Appraiser's Dream Contest
This contest has great prizes for appraisers, but everyone who enters is a winner. In fact, insurers and agents and consumers are winners as well.
For jewelry appraisers
The Appraiser's Dream contest is open to all full-time gem and jewelry appraisers in the U.S. and Canada. First prize is an expense-paid trip to London to see the Crown Jewels and visit with colleagues at the world-renowned GEM-A, the Gemmological Association of Great Britain. The trip continues to the 3-day conference of the Scottish Gemmological Association, where the winner can immerse him/herself in workshops and conversations with colleagues and gem experts from around the world.
There are additional prizes to deepen the appraiser's knowledge and energize his/her business. This is a great opportunity for appraisers. See here for more details.
So what's in it for insurers and consumers?
Follow this thread:
Scheduled jewelry needs an appraisal in order to be insured, and maybe the consumer doesn't yet have one. A buyer may have gotten a document or "certificate" from the retailer declaring the necklace's value, but the document is not really an appraisal. Or a young woman comes in with her new engagement ring—the first jewelry she's ever owned with a value high enough to require insurance. Or a client may have inherited jewelry, but there were no appraisals to indicate value. Or a policyholder wants to insure jewelry of high value and the insurer requires a second appraisal.
When faced with the need for an appraisal, consumers often ask their agent to recommend an appraiser. Many appraisers aren't aware of this. They don't realize the value of connecting with agents in their area.
If they did, the play could go like this:
Agent/insurer recommends a reliable appraiser in the client's locale, consumer gets an appraisal based on that recommendation, insurer receives a complete and trustworthy appraisal, and insurance policy is written.
A network of winners emerges.
- The appraiser gains business—this appraisal, plus the potential for this client's future business, plus future recommendations from the agent/insurer.
- The agent, by recommending an appraiser, boosts his standing with current clients, plus he gains new business through recommendations from the appraiser when appraiser's clients ask about jewelry insurance.
- The insurer gets a trustworthy appraisal on which to base premiums and settlement, which leads to more satisfied customers.
- The consumer gets coverage with realistic premiums, plus a relationship with a trustworthy appraiser.
It is time appraisers and insurers recognize the value in networking. Professionals in both industries are working under disadvantages that didn't exist a generation or two ago. There is a lot of misrepresented jewelry being sold today—fake diamonds; brand name counterfeits; synthetic gems passed as natural; casual, if not fraudulent, gem grading; bogus "certificates" from bogus labs; appraisals that don't disclose treatments like fracture-filling; vastly inflated valuations. We've been discussing such widespread frauds in this newsletter for years. Both insurers and consumers are being victimized.
Honest appraisers are also victims, because they must compete in a market of fraudulent documents claiming to "verify" the quality of jewelry. Whenever a dishonest website, a bogus lab, a deceitful gem supplier or jewelry manufacturer or retailer supplies a "feel good" appraisal or a mass-produced certificate, an ethical appraiser is left out.
So it is time for appraisers to recognize the value of working with insurers. The Appraiser's Dream contest is a move from the insurance industry to reach out to jewelry appraisers. Insurers are not gem experts—they rely on appraisers for descriptive details and accurate valuations. They want to get honest and detailed appraisals, and they want to be able to recommend appraisers who will supply them.
FOR APPRAISERS
Enter the Contest.
Think about how to grow your business. Entering the contest will help—that's why we said everyone who enters is a winner.
Make yourself known to insurance agents in your area. Make an appointment to have a conversation.
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