The holidays are a magical season. Retailers often see more sales in November and December than any other months. Sometimes they see more sales in those two months than in all the other months in the year combined!
Yet you should never direct your efforts to those two months and forget the other 10 months out of the year. Your business thrives during those months because you have put in all that extra effort. It’s important to try to direct some of that effort to your business throughout the year.
The holidays can also show you a lot about your business. In fact, you can learn a lot about your business based on what goes on during the two holiday months. If your business plan has holes, they will grow to the size of beach balls during the holidays. Find out some tips and tricks that you can employ all year to ensure your business stays fruitful even in the slower seasons.
One of the most important pieces of your business is your website. Your site is the first thing that customers see when it comes to your company. When you have a well-maintained website, your business can have a leg up over competitors.
Yet many small businesses start to notice flaws on their site when they begin to see an influx of business. You may not have noticed major problems with your site throughout the year. At least you may not have noticed those problems until you started seeing high volumes of traffic.
Maybe your site crashed because your server couldn’t handle the influx of traffic. Perhaps your site wasn’t designed well, and your customers couldn’t find what they were looking for. Redesigning your site can be a tedious and time-consuming task, but it’s necessary to ensure your customers can find the products they want.
Pricing Changes
Companies are much more likely to play around with pricing during the holidays. In fact, many companies drop and raise prices more consistently between the months of November and December.
Many companies start with Black Friday and Cyber Monday pricing. They then raise and lower the prices and begin sales based on competitors’ pricing. You probably are more aware of your competitors’ pricing strategies more during the holiday rush than any other time of year!
Make sure you stick with these trends during the slower seasons. Try to keep playing around with pricing to see what price points are more popular with customers. Continue to research your competitors’ prices to ensure they aren’t outpricing you and stealing your customers.
Marketing Techniques
Many businesses try out some interesting marketing techniques during the holidays. In fact, many businesses save up their marketing budgets just for this one season out of the year.
It’s important to have a solid marketing strategy during the holidays. Yet don’t let the one time of year that everyone is vamping up their marketing be the only time you employ a good marketing push.
Save some of your marketing budget for other seasons. You might even find that your sales beating your competitors’.
Business Pivots
Many companies try out some of their zaniest ideas during the holidays. They’re more likely to try out a new product or marketing technique when they’re desperate to ensure their competitors don’t steal their customers.
Some of these zany business pivots end up working out very well. Some don’t work out so well. The important thing is that you tried and took a risk.
Continue taking these types of risks during slower seasons. Don’t just assume that the holidays are the only time to try to take new risks. Continue A/B testing to see what your customers like and what they don’t.
Customer Service
You’ll be able to find all of your customer service downfalls during the holidays. Customer service agents who show up consistently late will cause even more havoc at this time of year. The sheer number of customers will amplify poor customer service decisions and shine a light on some of the dead weight at your company.
Analyze how your employees handled major crises during this time of year, and try to find solutions to prevent problems from arising next year. You might even find your new customer service strategy helping you out all year long.