Week 1 / MARCH 2-6
WEBSITE March 8 (next Sunday) is Proofreading Day. So beat the rush and re-read your website with a close eye for errors. And check every link; they have a pesky way of deactivating themselves over time.
EDUCATION If you send staff to Vision Expo, ask each person to pick a course they enjoy and plan to re-create it for the rest of your staff.
SALES TRAINING Selling by face shape, part one: flattering frames for people with oval faces.
Week 2 / MARCH 9-13
COMMUNITY Add a line like this at the bottom of all store correspondence: “Shop smart, shop local: save time, beat traffic, boost our local economy.”
WEBSITE Put together a selection of fun green items — sunwear, eyewear, cases and more — and highlight them on your website under a St. Patrick’s Day Specials banner.
NETWORKING Join online groups such as ODs on Facebook and Optiboard.com to see how your fellow eyecare and eyewear pros are faring elsewhere in the country.
EDUCATION Want to build your Rx-able sunwear business? Schedule sunwear training once a quarter. (Ask some of your reps to drop by to share new sales techniques.)
Week 3 / MARCH 16-20
TRADE SHOW See you at Vision Expo East at the Javits Center in New York. Education starts March 19 and the show runs March 20-22. Be sure to stop by the INVISION booth, #3383.
INVENTORY Stocking up at VEE? Mike Rolih says to follow the rule of three by buying every frame in three colors: two basic colors and one that’s pretty out there. The brighter colors will add life to your displays, and if the basic colors end up selling first, you can show customers the boldly-colored frame and offer to order it in a different hue.
SALES TRAINING Selling by face-shape, part two: flattering frames for people with round faces.
Week 4 / MARCH 23-27
MAINTENANCE Schedule a tune-up of your A/C. It may still be cool outside, but now’s the time to do maintenance. It will save you money come summer.
EDUCATION Take out your notes from all those educational sessions at Vision Expo East and start implementing the great ideas you learned.
SALES Step outside your store and assess things through the windows. How do the visuals and displays look? How is your staff interacting with customers? It’s amazing how much more you can observe without sound.
Week 5 / MARCH 30-APRIL 3
COMPUTER March 31 is World Backup Day. Check your computer backups this week. Consider backing up your stuff in the cloud, on a service such as Dropbox or Hightail.
STAFF Do six-month employee reviews. (Every March and September.) Remember: Nothing you say in an employee review should be a major surprise or shock to the person being reviewed. If it is, then you’re not keeping on top of situations and addressing them as they arise.
SALES TRAINING Selling by face-shape, part three: flattering frames for people with heart-shaped faces.