While most of the holiday shopping season occurs in November and December, preparing for a holiday rush will help your business when the time comes. The early bird rush is just around the corner. Start thinking about customer service strategies and making adjustments as necessary. Remember that last year’s holiday promotions might not work due to stock shortages and price increases.
So, how do you prepare for the holiday rush? As the holiday season approaches, mental and physical preparation is key to a successful holiday season, and you should plan to make sure you’re ready for the rush. Black Friday is one of the year’s biggest shopping days, and you must prepare your business to handle the influx of customers.
Trying to plan for overages during the holiday rush is a critical mistake. This may include miscalculated shipping costs, product returns, last-minute purchases, and other business emergencies.
Instead, plan and order supplies in advance to avoid these last-minute purchases and other surprises. You will be glad you did! While the holiday rush is stressful for everyone, you can reduce employee and customer anxiety by setting the stage for success ahead of time.
In this article, we will review a few tips for your business to help you prepare for a holiday rush and ensure that your business stays ahead of the curve.
Get Organized
If you have never written a list of to-dos for your business before the holiday rush, get started now! Taking stock of everything you need to buy and order and making a prioritized list of what needs to get done can help you manage the holiday rush with ease. The list should include forwarding telephone lines when closed, creating help desk support for busy times, and even getting gifts for unique customers.
Another excellent organization tool is a calendar. Start by creating a calendar and posting it on your website, social media, and internal employee meeting boards. Include your days off and any time when you’ll need to take a break from your busy schedule. Setting aside downtime will make the holiday season less stressful. For example, you might be able to schedule a date where you can have an employee event to unwind after a long day.
Study Trends To Understand Your Needs
Look back at your previous year’s customer interaction records to identify common problems or areas of weakness. Then, look for ways to improve these areas. For example, you can preemptively provide information that answers common questions to reduce queries. For instance, if a customer frequently asks about shipping, send an autoresponder email. You can also offer a holiday refund reminder to reduce customer queries.
Ensuring your team is prepared for success will help lower their anxiety.
System failures and errors can happen, particularly during the holiday rush. Make sure your system works as efficiently as possible, and plan extra time if necessary. In addition, check your connections, hardware, and network. If you have recently experienced a rush, review how well they performed.
Update your FAQ if necessary. Your best friend during this time is a checklist of what could go wrong.
Go the Extra Mile to Show Customers You Appreciate
Contact center services can help your business super-serve your customer. At Call Experts, we know that your business will need after-hours service to cover closures for holidays. Our award-winning answering service is the ideal partner to get you into an affordable plan so you can get time to yourself.
Other businesses will need a larger plan to support a rush of business. This can include services like help desk support, automated IVR routing, and order taking/management. With the buying season starting earlier than ever, please don’t wait until it is too late to start your plan.
Also, you can consider some more traditional ideas to show your customers how much you appreciate their business, like:
- Host a Customer Appreciation Day party.
- Consider closing early for the day or having a private event where you offer discounts or a sneak peek of a new line.
- Consider running giveaways or gifts to thank your loyal customers.
Communication Is Key
If you are experiencing issues during the holiday rush, send follow-up emails to remind them of your business. Take feedback to heart and re-evaluate your holiday customer service protocol. Always make sure your customers are acknowledged and heard. They’ll appreciate it more if you go the extra mile to show them that. In addition, it will boost your customer loyalty, which will translate to more business.
Consider hiring a contact center. The holiday rush can tax small businesses, but you can’t afford to lose revenue while customers are busy shopping. So instead, hire a few additional staff or temporary employees.
If your employees understand the holiday season’s importance, make sure they are motivated to work hard. Get everyone on board with the celebrations. Make sure they know the importance of their role in making the season a success.
Your business could miss a golden opportunity if employees don’t get on board. Holiday preparation tasks must be done all year long. If you do not prepare for the holiday rush, you might miss out on a lucrative holiday season.
Give Yourself Breaks and Plenty of Sleep
Take a break from your hectic schedule. Try to get some exercise during the holiday season. Even 15 minutes of walking around the neighborhood can help you wind down. Besides, regular exercise can help you manage stress and mental overload. Exercise has also been proven to help people sleep better.
Getting enough sleep is vital during the holidays, so make time to do some exercise. It won’t take long before you feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Lack of sleep can affect our mood and our health.
Sleep deprivation is one of the leading causes of chronic diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Therefore, getting enough sleep during the holiday season is more important than ever. The holiday season can cause a variety of challenges, such as busy schedules and increased activities. In addition to disrupting sleep cycles, it can contribute to various health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Here are some tips to help you get enough sleep this season.
Adjusting your bedtime routine can help restore your sleep-wake cycle and prevent memory loss. Try to avoid running before bedtime and set aside time for calming activities. You can also try taking a long bath. The holidays can be a stressful time for everyone, so remember to take a break.
Final Thoughts
The holidays are a time when people feel an increased sense of urgency. As holiday shoppers, you want to get everything done in the shortest time possible. And as business owners, you want to make sure our businesses are ready for the rush of customers who will be coming in our doors.
During the holidays, people are looking for gifts and entertainment options. So you should know what products or services your customers need and how you can provide them. For example, if you’re running a restaurant in Philadelphia, you should know that people will be looking for good food and fun activities during Thanksgiving weekend.
There’s no better way to prepare for a holiday rush than by planning ahead of time with plenty of time left over before your busiest days. This will give you time to make adjustments, so everything runs smoothly on those days when business is booming.
Being organized can help keep everything running smoothly during the busy season. Make sure you have enough staff members available so each person has enough time to complete their tasks without feeling overwhelmed or stressed out by all the extra work thrown at them during this time of year.
Also, ensure that everyone knows their responsibilities and where they need to be at any given moment during those peak days, so there aren’t any missing details and deadlines.
Come out of the holidays with more success rather than more headaches. Preparing for a holiday rush can help your business save time and create opportunities.
