5 To mark THE 55TH ANNIVERSARY OF BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S first showing in 1961, invite young couples to come in for a morning bite at your store to browse your bridal selection. Play Moon River on loop, lay on some mimosas and baguettes, and offer to engrave a love message to anyone who brings in a Cracker Jack ring.

1 It’s well known the brain is “cross-wired,” with the right hemisphere controlling the left side of the body and vice versa. Only slightly less known is the right hemisphere’s role as a source of unorthodox and instinctual thought. During RIGHT BRAINERS RULE MONTH, what’s this mean for you and your store? Creative right-brain thoughts driving left-hand ring purchases! Urge your staff to come up with some out-of-the-box ideas to boost sales, specifically what packages you can put together for engagement-ring buyers.

11 You may think you don’t have friends or business associates who are gay or lesbian, but it’s very likely you do — everybody does. Despite the many LGBT civil rights gains in recent years, fear keeps many people in the closet. On NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY, make it clear with a promotion of same-sex wedding lines that in your store no one should be anything but proud and happy for being who they are.

12 During BUILD YOUR BUSINESS WITH BUSINESS CARDS WEEK, set your staff a new target: Hand out one card a day. It doesn’t matter to whom: the owner of the local dry cleaner, the cashier at the grocery store, the Uber driver. Think, says trainer Dave Richardson, what would happen to your business if everyone in your store handed out 300-plus cards every year.

20 GET SMART ABOUT CREDIT DAY is held to teach youth about how to manage their money. But jewelers should probably take a few lessons as well, primarily in the benefits of offering financing. According to our surveys, less than 60 percent of jewelers offer financing programs for engagement-ring purchases, yet there is a mountain of evidence showing how they support bigger, better bridal sales. And millennials expect a financing option. Get smart!

23 “Take a good look at your fiance’s mother and you’ll know what your wife will look like in 30 years.” So went the beer-buddy advice of a generation ago. On MOTHER-IN-LAW’S DAY, how about viewing these long-suffering joke butts as the targets of affection instead? In lighthearted tones, encourage your bridal customers to kill their prospective mothers-in-law with kindness, including a generous token of gratitude for their financial and emotional help ahead of the wedding. Prepare some gift ideas.

30 Checklists are often looked down upon as a paint-by-the-numbers approach to management. But consider the types of people who use them: Pilots, surgeons, software engineers — people in critical positions. And in manufacturing settings, studies show double-digit gains where they are employed. Ahead of NATIONAL CHECKLIST DAY, start working on a list for one part of your business that supports bridal sales, such as the shop. Then follow — and check off — this three-step process:

• Establish a best practice. (Make sure it’s the best-known method. Get input and feedback from those doing the work.)
• Make it visible. Post it where everyone will constantly see it.
• Communicate. Prepare and train people. Test it out and monitor its effectiveness. 
• Check. Check. Check.

More October Holiday Events

Oct. 10-16 Palm Beach Jewelry, Art & Antique Show Palm Beach, FL
Oct. 13-16 Istanbul Jewelry Show Istanbul, Turkey
Oct. 13-16 Luxury Miami Miami, FL
Oct. 14-17 Jeweler’s International Showcase Miami, FL
Oct. 28-30 Lueur New York, NY
Oct. 30-Nov. 1 JA Special Delivery New York, NY
Oct. 31-Nov. 1 International Watch & Jewelry Guild Show Brooklyn, NY

BUSINESS ANNIVERSARY

Beaudet Jewelry
Eugene, OR

When he set out in a U-Haul truck from Milwaukee, Chuck Beaudet was barely 25 but already a seasoned jeweler, having started apprenticing at his father’s side at the age of just 12. Confident his skills could get him work anywhere, he headed west with his young bride, Georgiann (who passed away in 2014). They settled in Eugene, OR, and after several years of trade work opened their own store, a small upstairs space that served as a toehold to the local market. Over the years, Beaudet Jewelry has grown steadily (most dramatically with an expansion in 2007 that doubled its size), won design awards and become a local institution. What’s Chuck learned from his long journey in jewelry? That it helps to be proactive. And “that it’s OK to make money,” he says.

BIRTHSTONE

Opals

Most OPALS are 60 to 65 million years old, dating back to the Cretaceous period when dinosaurs roamed Earth. Their history as a collected gemstone isn’t that old, although it is a long one, with Australian Aborigines and ancient African tribes among those enamored with its unique play of color and ability to disperse light into shards of rainbow color. The Romans had a nice way of looking at it, dubbing it the Queen of Gems because it contained the colors of all other gems.

This article originally appeared in the September 2016 edition of INSTORE.