Sales Strategy

Jimmy DeGroot: Don’t Let Inflation Get the Best of You December 18, 2024 (0 comments)

Green Bay, WI--A jeweler recently asked Kyle Bullock and I how his store can deal with inflation.  We are currently discussing this subject at length in our SLOW GROWTH BUSINESS PODCAST. As with any problem you may have, it’s important to both define it and then determine your specific concerns. In the podcast, Kyle asked me my first thoughts on dealing with inflation and I think it’s important to realize how you are affected and then quantify it.

The price of gold has risen, labor costs are always growing, shipping, marketing, costs of operation etc. This is one reason I love what David Geller has done for the custom and repair business. He’s helped jewelers figure out their true cost of doing business. If we don’t keep up on our true costs in real time, we can run our business on an outdated pricing model and lose profitability in a hurry.  

So before we deal with the problem, let’s quantify it as it affects our business, then in the next series of articles we’ll dive into ways you can manage inflation as it relates to you customers and your bottom line.

Your homework is to look at your top selling skus and determine, to what extent costs have affected your margins. A little hint: this may not be so much an issue with your top selling skus as it’s been with your fixed pricing skus like repairs and custom, and appraisals. Take a good peek under the hood to see if it’s time for some price increases. More next time.

James (Jimmy) DeGroot is a professional jewelry sales and operations trainer from the jeweler’s side of the counter. Having been in management and the jewelry business for over 20 years, Jimmy offers weekly training to jewelers nationwide via the Train Retail website. Jimmy is an AGS titleholder and specializes in training relevant and timely methods for jewelry teams. He can do a full training on making Bridal Presentations the best they can be, among many other regular training options. Contact Jimmy at jimmy@trainretail.com or call 920-492-1191.