By the Numbers: Peer Review

Published

9 years ago

March 18, 2015

David Brown

Independent jewelers enjoyed a solid start to 2015 with average monthly sales climbing to $87,767, up $10,453, or 13 percent, from the same month last year. On a 12-month rolling basis, that represents growth of 0.69 percent and suggests the jewelers in our survey group — who come from across the country — are on track to enjoy 8.3 percent sales growth this year.

By the Numbers: Peer Review

If your sales growth has been more modest, you may want to look at joining a peer group. Working together with like-minded store owners, meeting regularly and comparing results can provide you with terrific benchmarking figures to grow your business. It also opens the way for the 80/20 rule to come into play. Twenty percent of the areas of your business that need attention can provide 80 percent of the results you desire. It’s hard to lift sales volume, average sale and margin all at once. Choose the one that will have the greatest impact and work on this. Ask fellow jewelers how they perform in this area. When you find someone who is doing well, ask them what they do that’s different. Above all, be open-minded. If your instant reaction is, “that can’t be achieved here,” then sure enough it won’t be.

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”