Preparing your business for the holidays
We’re getting close to the end of 2020. This year has been negative in many ways, but you never want to leave your clients feeling bad about you or your business. We put together a list of ways you can prepare your business for the holidays.
Plan breaks ahead of time
First, figure out what days you want to take a break from work even if you’re working from home. Perhaps you kids are out of school the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so you want to take the day off. Maybe you need to prepare for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, or Cyber Monday. Maybe you celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas. Whatever days you want off, you need to carve those days out well before they arrive.
Notify your client base
Preparing your business for the holidays involves notifying your clients or customers in advance. Depending on your industry, you want to advertise this well ahead of time. If you have an email list, send out a message to all of your clients. Use your social media pages to indicate the days that you will be closed. Make sure you prearrange any care for clients who need it.
Use your platform to increase traffic
If you use it correctly, your breaks can actually lead to increased traffic. Perhaps you’re taking off Thanksgiving. Schedule your Facebook page to have others share their Thanksgiving meals or to tag you in their meal on Instagram. Schedule these messages ahead of time and make sure you turn off your notifications to avoid the constant pings of activity. (And then enjoy all the action later!)
Send greetings to clients (with a schedule)
Who doesn’t love getting mail that isn’t a bill? Postable is an amazing platform that allows you to upload contacts, and they will send a card to those contacts. You can even add birth dates for those clients, and Postable will send them birthday cards. For close to the same amount you would spend on a Hallmark card, you can have a customized, handwritten card sent to clients. You can even include notes or details about your schedule or days off in the card.
Don’t forget your team
Some businesses have teams that run without them, so be sure you notify your team of your schedule as well. If you want them to continue to work, make sure you check on their schedules as well, so you can respect their time off, too. It’s also a good idea to send them a greeting card for the holidays. Doing this can help with preparing your business for the holidays
Check your platforms
As business owners, we use so many different platforms: social media, websites, project management systems, calendars, email systems, and more. It’s essential to check all of those platforms to make sure your days off are marked everywhere. If you have three calendars, make sure all three have days marked off. (But if you have three calendars, let’s chat about ways to streamline those!)
Ignore work
Emergencies happen, but unless the fire department or police are calling, don’t work on days that you are scheduled off. It’s that simple. If you want to use your phone to capture moments with family and friends, simply turn off your notifications for specific platforms or all notifications. They’ll still be there in the morning.
Most of us are looking forward to a break, but we owe it to our clients, our team, and ourselves to communicate those breaks. The sooner you do, the more time everyone has to prepare and to think about their own breaks. As we say goodbye to 2020, make sure your clients are happy to bring you into the new year with them.