Sales Strategy
Jimmy DeGroot : Retail Success Is Rarely an Accident | January 08, 2026 (0 comments)
Appleton, WI--One of the most common challenges Kyle Bullock and I see when we’re working with independent jewelers isn’t a lack of passion, talent, or even opportunity. It’s a lack of intentional planning.
Retailers are some of the hardest-working people I know. They’re in early, they’re out late, they care deeply about their customers, their teams and their communities. But too often they’re reacting instead of planning. And reaction over time, becomes exhaustion.
In the opening of a recent Slow Growth Business Podcast, Kyle and I talked about a familiar pattern: retailers who operate year-to-year, season-to-season, sometimes even day-to-day, without a clear plan for where they’re headed. They work hard, but they’re constantly feeling behind. Promotions are rushed. Staffing decisions are made under pressure. Inventory turns into a guessing game. And margins quietly erode.
Here’s the hard truth: if you don’t decide where your business is going, circumstances will decide for you.
Planning doesn’t mean you need a 40-page business plan that sits untouched in a drawer. It means answering some basic but critical questions. What does success look like this year? What does it need to look like next quarter? What are you intentionally doing to grow sales, protect margin, and develop your people?
Without clarity, everything feels urgent. With clarity, you get to choose what matters.
Kyle made the point that many retailers wait until something hurts before they plan—until sales dip, margins shrink or burnout sets in. That’s backward thinking. Planning is not a reaction to pain; it’s the discipline that prevents it.
When retailers take time to plan, they regain control. They make decisions instead of excuses. They stop blaming “the market,” “the competition,” or “the customer,” and start focusing on what they can control: training, experience, presentation, and leadership.
Planning also sends a powerful message to your team. It tells them the business isn’t just surviving—it’s being built. People follow leaders who have direction. They commit when they understand where the store is going and how they fit into the plan.
The jewelers who thrive long-term aren’t the ones who hustle the hardest every day. They’re the ones who pause long enough to think, decide, and lead with intention.
The bottom line? Hope is not a strategy. Hustle is not a substitute for planning. And growth—sustainable, profitable growth—never happens by accident.
If you want a better year, plan for it.
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 and his partner Kyle Bullock help jewelry stores grow their profits and their people to fulfill their greater purpose! We do it through one-on-one business coaching, sales training, and leadership development. Contact Jimmy at jimmy@trainretail.com or call 920-492-1191.