While the busy season of a business can vary depending on your product or service, for a majority of businesses, the final quarter of the year is the busiest. No matter when you have your highest period of the year, being prepared for it can make all the difference in your bottom line. Put these tips to work prior to things picking up and you’ll be sure to perform better than ever.
Preplan Marketing Campaigns
Your marketing calendar should be preplanned for the entire year. When things are slower, look ahead to what needs to be done throughout that season of higher intensity and do them now. Create and save blogs, tweets and Facebook posts. Pre-order print materials for special campaigns. Build email marketing campaigns and targeted website landing pages.
Focus on Employee Readiness
During non-peak times, evaluate employees’ performance in terms of customer service. With a virtual phone system like Halloo, you can easily record calls and play them back to evaluate interactions. Consider refresher training on customer service scripts and policies. Review upselling strategies and features of the phone system that help you deliver improved customer care.
Set Goals
A huge part of growing your business involves setting goals and working strategically to achieve them. Prior to your busy season, take the time to review sales from previous years’ busy seasons, this year’s sales to date, and set goals to exceed what you have done in the past. Goals should be measurable, realistic and include details of how you will achieve them. An example of a good goal is “increase sales 30% over the same period last year through the use of an email marketing campaign sent out weekly with discount coupons for different products attached.”
Be Ready to Handle the Demand
It is important to be ready and able to handle the excess demand you will create with your efforts. Automated phone systems like Halloo let you add extra users as needed, so that as your business expands you can adapt quickly and without additional investments in technology. By having flexible systems, you can expand when needed to keep up with the extra customers that are sure to come your way.
By taking advantage of your slower periods to completely prepare your business for busy periods, you will be working smarter and not harder. You’ll see the rewards of this extra effort when you meet and even exceed the goals you have for yourself and your business.