Summertime…..When the Livin is Easy….Or is It? by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC
Many years of school vacations have us convinced that the world takes a break during the summer. We’ve grown accustomed to a difference pace of life during the summer. Long days and a more casual lifestyle may lead us to believe that we can take a break from working so hard during the summer, too.
However, you may find that your results and forward momentum in business might suffer if you take it too easy during the warmer months. This is because everyone else’s more relaxed attitude can affect your business, especially in certain industries. When kids are out of school and families are focused on things like visiting relatives and taking vacations, they tend to be less interested in more serious matters like insurance, financial products and home maintenance. If you work in one of these industries, you may find that summertime means you have to work even harder to generate the same amount of revenue. Many industries are affected by a summer slowdown.
Combating the Summer Slump
For this reason, it may be necessary for your business to take things up a notch rather than taking it easy during the summer. To keep your revenue stream high, you may need to come up with incentives and promotions to motivate customers to do business during a time of year when they would normally avoid your industry. You may also want to consider things like being open longer hours to allow for more business.
It is critical to track your sales and results month by month throughout the year, so that you’ll know what kinds of results to expect during each season of the year. It may be hard to make business predictions at first, but over the years you will see trends that help you to determine the right focus, promotions and diligence to give the summer, as well as any slow time your business might consistently see.
Summer living is easy and you need to pay attention to what your customers’ buying habits are telling you before you head out on an extended vacation. This way you can relax and enjoy your time away.