.
You should see how the salesman, while selling a small piece, is busy upselling dreams. He is pushing the Gold Harvest Scheme. Where one can accumulate money over a period of time and at the end of the period, buy the jewellery they want. With the Tata brand, the security of money is guaranteed. I would presume Tanishq showroom at least the one I visited on that particular day was showing a minimum of 50% GHS subscription.
BIG HEARTED RELATIONSHIP.
Tanishq is taking personalisation and emotional touch to a new level. When you unsubscribe to their mail, what you read before you say click is so endearing. “We’d be terribly sad if we can’t send you emails any more. But if you’ve had enough, with a heavy heart, we say this. Click here to unsubscribe.”
This service standard is apparent across Tanishq, Zoya, Mia, Caratline, Helios World Of Titan, Fastrack, Titan eye plus Skinn. It is how the complete brand trust is retained and strengthened.
TANISHQ, BEYOND GOLD AND SELLING.
It feels good to know some more facts about Tanishq sincerity. So, what if my source is just its website. I will trust the brand to tell me the truth.
- Over 70% of the water used in manufacturing is recycled.
- 30% of the energy used in manufacturing is renewable.
- 40% of the Gold used comes from recycled sources.
- The Titan Kanya Initiative helping educate more than 34,000 girls.
It’s a Tata brand- is there anything more to say.