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Handling the Holiday Sales Crush

The holidays are do or die time for many small businesses. Take steps to prepare and thrive.

By John Fuller
The holidays are stressful for everybody, especially small businesses owners. It's crunch time. You and your staff are stressed out, handling more orders and working extended hours to keep seasonal customers as well as the regulars happy. Besides dealing with customers, retail companies also have to worry about shipping and payment problems.

Having a plan in place for dealing with holiday crush will:

  1. Allow you to work smarter as well as harder. While you're bound to work longer hours, you can accomplish more and have time to sleep.
  2. Keep staff focused and happy. A frazzled or overwhelmed staff will probably not provide the best customer service.
  3. Save Money. If you aren't prepared at crunch time, you may end up shipping products late forcing you to pay express shipping costs to satisfy customers.

 

Bring order to your orders

Order-management and fulfillment software will enable you to eliminate data entry and unnecessary paperwork to streamline the process.
Try: NetSuite Small Business allows sales reps to input orders with one click. Once an order is approved, it appears on screen of warehouse manager. Once fulfilled, it automatically becomes an item to be billed.

Get some help

Outsourcing some customer service will allow you to effectively handle the deluge of customer questions, returns and other issues.
Try: Outsourcing firms such as vCsutomer provide customer service via phone or online.

Outsource shipping

One of your biggest problems may be getting the product where it needs to be on time for a reasonable cost.
Try: AIT Worldwide Logistics transports any shipments anywhere in U.S. A Web application allows you to track every piece from the time it arrives to the time it is shipped.

 

  • Hire extra help. A local college is a good place to start looking for seasonal help.
  • Pay your suppliers. You don't want any delays during your most busy time.
  • Encourage your customers to shop early with discounts or coupons before crunch time. Avoiding the last minute rush is easier on you and your customers.
  • Returns after the holiday rush are inevitable. Establish a return policy and state it clearly.

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