Aug. 4-10
MANAGEMENT Kill something. “In order to grow, a business must have a systematic policy to get rid of the outgrown, the obsolete, the unproductive,” Peter Drucker said. Start that process today: Make a list of projects, policies, or products that you should consider killing. Solicit nominations from your staff.
MARKETING Jewelry isn’t normally on parents’ back-to-school shopping lists, but it is on their kids’ minds. Kelsey’s first day of high school might just be the occasion for Dad to get her a “grown-up” piece of fashion jewelry. Do you know what the must-have items are for high school kids this year?
BUYING There’s still time to sign up for The INSTORE Show, the show for independent jewelers, to be held Aug. 11-12 in Rosemont, IL. Pick up lots of great ideas for the last quarter as well as some amazing new product for the holidays. Find information at theinstoreshow.com.
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Aug. 11-17
MERCHANDISING Experiment with “signage groupings” for fashion jewelry. Take one type of jewelry and group it in a display unit. Make a small sign (go for a professional look!) to go with the collection: e.g. “Under $249”, “Under $499” and “Under $999”.
ONLINE Make buying online easier. Start by working out how many clicks it takes your customers to buy an item and then seek to lower it as much as possible, advises Chuck Kuba, owner of Iowa Diamond in Des Moines, IA.
FINANCES This is often a good time of year to plan employee compensation. Hit the books.
Aug. 18-24
STAFF It’s important for your team to be able to fill in for each other when someone calls in sick or takes leave. If you don’t have one already, implement a system to cross-train staff. There’s also an additional benefit — cross-training gives everyone a better perspective of what their teammates have to do on a daily basis.
CUSTOMER SERVICE Do you have former regular customers who are suddenly nowhere to be found? Create an incentive to motivate lapsed customers to get them back in the store. If it’s been a year or more, try to find out why they were gone so long. Whatever they tell you will be useful.
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Aug. 25-31
OPERATIONS What’s your pre-opening drill? Many retailers use a 10-point checklist to make sure that all the important things are taken care of before they open the doors.
FINANCIALS If you’re like a lot of smaller jewelers, you may be underpricing a proven seller compared to your competition. “Fast-sellers in particular need to be fully priced,” says the Edge Academy’s David Brown. This week, spend time researching what prices your best-selling items are achieving across the industry and make sure you are realizing their full potential.