Managing Employees in a Jewelry Store: An Owner's Guide

Why your team matters

In a jewelry store, your team handles six- and seven-figure inventory, and client relationships that last for decades. Managing that team well is what separates the stores that grow from the ones that stall.

What makes jewelry staff different

Jewelry staff are different from general retail. A single tray can be worth a month of a clothing store's sales, and a wrong answer about a stone or a certificate costs the sale. Each associate's client book is an asset of the store, and when staff are paid on commission, the pay plan quietly decides what gets sold.

Hiring: what to look for

When you hire, look for three things: a calm, attentive manner, comfort with technology, because the store runs on its systems, and attention to detail. And interview for them directly: hand the candidate a piece to describe, and a repair envelope to fill in.

Training: the first 30, 60 and 90 days

Write the training plan down, with a definition of done for each stage. The first month: products, the point of sale, and repair intake. The second: independent selling, CRM notes and special orders. And the third: clienteling outreach, and full closing duties, including the end-of-day count.

Scheduling and the showroom floor

Schedule from data, not memory. Plan the showroom and the bench separately: the floor peaks on Saturday afternoons, and the bench needs steady hours to keep its promises. If 11 to 3 on Saturday brings a third of the week's tickets, that window needs three people on the floor. And never leave one person alone with a high-value showing.

Choosing a commission plan

The commission plan is the loudest instruction you give your staff. A flat percentage is simple, but it pays thin-margin bridal exactly like high-margin colored stone. A tiered plan pays more past a monthly threshold, which encourages a push at month end. Whatever you choose, run it against last year's tickets before you announce it.

The numbers to review monthly

Every month, review each associate's sales per hour scheduled, average ticket and category mix. The spread between your strongest and weakest associate is a training plan, written for you.

Accountability and loss prevention

Most internal loss isn't a piece walking out the door. It's a void, an unauthorized discount, or a memo nobody logged. So only managers should void, refund, override a price or adjust stock, and every memo, repair and stock change should be logged to a user. Read the void and discount report every morning, and count the cases at every open and close.

Building a culture of clienteling

Jewelry is a relationship business, and the relationship is only as good as the notes. Each associate works their own client book, with birthdays, anniversaries and wish lists, and makes three calls or texts a day, before the floor gets busy.

Your team in WJewel

In WJewel, each employee's sign-in decides which options they can use. Commissions are calculated automatically: a fixed rate, such as 12 percent of sales, or a percentage of the profit, or graduated, so an item sold at a higher profit earns a higher rate, and each sale records the reps who earn the commission, split among up to four. Hourly employees punch in and out, with their schedules, and their vacation and personal days. And reminders on each customer's profile keep the clienteling going.

Contact us

You'll find the full guide on the WJewel blog. WJewel is fully web-based, and runs on PCs, Macs, tablets and phones. To learn more, visit www.wjewel.com, or call us at (646) 578-8300.