Planning to go on a summer holiday but worried about missing out on a client?
You’re not alone many small business owners forgo holidays or spend hours each day while away, checking and responding to e-mails and calls to keep their business running smoothly.
Careful holiday planning can help secure your time away:
- Let existing clients know you’ll be away with plenty of notice so that can plan for your absence and get any upcoming orders in before you go away
- Set an out of office that lets clients know how soon you will be able to respond; you can even ask people to re-send messages that need attention with URGENT in the subject field and set up a rule to show only these, so you know what priority items to action
- Pre-empt potential client questions and give them the answers, with a FAQ page on your website for example
- Use scheduling tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer to line up your social media messages and post them at your pre-determined times
- Keep potential clients sweet while they wait with the promise of a discount offer
- Hire a virtual assistant (VA) to respond in person to client enquiries and schedule appointments for your return
It’s important to have downtime or family time – all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!
Find out more about what a VA can do for your company, visit my Services page
Holiday Planning For Small Businesses