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Start Planning to PIMP Christmas for your Business Now!

 

Christmas is coming, and with it, hordes of people searching for presents to buy for loved ones, acquaintances, and relatives that they’d rather not even see. December always features large numbers of confused-looking folk wandering around shopping centres, dazedly seeking gifts that range from ‘perfect’ to ‘that will do’.

 

A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO HELP PEOPLE

Let’s face it, the holiday season is a time of year when a lot of people could really do with a helping hand. Your business can make life simpler for them by providing simple, easy solutions to their gift-buying dilemmas.

 

STEP 1: CREATE PRODUCTS CUSTOMERS WANT

A lot of different things tend to work well as gifts: single services (buy someone a massage!), subscription services (give someone a clean home for a year!), gift certificates, luxury items, small and cheap items for Secret Santas and stockings. Have a think about what your business sells, and how you can package part of its offering to make a desirable present. This might include putting together special gift baskets at a discounted price, or creating new premium products that you sell at a higher price point.

 

STEP 2: MAKE SURE THEY SEE IT 

There are two basic sorts of people that you’ll want to appeal to: regular customers, and people who rarely or never use your business. To attract both, you’ll need to get in early – long before the Christmas rush – and catch their eye; however, your methods for achieving this will vary.

For regular customers, consider creating special wrappings, boxes, or graphics for the potential gifts: obvious Christmas motifs and silver or gold ribbons tend to work as a visual shorthand, shouting, “This is a Christmas thing!” For example, if your business sells a service, create special Christmas gift vouchers for people to buy, and ensure that they’re prominently displayed. If possible, set up a Christmas display shelf to make it very obvious where to find gifts – and get them thinking about buying presents.

To reach out to new customers, think promotions. If your business has a shop front, you could use a flyer campaign and A-frames in the street combined with in-store functions – perhaps a taste-testing event featuring some of your products, or an evening wine-tasting in collaboration with a local winery. Social media and email marketing are key for any business: promote extended Christmas hours or special functions, or highlight some of your specialty products or services.

 
STEP 3: IS IT EASY TO BUY AND GIVE AS A GIFT? 

This is also a good time of year to think about the procedures that a customer needs to go through in order to buy something from you. Is it as fast and streamlined as possible? Are there bottlenecks that your regular customers tend to put up with, but a new customer might baulk at? Consider sitting down and charting out your sales procedures; see if there are any steps that you can eliminate or make easier.

 

KEEP YOUR CHRISTMAS CHEER 

Customers rarely enjoy buying gifts from sad or annoyed people. Remember to look after yourself and your employees, not just your customers, during the holiday gift-buying season. Consider a pre-Christmas treat – perhaps using some of your gift-purposed products or services – to get everyone in the right mood.