December 26, 2006

Xmas action plan for business

by Brian Turner

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Work schedules can be busy at the best of times, but the Christmas period absolutely underlines it.

I’ve been caught out unprepared for the past two years, precisely because my work routine is normally so involved.

So for next Christmas I’m creating an action plan for business:

1. Local Marketing

I’ve always seen the local market as a key market to tap into.

It’s a positive opportunity to make business relationships face to face, and often the local market lacks real competition.

On the internet I’m in a global marketplace - I’m competing against every other comparable internet services provider on the planet.

In the local market, I’m more likely to find myself competing against maybe 5-6 other similar providers for a significant geographical area.

So how to raise my profile?

Build a target list of businesses I think I can deliver the best services to based on the profiles of existing best customers.

Then send out Christmas cards to these, which includes a voucher for services printed in the card - for example, 10%-20% off any service.

Remembering to allow for printing and delivery times, I’ll need to fire this up from October 1st, to ensure everything will be ready for posting December 1st.

2. Write reports for existing clients

While waiting for the Xmas cards to be printed up, I’ll start writing up yearly - even lifetime - reports, for my biggest clients.

Like a number of other businesses, the majority of my revenues comes from a small number of clients.

So in order to help cement our relationships, I’ll write up in-depth reports showing the successes over the year.

Because a volume of text is hardly inviting, I’ll focus on the visual element, with plenty of graphs and chart summaries.

Overall message - remind these clients just how good our relationship is.

And also send out a second set of Christmas cards, but without the vouchers - no need for upsell in my own instance, though other businesses may consider this a valid opportunity.

3. Redefine goals

Step away from the computer, and consider my goals for the coming year.

For example:

Are there any new markets I’d like to break into?
Do I need to expand further in existing markets I have a presence in?
Are there any areas of weakness I need to remove?
Do I need to trial out any new service areas?
Are there any opportunities to invest in my business I should consider?

The overall exercise is to focus on strengths and push on these to make more secure business foundations, while also trying to isolate potential and opportunities to work with.

4. Family

The most easily over-looked aspect of Christmas - certainly in my own experience.

Sometimes work can just suck you in, but Christmas offers a chance to focus on being a normal parent/spouse/child/etc.

More importantly, it’s a way to help strengthen personal relationships and remind yourself that the reason for your working.

Compile Christmas lists of gifts early, and ensure all shopping is done by December 1st. Wrap the presents and allow the Christmas spirit reward for a busy year.

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Story link: Xmas action plan for business

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