The Christmas holiday period is fast approaching, and as we all look forward to a well-earned festive season, business owners must make preparations to ensure smooth sailing throughout the holidays.
Here are six tips to help you prepare your business for the Christmas period.
1. Update your holiday hours
Your customers understand that you will likely be closing down over the public holidays, and possibly for the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve as well. The important part is to ensure that they don’t come knocking when you’re not there due to incorrect hours online.
It is absolutely vital to update business hours across every platform you manage online such as Google My Business and Facebook, as well as one your business website, and one your business phone.
White Pages Connect can help you to manage social media accounts and other platforms to update those business details in one go.
2. Use social media scheduling tools
You might be planning to switch off your devices and ignore your inbox this holiday season, but you can still keep your social media accounts up and running with handy social media scheduling tools.
Plan a handful of social media marketing posts for the festive season, such as a Merry Christmas message for Christmas Day and reminders about your holiday sales, then use a scheduling tool so that they will be automatically posted at the right times, even if you’re relaxing on a beach somewhere.
This is also within the capacity of the White Pages Connect tool, as it can post for you onto Facebook and Google, ensuring your social media keeps working so you don’t have to.
3. Take care of your staff and your staffing
Christmas can be a stressful time of year as staff request time off right when the shopping season hits its peak.
Use last year’s sales figures to help you decide how many staff you’ll need on hand throughout the season, and consider hiring temporary staff to fill the gaps as needed.
It’s also a time to take extra efforts to keep staff morale high – they’ll be busier than usual at work and at home, so extra treats in the staff room, personalised gifts, or even a Christmas bonus will all go a long way to helping them manage the season and give their best service for your customers.
4. Run a Christmas marketing campaign
What did customers absolutely love this year? Do you have any new products that would make for a great Christmas gift? Does your business offer an amazing selection?
Christmas is a fantastic time to invest in a marketing or social media campaign to promote old favourites, great new products, or special selling points that will encourage your customers to shop with your business.
Look for things you can promote that will help you stand out from the crowd, and use them to leverage your business offering these holidays.
5. Stock up on stock
Christmas is not the time to run out of your most popular items, especially as suppliers struggle to keep up with orders or even close down over the holidays.
Make sure your business is well stocked for the Christmas rush so you can make the most of the extra sales over the holidays, without the stress of an empty store room.
6. Don’t forget to say thanks
It has been a trying year for anyone, and many small businesses can be grateful to their local communities for their support throughout the year, and at Christmas.
Whether it’s a simple email newsletter or a small gift with purchase, now is the time to spread the cheer and ensure your customers know just how much you appreciate them.
Be sure to sign up for White Pages Connect to help you stay on top of your business details and online marketing strategies this year, and most of all, have a wonderful Christmas!
