With more and more people ditching printed appraisals, Instappraise’s digital platform makes the process simple, quick and easily accessible.
Brought to You by Raphael Boivin, Instappraise
General Manager of David Scott Fine Jewelry Keith Courtney is a satisfied user of the Instappraise.com platform. With two brick-and-mortar locations in Florida, established in 1993David Scott Fine Jewelry was seeking an appraisal creation and management platform that was cloud-based, therefore employees from both stores could access the same information seamlessly. Serving customers in our two locations from custom design to insurance appraisals, Keith and his team decided to try the Instappraise platform in 2019 and soon after transitioned completely to Instappraise from their old appraisal platform.
Keith Courtney / We started with Instappraise in the mid-way of 2019. We were looking for a solution. We were using another software vendor before, and it also did a good job, but it was not web-based. It wasn’t nearly as advanced.
When we joined Instappraise, or at least did the test drive, it checked all the boxes for everything that we were looking for. We went from a single-store operation to a two-store operation, which made it nice to be web-based. Both stores could see that information.
One of the things I love about it is that the Instappaise team is so open to ideas, anytime I have a suggestion or something that I think can be fixed or improved, they are always very responsive about taking that into consideration and trying to make it better as a whole for all the users.
Can you describe your overall impressions about the onboarding experience for Instappraise?
Keith Courtney / Well, to be honest, the system – at least for me – seems very intuitive that even before we had our chance to do the onboarding, we were able to bring ourselves up to speed really quickly. It was very easy when we did the onboarding.
How would you describe the learning curve and the ease of use?
Keith Courtney / Anybody that has a basic knowledge of the industry that we’re in can jump headfirst into it and get up to speed very, very quickly.
How has the Instappraise platform changed the way that you create, manage, and think about appraisals for your business?
Keith Courtney / Well, I’ll tell you one thing, right off the bat, we used to do appraisals the hard way, you know, literally a Word document and print it out. Therefore, I’m much more apt to offer appraisals to everybody now, which obviously increases revenue. It makes it extremely easy, not only for us but for the customers too because they have an online portal where they can manage all of their appraisals and send them to their insurance carriers.
“I’m much more apt to offer appraisals to everybody now, which obviously increases revenue. It makes it super easy, not only for us but for the customers too,” says Keith Courtney, General Manager of David Scott Fine Jewelry, Panama City, FL.
We have two stores now, and if they do an appraisal that needs attention on our side, easy, it’s done. Or if a customer comes in and has questions, it’s so easy just to look at their account, manage their account, and see all the appraisals that they have in their account. It’s just all right there.
What types of feedback have you received from customers regarding their appraisals since you started adopting this new process?
Keith Courtney / The first thing is the professional look and feel of it all. Everything is laid out concisely. It has a very modern, yet clean aesthetic to it. The customers can see all the information spelled out right there in front of them. I think the thing that they’re most impressed with is the ease of being able to handle their appraisals digitally because all the insurance carriers and customers now don’t want paper copies.
They want digital copies. So honestly, we don’t really print a lot of appraisals anymore. They’re in your inbox, and that makes it really easy.
How do you think it’s impacted the customer experience overall?
Keith Courtney / We kind of do two services of appraisals. Anytime anybody buys something in the store, I try to do an appraisal form on it, so there’s an added value there for the customers. “We appreciate your business, here’s a way to get it insured.” But then with customers who are bringing in things, I think they appreciate it and can tell the amount of work that goes into it, because of the way the appraisals are laid out, and the overall quality of it all.
What are your favorite or most frequently used features of the platform?
Keith Courtney / Well, when Instappraise added the importing of the GIA and AGS laboratories, that was eye-opening because before we would open the appraisal report digitally and have to go through and do all that. That saves so much time.
The description builder’s great. It really helps you to quickly build a description for that piece of item. The new 360-degree videos, if you can take advantage of them, are great. Another thing, when the customer logs in digitally, it really looks like a million bucks.
See the platform in-action below.
What would you like others to know about the platform?
Keith Courtney / One thing that I’ve been most impressed with is probably the people. I think it’s a breath of fresh air when you are able to talk to the person who has such a hand in the product. At the end of the day, their founder is more of a technology guy, and he’s not sitting here in a retail jewelry store. But he’s taking the time to understand exactly what our needs are and how to best meet those needs. So, it’s very nice and a breath of fresh air honestly to have someone that’s receptive to the things that we’re dealing with.
Would you feel comfortable recommending Instappraise to colleagues and industry partners?
Keith Courtney / Oh, yeah, without a doubt. I mean it’s so easy because with the free trial you can just jump right in and make sure it’s right for your business. There are other solutions out there, but I don’t think any have the jeweller’s interest in mind quite like Instappraise. It’s not only accurate gemologically but easy and time-saving. That investment for a small amount of money per month pays off immensely.
CJ Channel Interview with Raphael Boivin:
