Well, not so much fun, but profits and profits are nice. The seasons they are a changing and it affects everything. With that in mind, here are a few things to keep in mind when working around vacations, planning for the future and more.
Schedule Modifications
Without proper scheduling techniques, you could miss a huge order, your kid’s playoff game or miss a flight to Fiji (to dream a dream). A great way to avoid missing out on profits is to review your orders from the previous year, especially if your clients’ needs are seasonally based. Most non-profits (at least in the northern states), schedule their benefit walks, bike rides and the like when folks are less likely to be found frozen mid-step in an eight-foot snowbank. Their promotional product needs are usually substantial so you’ll need to plan for them in advance.
Your schedule and your clients’ schedules will likely be affected as well. School is out for the summer and if your kids aren’t being shuttled off to camp, you’re going to have to find a way to make time for them, too. If your business is a full-time gig, consider outside help and hire a nanny for a few hours. Trying to do it all will only hurt your profits which will ultimately hurt your family. Your clients are people too and like any sane individual, they need retreats from reality. Make sure they’re not on vacation when you need them to approve something. How, you ask? Do just that – ask them! Getting involved or at the very least, feigning interest, in your clients’ lives will let them believe that you think of them as something more than just a cash cow. You deserve a break, too. Let your clients know when you’re planning on jetting off into the sunset so they know you’ll be unavailable.
Strategies
When working with non-profits, build your relationships by attending the function. Stephanie Zafarana, president of Pica Marketing Group and a member of A Woman’s View Advisory Council states that they “have a lot of events that we’re not only helping clients prep for, we usually attend a lot of them. The planning process helps us not only organize our own business, but because we have all our clients in order, it gives us the ability to continue to get new clients.” Planning and strategic maneuvers at their finest. Summer is the ultimate networking opportunity. Again, without the ever looming threat of freezing to death, people actually go outside. Bring a promotional product with you (say, a snazzy water bottle?) and wait for the compliments and following inquires to roll in.
If your summer months happen to be slow, use this downtime to plan for the rest of the year. Review reports, identify repeating orders/customers and gear up for your busy months.
In an ideal world, every season would be the busy season for your industry. Unfortunately this world is far from perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dip and dodge your way into making the most of every time of the year. Theresa Gonzalez, President of Stay Visible, LLC and another member on the council of extraordinary women, states that summer can be “the time for you to cultivate the kind of clients that you want to have.” Again, networking is your greatest asset.
Life is short. Get organized, be strategic and have fun doing it.
Tayla Carpenter is the project manager for iPROMOTEu. She developed and currently manages A Woman's View, a program specifically designed to support women distributors in the promotional products industry. Contact Tayla at tcarpenter@ipromoteu.com.