How to Handle the Holiday Slow Down (if you don't have a retail business)
When your business is at its peak throughout the year, it’s really motivating, right? Sales are up, the team is working synchronously together, and your hair finally decides to cooperate with you. You’ve been working so hard that you haven’t really had time to focus on your own business.
At least not at the level you take care of your clients, so you have a rolling to-do list waiting for you when you finally get a little downtime.
And then the time comes when the retail businesses are heading into their busiest season — the holidays!
All of a sudden, service-based businesses start slowing down, and even if it looks a little scary on your books, it’s actually kind of a good thing.
If you aren't in retail, sales usually fall by up to 50%.
So if you aren't selling tangible products or gift cards right now, then we know this month can feel pretty slow for business. Take a deep breath and join us on embracing this month to play a little game of catch-up and give your business some much needed space to reset.
Here are some things we work on during slow season:
1. Work on our website site and social media.
Let's be honest. We're so busy making magic with our clients that our own businesses get placed on the back burner and kept at low heat, so if you've got an enormous to-do list you've been pushing back, now is the time to go for it. You can run your website through a mini-audit (we can help) and see where you can improve some of your pages. We recommend keeping your home page looking fresh with new photos.
You can take this a step further and take a look at your social media analytics and see what your audience is engaging with most, and figure out a way to create more content based on those interests.
2. Create a new freebie opt-in
If that old freebie on your home page is not getting many bites, then now would be a great time to create a new one that your ideal customers actually need. In a lot of cases, service providers offer a Free Consultation. This is a great way to gain new leads, but sometimes, your ideal customers don’t want to talk to someone on a call.
To capture these potential leads, create a freebie opt-in that is a little taste of what you offer and is super valuable to them. It’s a great way to capture their email, but also gives them some value that will let them know what you are all about.
3. Making BIG plans.
If you’ve been jotting down some new ideas that you’d like to weave into your business, now is the perfect time to start making a few of them happen. Schedule a meeting with your team and see which idea excites them most and start scribbling a plan on your whiteboard.
4. Set the OOO Email Responder and log off.
Want to know our new favourite saying?
“Let’s circle back after the holidays.”
It’s magical, isn’t it? If you’re in a position to be able to take the Holiday Slow Down to the next level, there is no shame at all in just setting that Out-Of-Office autoresponder and logging off for some much needed time with your family and friends. January is just around the corner, and you'll see things pick up again soon!
