Most of your prospects and customers likely are enjoying the hot weather poolside, at the beach, or away on vacation. This, of course, causes the dreaded summer sales slump. Summer, however, may be just the perfect time to make some changes in your business. With preparation and a little work, you can go from sales slump to sales jump!
Here are 5 Ways to Add Sizzle to Your Business During Summer:
1. Audit and Update Your Website
Now is a good time to make sure your website is meeting the needs of your visitors and serving as a digital salesperson for your business. First, make sure your home page has the key components: a captivating headline, information about who your business helps, what your company does, visual appeal (images or video), a call to action and a phone number to call. If you want to capture leads, you should also have a lead magnet to offer.
Beyond your home page, your website should have testimonials (aka social proof). Your business website should also be responsive, meaning it looks good on a mobile device.
2. Enhance Your Social Media
Use the summer to step up your social media game. If you’re on LinkedIn, optimize your profile. Maybe it’s time to finally write that About section (formerly the Summary). Add media to your profile to not only stand out but offer value to those who check out your profile. On Facebook, organic reach is way down. Consider creating an ad strategy. On Instagram, you might want to revise your bio, add some emojis, and include relevant hashtags. Consider publishing more “Stories.” On Twitter, mix up the content that you tweet. Throw in an infographic, a GIF, a funny meme, and an inspirational quote, for example.
3. Become a Networking Nellie (or Ned)
Now is the time to go full throttle with your networking. If you have been meaning to check out a particular group or association, summer is a good time to attend a meeting. Many chambers have mixers that you can attend for a fee as a non-member. Check out Meetup groups that cater to your target market. Visit networking-driven organizations like Team Referral or BNI. Take a look at Eventbrite for local business events in your area. You’ll likely find there are multiple events happening almost every day. It is up to you to select the events where you can maximize your networking opportunity. Consider hosting your own networking event.
4. Create New Products, Programs or Offerings
You’ve had the ideas swirling in your head for a while. Now, during the summer season, is the time to make it happen and bring a hot new product or service to fruition. I call this getting in create mode, when you eliminate distractions and get into a zone of genius. You may be surprised at how easily you create a new product or program that will boost your sales. If you have thought about writing a book, take the next 3 months to do so and schedule a December book release just in time for Christmas.
5. Run a Summer Promotion
If your sales are starting to slide, it may be time for a special promotion to give your revenue a boost. The big boys do their summer promotions every year. Hello Amazon Prime Day and Bath and Body Works’ Semi Annual Sale. What’s stopping you from running a promotion? Make sure you have enough product on hand to meet the sudden demand and go for it. Don’t forget to use tools like email marketing to announce the promotion.
Those are just five ways to add a like “sizzle” to your business during the hot summer months. Do you have any ideas to add to the mix? I’d love to hear them.