LAST MONTH, we spoke about some of the key numbers you should be checking on a daily basis in order to have your business running in top order. This month our focus is on the weekly numbers that can make a difference.
Weekly KPIs can give you a better indication of how you are heading for the month and make for a more telling set of data while still giving you time to correct your course for the month if required.
Here are the five KPI’s we feel you should be checking on a weekly basis:
1. Actual versus Budget: We spoke about the need to track this each day, but in reality, particularly if you are a higher retail value/low volume jewelry store, daily figures can easily distort. Viewing a longer-term trend will start to give you a better perspective on how your month is panning out. One big sale, or the lack thereof, can mess with your daily earnings, but a trend over a week is less likely to lie.
2. Door Count: Again, your longer-term trend is what’s important here. The number of potential customers walking through your door can be easily distorted on a daily basis, but a weekly trend will be much more relevant. If you aren’t getting the foot traffic you need, or you’re getting the traffic but not converting them, then action needs to be taken.
3. Backorders: Once a week is a good time to review your backorders. What product has been ordered but not yet arrived? What orders have you not closed off and sent yet to the vendor? Are there old orders that you now need to cancel?
4. Salesperson reports: Now is a good time to see how your staff are performing and take action to rectify any issues you see. What is the performance of each staff member? What were their sales dollars per hour worked for last week and was this within their target range? What level of discount did they give away?
5. Margin Achieved: A longer-term trend of margin should be starting to take shape. If you’re below target for markup achieved, then you need to ask some questions. Is the issue one of discounting, or is your pricing policy too low in the first place? You should begin to see how this number is shaping up for the month by the end of the first week.
How your key performance indicators are beginning to form after the first week of the month will be a good indication of how your month is going to perform if nothing changes. Now is the time to take action.