After working for three years in two luxury jewellery and watch boutiques as a Retail Manager on Rue du Rhone, I believe that being a good Retail Boutique Director (or Manager) requires you to be an art, fashion, and culture-loving professional with managerial and financial knowledge. You should have the ability to undertake many tasks at the same time, and under pressure; it is a multifunctional role.
Above all, two things are most important: safety and sales! You need to make sure that the staff and inventory are safe, and you should know how to generate and maximize profitability for the company while performing your role in line with the company’s objectives. You need to be an analytical, organizational, proactive, result-oriented, and problem-solving person with strong leadership and effective communication skills. In the jewellery and watch field, it’s also necessary for the Director to have a Certificate of Gemmology.
Therefore, starting a job as a Retail Director, you first need to make a budgeting and action plan for the boutique, one that is correlated with the company’s objectives. Most importantly, you need to follow your KPIs and know how to reach your sales target.
Below are the factors that a good director needs to pay attention to.
Security:
You need to ensure staff and inventory security! The staff in the boutique should follow daily security procedures to make sure the staff and inventory are safe. Inventory control is part of the security in retail boutiques. Monthly and yearly inventory control is necessary, not only to ensure that you have the right goods for your customers but also to know what you can propose to your customers and, at all times, keep the right stock level.
Sales:
With an artistic mind, you can create daily window decorations in the boutique to make it more attractive and beautiful, attracting more clients to pass by and come to your boutique. But you should never just wait for clients; you need to be proactive in reaching out to them! Building a good brand image and embodying the company brand is an important issue for the boutique. Constant business development, including PR, is part of your sales activities. Business development includes keeping existing clients and continuously acquiring new clients. To enlarge client circles, PR and regular organization of promotional events are also effective sales tools. Working closely with your marketing and production teams is also a good method to promote your products. Anyway, you should never just wait for clients in the store; you need to be proactive in reaching out to them.
Customer service:
Customer care is essential if you want to increase your sales. World first class service should be given to your clients in taking initiative and not going too far to reach your customers. Good customer service concerns many aspects: for example, you need to listen to your customers, express yourself clearly, understand them and deliver results according to their demands, considering also good advice from you may help customers’ decision.
You need to use CRM tools for building good long-term relationships. Not only do you need to have customer service skills, but also to use effective communications skills, as well as being efficient, punctual, patient, calm, understanding, and solution-oriented. Anyway, being friendly, proactive and consistent with your clients is the basis of customer care.
Moreover, getting customers’ feedback and giving good after-sales service should be adopted, making sure your clients are satisfied with your service and at the same time building customer satisfaction and loyalty.
HR management:
HR management is crucial. First, you need to have the right people on your sales team. Then, discovering each person’s talent, retaining talent, and making use of it is most important for your business! To motivate your salespeople, it is necessary to give a stimulating plan and regular training and coaching, especially in “how to make sales,” “how to reach your clients’ satisfaction,” and “how to communicate with clients,” ensuring that your sales staff has the ability to make a sale.
Smooth operation:
You need to monitor team performance, follow KPIs, and watch clients’ actions to make decisions in, for example, sales, customer care, and HR. This should include weekly meetings and daily sales reports that require implementation. Lastly, you need to embrace and adapt to new technologies and fashion trends.
In general, a good Retail Manager leads and supervises the team in all aspects making sure smooth daily operations and constant increase in sales turnover and profitability.
Further reading by the same author:
GemGeneve 2022: An international show for exceptional fine jewelry
GemGenève 2022 : International Gem & Jewellery Show