Three Ways to Handle Last-Minute Holiday Orders
Gift Basket Blog Carnival - Second Edition
Clients are notorious for ordering Christmas baskets during the final holiday week and especially on December 24.
Have you received orders at the last minute?
I remember trying to keep up with the frenzy, but something else got in the way - I ran out of inventory due to unexpected last-minute orders.
I considered my efforts a success rather than a failure, closed my shop’s door, and enjoyed the holidays with my family.
Experts Flora Brown of GiftBasketBusinessWorld.com and Adriana Copaceanu of GBExchange.net are right on time with sage tips to handle last-minute orders. You’ll find links to those tips in this gift basket carnival edition.
Here’s my tip No. 1: Create a sense of urgency by setting an order deadline and informing clients about the date. When they call after that deadline, begin taking orders for New Year’s gift baskets.
What if clients are undecided about what to give? Adriana’s GB Exchange Blog points out a way to clinch the deal. It’s one of her three tips, and her other two will also streamline your holiday time.
My tip No. 2: Make frequent contact with clients even if they don’t return your calls or Emails. Be sure to tell them about your easy ordering process and other benefits. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with conversions resulting from your tenacity.
Customers may love your custom-made designs, but pre-made ones come in handy in last-minute situations. That’s one of Flora’s tips at the Gift Basket Business World Blog, and be sure to review her two other tips.
I also appreciate what Flora mentions about her holiday voice mail message, which is a bonus for you.
My last tip: Organize your workspace in a manner that allows for less stretching and more designing. Place shred under the table at your feet, ribbon at eye level ready for retrieval, etc. And buy a portable heater if your workspace gets a bit chilly. A comfortable designer is productive and profitable.
I encourage you to bookmark Flora’s and Adriana’s blogs and comment on this topic as well as adding your comments here. What have you experienced with last-minute holiday orders that we haven’t addressed?
Look for the next Gift Basket Blog Carnival on Monday, November 10.
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The last minute, get it in for xmas quotations are the worst. Suppliers are stretched, stocks are low and tempers are short. Good money can be made, but the risks are high. If one can be assured of production the profits are there to be made, but is the stress worth it? The joys of corporate gifting!
I can see the accompanying visual to your words, and you’re right on point about inventory, tempers, and stress.
It can be overwhelming and not worth the revenue.
That’s why all of us must decide whether or not these last-minute orders are worth our time and why it’s so important to “train” customers to order early.
The “training” of older customers is a must, as for new ones…one will have to decide whether the stress is worth it or not! Sometimes one needs the business but not the headaches…quite a conundrum!
I agree regarding the training.
As gift basket designers, it also takes us time to be trained to complete this task.