Mar. 3-9
STRATEGY Set times to meet with your advisers — your lawyer, accountant, banker, consultants and especially if you haven’t done it yet, your tax pro. Review the state of the company and how it’s placed to benefit from the economy’s current strength and take advantage of your changing tax obligations.
Mar. 10-16
MERCHANDISING Do you know your store’s merchandising hot spots — the places where frames sell best? Are the frames with the best margins in those positions? The impact of getting the alignment right can be dramatic, says Michael A. Kling, winner of our 2017 America’s Finest Optical Retailer. If you’re not sure, get busy!
SALES Does your after-hours phone message simply state, “Sorry, we’re closed”? That’s what sales trainer Jeffrey Gitomer calls “Doh” service. If so, re-record it to direct customers to your website, or even another number they can contact you on.
MARKETING Plan a trunk show for April or May. If you’ve struggled in the past, request event-management quotes from local event management and marketing firms. Not everything has to be DIY! But if that’s more your speed, look for our Special Feature in next month’s issue!
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Mar. 17-23
OPERATIONS The year is gathering pace and those small operational adjustments you made in January should be starting to stick. Make a point of documenting best processes as they emerge as well as common errors to save employees time troubleshooting redundant problems in the future.
STAFF It’s time for your twice-yearly employee reviews. Set up a professional development plan for each employee — and for yourself. Ask them what they feel they need — or would like — to learn, then challenge them to come up with a plan to implement it. Give them a week to get it done then work out the logistics.
Mar. 24-30
STAFF Losing a key staff member can cause chaos if nobody has been trained to take over their tasks. Assign back-ups and roll out a schedule for learning all those often mundane but crucial jobs such as ordering supplies, entering inventory, invoicing, calibrating the tracer, digital dispenser maintenance … and so it goes.
OPERATIONS Even a simple reconfiguration of space can reduce the time employees spend passing files back and forth, making them more productive. And often the best place to start that search for greater efficiency is with the staff themselves; they know where time and resources are being wasted. Be sure to ask them at the next weekly meeting.