Hopefully, the holidays were a busy time for your jewelry brand. You ramped up promotions, bent over backwards to make shipping deadlines, and tried your best to serve your customers. You may still feel exhausted, but now’s not the time to rest on your laurels and admire your labors.

If anything, January will require even more hard work because you don’t want to lose the amazing momentum you gained during the holiday season.

At this point in time, you may be dealing with at least a few customer returns, which won’t help your motivation and positive attitude. In fact, returns can be a logistical nightmare and distract from the effort you should be putting into your January marketing efforts. While it’s true that exhaustion and customer returns are both very real obstacles, you can still prevail by trying one or more of our five tips:

Play to Your Customers’ New Year’s Resolutions

January is a time when most people reflect on the past year, decide what they want to improve, and plan to make changes. If there’s some way that your jewelry can support your customer with her goals and dreams, let her know about it.

Is your jewelry motivational? Is it symbolic? Remember that garnet is an excellent gemstone during times of change and transition, since it’s thought to boost confidence and survival instincts, and watermelon tourmaline can provide the wearer with clarity during a transitional period. Jewelry can serve as a daily reminder for your customer to follow her dreams or stick to her resolutions.

Close Out Products That Didn’t Sell

Even if your holiday season was successful, you may still have some inventory that didn’t sell as well as you thought it would. Clear the stock and make space for new things in the new year! Offer special, limited-time promotions on these products, especially for customers who didn’t get the jewelry they wanted during the holidays. These customers will be happy to buy a gift for themselves, especially at a special price.

Launch Something New and Exciting

Let’s face it: January can be a bummer. The festive holidays have ended and – depending on where you live – winter can be cold, dark, and snowy. Put a little pep in your customers’ step by launching something new.

Take a risk! Do you have a design you’ve been putting on hold because you haven’t been sure when to reveal it? Now may be a good time to experiment with something unexpected and set the tone for 2019. Be an innovative brand, one that’s not afraid to expand its boundaries and grow. At the same time, you’ll spread cheer and inspire intrigue.

Continue to Focus on Customer Experience

Returns may be making you grumpy, but try your best not to take out the grumpiness on your customers. No matter how tired and cranky you are, prioritize your customers and go out of your way to make them happy. January may be an excellent time to reach out to all the customers who made purchases during the holiday season and ask them about how well their gifts were received. Not only is it a great way to establish a rapport with your customers, but it could lift your own spirits when you hear their heartwarming stories.

Take Care of Yourself

You can’t take care of your customers if you’re not taking care of yourself. Even if you feel like you’re not able to take a vacation at this time of year, you can still engage in self care – like getting a massage, enjoying a nice meal with a loved one, or soaking in a bubble bath.   

Do you already have tried-and-true strategies for maintaining your momentum through January and beyond? We’d love for you to share your ideas in the comments below.