How to survive high demand seasons without losing customers

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WHEREAS seasons of high demand bring excitement to small business owners, they often create additional stress that prevents them from providing the best customer experience possible. Regardless of your situation, here are five ways to do it mind your own business and yourself in the midst of chaos and keep the customer experience top of mind.

1. Plan ahead

Poor planning usually leads to less than desirable results and unhappy customers. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a newcomer to the high-demand rush, careful consideration of the steps ahead is essential.

Use all available resources to manage inventory needs and ordering, set schedules, consider a new promotion or marketing campaign, and invest in customer service by reviewing protocols with your staff. If a plan is not possible due to limitations, make a list of what you can accomplish with what you have. As a close of the season, use setbacks as a learning experience for future planning.

2. Maintain positivity

Along with a plan, keep your employees engaged and positive by staying calm when unexpected events occur (which they will!). A positive attitude in the face of adversity can mean the difference between a minor setback and a complete disaster. Some additions to your exercise routine may include:

Celebrating small victories for you and your employees, such as verbal recognition during a team meeting or a small gift.
Reframing negative thoughts as opportunities to improve or additional steps toward success.
Encouraging collaboration to solve complex problems.
Equipping your workspace with objects that bring you joy and peace (eg motivational quotes, photos of loved ones, memories).

When practicing optimism, keep this in mind removal of negative emotions it does more harm than good. Keep validating genuine emotions and experiences from yourself and your team. Highs and lows are part of the human experience.

3. Delegate often

A culture of success is a collaborative effort that rests on everyone's shoulders. As a leader or business owner, it can seem like dividing the workload is especially challenging when tasks need to be handled in a specific way. However, a healthy workplace should be focused on teamwork.

By delegating, you play to your employees' strengths and provide enough space to focus on more important needs. Start by creating a system that empower your team to be proud of the success. Then, motivate them to actively pursue that success. Finally, hold personal and team accountability to ensure consistent results.

Also, consider outsourcing tasks beyond your immediate team to the community, such as other small businesses. For example, your neighborhood The UPS Store provides a convenient, one-stop shop for items missing from your to-do list—from printing marketing materials to packaging and shipping thank-you gifts to select customers or returning online purchases. .

4. Balance rest and productivity

As a business owner, doing your business right requires doing it right yourself. As UPS Store President Sarah Casalan would say, “If you don't listen to your body, it will eventually talk to you.” By recognizing that being productive requires setting aside time for rest, you will find lasting success in greater quantities than by prioritizing production alone. Some other helpful tips to start balancing free time with work to do:

Take short breaks for reset and recharge yourself.
Focus on one or two big projects at a time or on several small ones.
Delegate non-essential tasks to your team members.
Set clear, firm boundaries for when you plan to stop working (eg, I have to be home by 7:00 p.m. and I won't answer texts or calls until tomorrow). Follow this up with a physical limit, such as turning off notifications or devices.
Schedule time to be with family and friends during off-peak times.

5. Express gratitude

When stability resumes, even during busy moments, remember to say thank you. A study by researchers at the University of Miami found that gratitude is strongly associated with people feeling happier, healthier, and more grateful. It can even improve relationships and make stressful times easier to manage and overcome.

Not sure where to start as the busy season winds down? Write letters to your colleagues expressing your appreciation, call a former boss and tell them how they made a difference in your life, or take a quiet moment to reflect on what you are grateful for from the past year. To take it a step further, make gratitude a regular part of your personal and professional life. Keep a gratitude journal or spend a day each month sharing thanks and seeing what these new traditions bring to you and those around you a year later.

The hustle and bustle of peak business seasons can bring a jumble of emotions and priorities. To create lasting success for yourself, your business, and the people you serve, plan early, lean on colleagues, family, and friends, and prioritize self-care when possible. When the last checkbox is marked complete, say cheers and thank those who helped you get there.

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