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Manager's To Do

Get Ready for Mother’s Day and More Manager’s To-Do Items

This is a prime planning season for bridal and the end-of-year holidays.

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Get Ready for Mother’s Day and More Manager’s To-Do Items

Mar. 29-Apr. 4

MANAGEMENT April and May are key planning months. Review first quarter performance to adjust goals for the third and fourth quarters. Include staff to hammer out your marketing and inventory plans for the end-of-year holiday period. You’ll then be in a good position to create shopping lists and set appointments for JCK Vegas (Jun. 2-5).

MANAGEMENT Set up individual meetings with your associates to see how far they are away from achieving their sales targets. “To make this simple, break down the numbers by day so they know each day what they need to produce to stay on track,” says Megan Crabtree of Crabtree Consulting.

Apr. 5-11

BRIDAL Most bridal shoppers spend about three months doing online research and then visit about five jewelry stores before buying an engagement ring. It is important to stay in touch with them throughout this process. Print your wish lists from March to see who hasn’t purchased yet and touch base with them.

MARKETINg Mother’s Day falls on May 10 this year. Curate a Mother’s Day selection and get it up on your website now. Keep most of the offerings within a price range of $50 to $250. Offer steep discounts on a couple of items to keep people coming back to look at your offerings.

Apr. 12-18

SHOP Gold prices have surged over the last year amid global economic uncertainty. Forget them hills — there’s likely to be gold in your carpets, hand-washing sinks, buffs, polishing vacuum machines, emery paper bins, A/C filters. Gather it all up and send it off to a refiner.

OUTREACH Mother’s Day gets closer. Make a list of your top 10 clients who bought for their spouses over the holiday season (and you know have kids) and then personally reach out to them with suggestions based on what they bought back in December, recommends Kathleen Cutler of Kathleen Cutler Strategy.

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Apr. 19-25

MERCHANDISING The months of April to October are prime wedding season. You’ll thus have many brides coming in for ring cleanings, wedding bands and bridesmaid gifts. Merchandise a case specifically for these women that showcases bridesmaid gifts under $500.

STAFFING Evaluate your staffing needs. First choice for temps: those who did well last holiday season. Second choice: students.

Apr. 26-May 2

SALES FLOOR The counter where you do battery changes is likely to be one of your store’s most heavily trafficked areas. Put some promotional material there (maybe a list of the bench services you offer) or some lower priced merchandise ($200-$500) to encourage impulse buying.

NETWORKING There’s simply no escaping politicians this year. They are likely to come knocking on your door, showing up at the local Chamber of Commerce and dropping by your favorite drinking spot. Pay attention to the issues and introduce yourself. If they want to get or stay elected, they’ll make time to meet you, a local, independent business owner.

Over the years, INSTORE has won 80 international journalism awards for its publication and website. Contact INSTORE's editors at editor@instoremag.com.

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It Was Time to Make a Decision. It Was Time to Call Wilkerson.

Except for a few years when he worked as an accountant, Jim Schwartz has always been a jeweler. He grew up in the business and after “counting beans” for a few years, he and his wife, Robin, opened Robin James Jewelers in Cincinnati, Ohio. “We were coming to a stage in our life where we knew we have to make a decision,” says Jim Schwartz. He and Robin wanted to do it right, so they called Wilkerson. The best surprise (besides surpassing sales goals)? “The workers and associations really care about helping us move out own inventory out of the store first. It was very important to us.”

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