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Merrick, NY—We’re in a period of economic growth, and the feedback from the industry was very favorable regarding jewelry sales in 2018. But now we’re almost ¼ of the way into 2019, so how do we continue that growth? What are the things we should be doing to maximize our profitability?

Rounding out our series, Your 2019 Must Do List, we tapped Platinum Guild International (PGI) vice-president Kevin Reilly (left), whose smart checklist of 20 items walks you through analyzing, training, and incentives to for your best business success, not just with platinum product but every business line. Read on!

Reilly’s checklist of things your team should discuss and consider:

• What tools are you using to analyze your business?
  • Are you using a merchandising/management software package?
  • Are you capturing all the components of individual products (metal type, gemstone content, etc.)?
    • Do you know which components are most profitable?
  • Do you utilize all of the analytics the software can provide?
• Training your team:
  • Do you provide ongoing product knowledge/sales training for your associates?
    • How often do you conduct training sessions?
    • Do you require your team members to complete specific training/education programs?
    • How often do your vendor partners provide training to your staff?
    • Do you set aside a day of training for your staff in advance of special selling events?
• Incentives
  • Do you offer incentive compensation to your sales associates?
    • Store sponsored?
    • Vendor sponsored?
  • Are your incentive programs ongoing or only used seasonally or for special events?
  • Do they work?
  • What happens when the incentive program ends?  
    • Does your team continue to apply the selling skills learned prior to the incentive program?
    • Does it become a “dis-incentive” if it’s only offered for a limited time period?

Missed the first five installments of our Checklist series? Read Ellen Fruchtman, Fruchtman Marketing on Prepare Your Marketing Budget For 2019; Invest in Staff Education and Training with Katherine Bodoh, AGS; Clean Out The Clutter with Barry Lustig, The Gordon Co.; Critical Gem Identification Skills, with GIA’s Cathryn Ramirez; and Your Must-Do List For 2019: A Health Checkup—For Your Insurance Coverage with Willis Towers Watson’s Marisa Green.