It's Not Just the Economy, Stupid

Are you blaming all of your business woes on the economy? Well, to paraphrase James Carville, "It's not just the economy, stupid!" Many retailers around the country are doing business, so if your business is struggling, take a look in the mirror.

Are you executing on the basics 100% of the time? In times like these, you need to go back to the basics. Train your staff, making sure they are doing the daily routines to service your customers and bring more of them through the door. Are they greeting customers in a timely manner? Do they really engage the customers? Is the store and merchandise neat and clean? Keep you sales staff in motion!

How many different customer contacts are your salespeople making on a daily basis? They should be responsible for 10 contacts per day, which include:

1. Thank you cards
2. Follow up call to see how they like their purchase
3. Follow up on repairs
4. Invitation to special events
5. A kind note that may speak to a personal interest of your customer

The more customer contacts you make, the more positive energy you have in the store. This kind of positive energy will generate activity that will result in sales.

So stop worrying about the economy, and start working on things that you can control. Work on the basics and put your staff in motion.

Inventory Balancing

A common problem among independent jewelers is the mystery around the "open to buy" concept. Most jewelers have too much inventory and too little cash. When they figure an open to buy, the number usually comes up negative.

Abe Sherman, head of Buyers International Group, has developed a program called "Balance to Buy" that is a great tool to help you determine what categories of jewelry you sell and at what price points, and compares that to the jewelry and price points that you currently have in stock. The result is a road map showing what you need to buy and what you need to get rid of, all in a very simple and straightforward format.

For more information about this powerful planning tool, go to http://www.bigjewelers.com/