May 2-8
INVENTORY It’s been a long two years since that last big NYC show. Get ready to buy (VEE starts June 2). Spend some time with your POS to find your best and worst sellers of the last 12-15 months. Top performers should dominate by a margin of as much as 10 to one when it comes to pulling out your checkbook.
INVENTORY Pre-VEE clear out sales should begin in earnest. What can be bundled? Which old timer on the board should earn your staff a reward for selling it?
May 9-15
MARKETING It’s graduation season (“A future so bright …”), football pre-season (could you sponsor uniforms?), summer camp for the little ones …. There’s much opportunity in education. Call a marketing brainstorming session for staff.
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OPERATIONS You probably promised to use lockdown to get everything in order … only you didn’t. Well, spring is here. Your second bite at the organized apple: The core decluttering rule is that if it hasn’t been used in a year, toss it. That applies to old advertising books, P.O.P. materials, displays and any other optical debris.
May 16-22
INVENTORY Finalize Father’s Day orders. Dad’s big day arrives just as men start thinking of fish-filled waters, the 17th fairway, or catching those beach rays from behind a fine pair of sunnies.
LABS Conduct a lab review. Make a pro/con list. What do they do well? Do they keep making the same mistakes? Consider pricing. The lowest price might be attractive, but if your lab is costing you more than you save (from mistakes, poor quality, unhappy clients, etc.), it’s time to change.
May 23-29
BUYING If you’re headed to VEE, make networking your big goal … it has been a while! Try meeting new people (from all sides of the industry) and build on existing relationships. Do what you came to do but leave “white time” for serendipitous encounters.
STAFF Ask employees for their summer vacation requests. And while you’re working on a roster, block your vacation time as well. Travel is coming back!
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