As we hurtle towards the festive period, here are our top tips not just for surviving Christmas, but for making sure it’s a positive period for your business – and for you, even in the uncertain times we find ourselves in! Based on our years of experience working for businesses of all shapes and sizes, this is the best virtual assistant survival guide you’ll find this side of the holidays.
Have a Christmas plan
This is not about what time to put the turkey in the oven on Christmas morning. It’s about knowing how your business is going to manage the whole Christmas period. When will you be open? Who will be staffing your business? What can clients expect over the holidays? How will queries be answered when the office is shut? These are all the things you need to think about and plan for – and they can all be covered. Send your clients an email with your Christmas opening times and pop it on your website too. And hiring an answering service for small business can help you to keep things moving even when you’re not.
Think about your people
If you’re an employer, make sure you’ve thought about the people who work for you. You’re likely to have people with child or other caring responsibilities and this is a time of year when flexibility is appreciated. Consider how important it is to your clients that you are open in between Christmas and New Year, for example. If your clients are likely to shut down in this period, why don’t you? You’ll save some money on overheads and your staff will thank you.
Get ahead of the game
Even when your office is shut, you can maintain a good profile by updating your website and your social media accounts. Scheduling means you can keep your presence active and relevant with posts going out throughout the holiday. By using dedicated social media services for small businesses, you can relax with family and friends, knowing that your business is still working hard for you. The same goes for incoming enquiries – set up a good out-of-office or sales autoresponder that keeps customers in the loop and shows them that they matter to you. They’ll be willing to wait until your office re-opens as long as you communicate with them clearly.
Send out a New Year email
Again, scheduling is your friend over Christmas. Whether you are a product- or service-based business, you want to hit the ground running in the New Year. So why not have an email ready to go with your January sale prices or service offers? You can write and design this in advance and set it to go out to your target audience whenever is best for your business. For a small business, email marketing is a great way to get in front of your customers at key times of the year, and can help you kickstart the New Year in the right way.
Get someone else to be productive for you
One of the reasons you work for yourself is so that you can enjoy the flexibility it brings. So make sure you make the most of your downtime and don’t spend your holidays worrying about your business rather than enjoying yourself. The best way to make sure you do this is to know you’ve left your business in safe hands. For many smaller businesses, this is the ideal opportunity to use an experienced remote virtual assistant. This is someone who can handle the everyday tasks for you over the holidays, so that you can take the time off you need. Recharge your batteries and leave your business in capable hands.
If you’re heading towards Christmas at breakneck speed and need to talk to someone about taking some tasks off your plate, why not call us on 0800 994 9016 or use our contact form in the menu above? We might be the best virtual assistant survival kit you need!