The holidays can be a slow time for some businesses and a busy rush for others. What makes the difference, and how can a business ensure they stay busy over the holiday season? Read further to find out.
Keep Moving Even When There’s a Lull
Instant gratification tastes good, but realizing there’s more to receive in the future is a skill that business owners must master. Customers may be doing more relaxing than purchasing during the holidays, but what does this mean for a business that relies on cash flow? This is where the saying, “patience is a virtue” can really come into play. A business owner who recognizes that with consistent effort comes reward, will come out on top every time. No customers? Keep on moving, keep on promoting and keep on offering better-than-average service!
Let People Know that Business is Booming
People will assume that because it’s the holidays most businesses are closed for an extended break. It’s important for business people to make it known that their companies are not only still around, but are thriving and excited to provide service to their customers during the holiday season. Customers will be pleased to be in-the-know regarding the business’ holiday hours, and sales can happen more organically than perhaps planned.
Prepare Social Media in Advance of the Holidays
Social media is a great way to make potential customers aware of holiday business hours, closures, and special holiday promotions. One method of preparing updates in advance is to use a program called HootSuite, or another one called TweetDeck. Both programs make it possible for business owners to prepare tweets or Facebook updates and schedule them so that they are posted during the busy holiday times. This way, even if a business owner is busy eating turkey dinner, Facebook page updates will be updated and tweets will be made. Social media is an excellent way to keep customers on the cutting edge of what’s going on during the holidays.
Design Exclusive Holiday Promotions
Make the holidays a time to generate even more business than normal. People love deals, especially deals that they can offer to people as gifts during the holidays when there may be a lot of people for whom they need to shop. A promotion that happens only during the holidays, or special store hours that start early in the morning or go late into the evening, are both fantastic ways to encourage customers. Often people who have never been interested before are intrigued due to new scheduling times.
Whatever a business owner does to make themselves known during the holidays will be a benefit to them. Customers are out there and they’re ready to spend, even when it’s the holiday season and they appear to just want to mingle and drink eggnog. If no customers are coming through the door, work anyways! Moving forward is always a “step in the right direction,” and making use of social media platforms is a most excellent way to do that. Keep on going, make customers aware of the business thriving, and see the results in more sales, leads, and customer interest.