b'In addition to its location in Braintree (pictured here), Longs Jewelers has stores in Burlington and Peabody, Massachusetts, and Nashua, New Hampshire.Theyre also refining the training process to onboard future em- Now, its a teaching tool.ployees more easily. I think about that all the time when Im training people, and I tell There were about 50 employees when Craig joined the company,them to slow down, listen, and pay attention to the details, he says.and now there are more than 180. Craig and Judd stress to their team the importance of the little The trick, he says, is keeping the family feel, adding, The specialthings when it comes to client relationships.DNA that got us here, we have to make sure that continues.We have met some of the most extraordinary people because of Judd echoes, Weve surrounded ourselves with some really great,their passion for jewelry or [because] theyve had a life event they passionate, gifted, and qualified people. And the only way this shipwant to [commemorate], or as sad as it is to say, it can go the other continues is if we continue to do that. way, a catastrophic event. Of the current staff, half have worked at Longs for decades, some asBoston has been affected by a lot of different things in the past. long as 40 years, and half have been with the jeweler three years or less. People look to us, and some of the relationships we build out of this Its this really amazing mix of an experienced, veteran Longsare forever, Judd says.presence and new folks weve brought in to lead the next generationShari Reddish, Longs operations manager, says, although they of our evolution, says Craig. revisit the concept every few years, the Longs sales team is not com-At times, its the newer, younger, less experienced team membersmission based.A lot of our success and intimacy with our customers comes from that who bring the most excitement.because were truly here to find out what they need and help them in the At some point, they just take it to the next level, Craig says, Sud-denly, they are making some of the biggest sales theyve ever made. best way for them, with nothing to do with any [of our] goals, she says.Thats happened many times and its always thrilling because you invest in someone. They trust theyre going to be able to buildA FRONT-ROW SEATa career here, and we trust that, if we invest in them, theyre goingReddish just celebrated her 17th anniversary with the company.to grow into something with us. When that person hits that rocketSix years into the job, she experienced the moment that showed ship point, its always amazing, and I can think of many people offher what was special about the stores client relationships.the top of my head. I had a client in front of me, and I knew their parents well. They Judd remembers his own rocket ship momentthe first dia- were buying an engagement ring, and I was like, Oh my goodness, I mond he ever sold.know your parents well from being in here! she says.I remember everything, even the persons name, he says. Thats when I understood and it clicked that we really are building It happened in 1994, when he first joined the business as an adultrelationships with people and its generational. That was just really spe-after graduating college and attending GIA.cial to me. Id worked with their parents for many years and gotten to I made a great sale but after that, I probably screwed up six monthsknow them and now here they are in their early 20s starting an import-of sales because I thought I knew what I was doingI was very over- ant milestone in their life.confident, but I learned. But you need missteps like that, he says. Reddish was working for British cosmetics company The Body NATIONAL JEWELER 21'