So there you are – the memory of a lovely Canada Day BBQ with family and friends is fading fast, and there’s nothing that you’d like better than to spend the rest of the summer at the lake, a fine spritzer or brewski in hand, while your feet dangle in the water at the edge of the dock.
WRONG!
Getting the good word out or branding your business is a 24/7, 365 day a year job.
Here are two easy tips to follow to make certain that business continues with the same vigor that it hums along at for the other 10 months of the year.
1. Hand out your business cards like ice cold glasses of water on a hot day.
Think of yourself as the host, responsible for introducing all comers to your business and its offerings. Think of the last neighbourhood BBQ that you attended. How long were you able to remember the name of the first person you are introduced to at that gathering? As the host you help people out, when you give them your business card. Neither you or they know when the need for your service will arise, so hand out that card to everyone. Personally, I always give out two cards – one to lose and one to keep, as I always say. It gets a laugh, and jogs the memory.
2. Remember the tourists
“Oh, we don’t get many tourists in the summer,” is a common retailer refrain, and I cannot begin to tell you how often that refrain is wrong. The reason that retailers believe that they don’t have many tourists stop by is because they may not see a spike in sales. However, given the fact that Canadians head out of country, province or town come the summer – where do those stable sales come from? Tourists. So when you see a new face or accent – welcome that person, give them a firm warm handshake and a couple of business cards. Although they may not buy today, there’s always their next trip to town, as well as the family and friends who do live in town.
Of course you will take a break or two during the summer. But before you head out that door, remind staff that they are the hosts while you are away.