December Checklist

Posted in Marketing.

December checklistIt’s nearly here! Time to kick back and relax and reflect on the year that was and take a moment for some serious R&R. But before you reach for that tempting glass of eggnog, here’s a few items you may wish to tick off your list…

Nurture your relationships

Now’s a great time to contact your clients (and suppliers) to do a yearly wrap up with them. Rather than making a last ditch effort to ‘sell them’, instead take the time to nurture your relationship with them. For your key clients, consider taking a gift in personally or inviting them to lunch/dinner/drinks. Take the time to talk about their year, their needs and their future so you can better understand their business and be of greater benefit to them in the new year

Spread the yuletide cheer

If you’re sending Christmas cards out, sign them personally and ensure they’re mailed by no later 12 December as many folks go on leave early as part of school holidays (plus many like to showcase their cards in their office). So if you’ve not already sent these out, it’s time to officially panic and get thee to the post office. If you’re doing an online version, try to make it feel personal and consider making it a little trickier than ‘here’s something we created in Word’. The idea is to let them know you appreciate their custom and value the relationship. Now is not the time to go all cheap on them

Don’t forget your staff

Make sure they know how valuable they are and how much you appreciate their contribution to the success of your business. Take the time to genuinely thank them (be it via a personal card with a small gift or a get together)

Let your community know your plans

Add a footer to your email with the office closure dates asap (as early in December as you can), send an email to your database advising office closure dates and how to contact you if there’s an emergency. And, if you have social media sites, make sure you notify that community too of your pending office closure so they are kept in the loop. Consider using a message scheduling program (like Hootsuite) to pre-load some messages prior to Christmas and over the break to keep your profile up without having to put the eggnog down

Get ahead of the game

Many businesses take this time period to wind down and take a holiday. If that’s not you, then use this unusually quiet time in the office to get ahead of the game and do some pre-planning for the next couple of quarters. Spend some time researching your competitors, other markets and your own plans to see if there’s an opportunity you can work into 2013

Then sit back with that eggnog and enjoy whatever time you may have to celebrate and reflect on your last year.
Cheers!

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