May 2-8
BUYING Spend some quality time with your POS system to discover your best and worst sellers of the last 12-15 months. Your top performers should dominate by a margin of as much as 10 to one when it comes to pulling out your checkbook to buy for the holidays.
MERCHANDISING Create a Mom’s Day-themed display. Offer a wide range of price points, but simplify the selection process by highlighting a few classic pieces or current trends. Frame and install pages from fashion magazines to highlight the kinds of pieces celebrity moms are wearing.
May 9-15
MANAGEMENT If your typical response to handling day-to-day affairs is, “Let me take care of this,” then try this experiment: For the next two weeks, free up two hours a day just to manage. Delegate some admin work, drop less important meetings and spend the extra time giving more guidance to your team. You may find the extra productivity far outweighs your “lost” hours.
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MARKETING Plan a Prom Dress Party (depending on the status of vaccines, you may need to schedule appointments an hour apart). Encourage girls to bring their dresses into the store to try on jewelry with the dress. Identify pieces to excite them at prices that will entice a sale (that means jewelry with a big look for less money). Thin, lightweight metals and colored gemstone jewelry will be your best bet.
INVENTORY What can be scrapped? What can be bundled? What pieces would make suitable charity gifts? Which long-term resident in your vaults should earn your salespeople the biggest reward?
May 16-22
INVENTORY We’re heading into wedding season. Draft a cleaning schedule to ensure all your bridal goods are polished, sparkly and freshly ticketed, and check you’ve got all the important bridal price points covered as well.
ADVERTISING What could be even better than weddings? Anniversaries! Send out cards, along with a special offer for diamond upgrades, to customers with anniversaries in June. Offer special deals for couples celebrating a big anniversary.
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May 23-29
FINANCES Maybe your fixed costs are not as fixed you think. Analyze every contract — from the company that supplies the water cooler to your neighborhood bank — and look for places where you can get a cost reduction. Lease coming up? Keep an eye on traffic. It’s a good figure to wield in negotiations.
MARKETING June’s birthstone, pearl, enjoyed a resurgence during the pandemic as consumers opted for the reassurance of the traditional, as well as some interesting new twists, including pearl engagement rings. What can you do to tout your selection, expertise and standing as the local place to go for pearls?