3 Tips for Turning Business Off and Still Serving Your Customers – Podcast Episode 170

by | Dec 23, 2021 | Latest, Marketing Strategies, Podcast, Podcast notes, Small Business Help | 0 comments

Hey there, my fabulous listener, welcome to episode 170 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.

Thank you for lending me your ears today – I know you have lots of choices, so I sincerely appreciate me being one of them!

If you’re enjoying this podcast – I’d love to you take a screenshot and share it on your socials and tag me in it.  How cool would that be!

Don’t forget you can get the show notes for this podcast at www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/170

If you’re listening in real time – it’s Christmas Eve Eve – yes that’s a thing.  It’s December 23 and for most service based businesses we are shut down and for most bricks and mortar retailers it’s about to turn ugly!

December 24 was always the BIGGEST day of the year for us.  Oh my goodness it was huge.  My staff and bestie business partner would stand at the front door every Christmas eve and wish for patient customers and patience for ourselves.

By the time Christmas day comes around, if you’re in retail, it’s full of exhaustion.  You have literally been run off your feet for weeks and yesterday (Christmas eve) was probably outstanding profit wise and a complete and utter feet hurting, smile waning day!  My love to all my bricks and clicks that listen!

But whether you’re bricks and clicks or service based, here’s 3 tips on ensuring your business is still serving your customers long after the door is shut (for however long!).

  1. Do you have your Out of the Office automatic responders turned on? So if someone emails you, DMs you on Instagram, sending a messenger message via your Facebook Business Page or wherever, they receive a message that let’s them know that you aren’t available at the moment, and when they can expect to hear from you and perhaps, in some cases, in case of an emergency, how they can get in contact.

If you think ‘what emergency” could possibly happen, I’ve seen doors to offices left unlocked with no one to contact to let them know, I’ve seen websites go down and get hacked, with no response from the owner and I’ve seen unusual banking behaviour that needed someone’s attention – but the owner was awfully hard to find!

So emergencies do happen in all sorts of ways, so make sure you do have an in case of emergency strategy!

Have some fun with this message too – don’t be boring.  Show some personality.  If you’ve learnt one thing from listening to my podcast, I hope that it’s around how important human to human marketing is and showing up for your audience.

Here’s mine from 2020:

Hey there!

Thanks so much for your message.

Jenn is away from her desk and is on a little well deserved Christmas break.  Possibly sitting by the pool or more likely watching re-runs of Friends on Netflix under the cool!

While she’s **ahem busy, she’s asked me – her trusted personal email bot! – to step in and make sure you’re taken care of while she’s away.

‘Cause Jenn might be terrible at choosing a new Netflix obsession, but she IS devoted to making her clients happy. So you can bet your bag of fairy floss that she’ll respond to your awesome message when she returns to the office on Monday 10th January.

In the meantime, why not stalk her in her community at the Like Minded Business Owners Facebook Group to scoop up her latest goss and guidance?  Or on her Instagram @jenndonovan_

In love and living your best life,

Jenn’s Email Bot

I used different versions of that on Instagram, Facebook, etc.

  1. Tip Number 2 – make sure you’ve updated your business hours on your Google My Business account and your Facebook Business Page. And even post on socials if required.  Don’t leave people hanging to see you, hear from you, then you’ve simply not going to be available.  Let them know in all the places you can.  It’s what someone does for their community!
  1. Send out an email to your loyal subscribers and let them know what’s going on too. These people are your people, send them some Christmas/End of Year/New Year love and tell them when you’ll be back and how to contact you with anything urgent.  And send them a email when you get back too!  Let them know you’re back on board and here for them.  One of the best emails I send every quarter or so, is based on the principle of 7 powerful word emails – It’s basically Hey (insert their name), How are you?  How’s Business? – nothing more – just that.

Hope these tips help.  If you’ve already on holidays, slip back in to do these quick tasks so that you are still serving your customers and clients even when you’re not around.  You’re still building a community and you’re still there for them if they need.

Don’t forget about my workshops coming up in January –

Planning Day on Monday 17th January – here’s the link to come along https://bit.ly/virtualplanningday2022

And Content Planning Day on Thursday 20th January – here’s the link to come along to that too: https://bit.ly/contentplanning2022

Don’t forget the first 5 to sign up also gets a 30 minute session with me to go through your plan, your goals and/or your content valued at over $210.00

But for now, Merry Christmas.  Have the most wonderful, safe and joyous time with your friends and family.  And if Christmas is a hard time for you, I’m sending you extra loads of love and joy.  Make the best of the day, your best, no one elses’.

Big Christmas love peeps, and

……..remember small business peeps, as my opening song says, there’s no point in dreaming small!

 

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Brilliant – it’s on its way – thanks!

 

Brilliant – it’s on its way – thanks!

 

Brilliant – it’s on its way – thanks!

 

Brilliant – it’s on its way – thanks!

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