Christmas is the busiest time of the year for the B2C industry, however the same is often not said for the B2B industry. For most B2B companies December is often one of the more quiet months of the year. If December is a quiet month for your business here are four top tips to help you make the most of the downtime.
1. Don’t Pay Your Staff For Nothing!
I am amazed at the amount of B2B companies that allow their workforce to be unproductive during the build up to Christmas. Yes, it’s an exciting time of year and everyone is looking forward to the Christmas break, however this doesn’t mean that people should forget themselves or their roles within the business. If their usual workload has slowed down due to the Christmas period, then look for other things for your staff to do that will benefit your business. December is a great time for you and your team to catch up on all the things you don’t usually have time to do. It’s also a brilliant time to do staff appraisals, as removing people from the work force will cause less issues doing quiet periods and it will also help your staff to set goals for the New Year.
2. December Is A Great Time To Strategise
If business is slow in December start working on your next marketing strategy, if your team have time on their hands get them involved. It’s great to get people from different parts of the business together as they will all have something different to bring to the table. This is because each of your team members will have experienced different things within their individual roles in the business. For example, a member of your team that is front of house and regularly deals with customers will be able to give you brilliant feedback on what the customers have to say about your products and services, where as a member of staff that works in the back office behind the scenes would be able to give feedback or new ideas regarding how you could improve the organisation and logistics of things within the business and so on. If you're unsure where to start with a new strategy, here is a great article - Effective B2B Lead Generation Strategies - Where To Begin.
3. Everyone Needs Some Downtime
Christmas is one of the few times of year that rest is forced upon those of us in the B2B industry, take this as a great opportunity to recharge your batteries and spend time with your friends and family. Most B2B business owners often work harder and longer than everyone else. I don’t mean to sound corny but if you don’t look after yourself you can’t look after anybody or anything else. Taking this time out will do you and your business the world of good! So, don’t feel guilty, recharge your batteries and make sure you are ready to face everything the New Year has ahead for you.
4. Take The Time To Educate Yourself
Use this quiet time to catch up on what’s going on in your industry and educate yourself on what’s happening in the world of business in general, if you have something specific you want to learn more about such as social media marketing or what’s happening with the economy etc. December is a great time to do your research. We have several FREE B2B business guides that you may be interested in reading during the month of December you can check them out here – https://www.jdrgroup.co.uk/free-guides
I hope this article will prevent you from despair and make you feel a little more positive if you have a slow period this December. Take advantage of the downtime you have so you can turn a slow month into a productive month!
