As summer comes to a close, the fourth quarter is upon us. Often times, businesses stress out about how to successfully close out the year. There are many things businesses of all sizes can do to prepare for the fourth quarter.
1. Prepare Your Marketing Campaign and Promotions
The fourth quarter is the perfect time to try and clear out your inventory and increase revenue. Using your social media channels to share holiday specials or new promotions will gain you both exposure and potentially more sales. Also, use your social media to drive customers to your website. There, you can gain insight about your customers, encourage them to purchase your product or service, and simply increase brand awareness. Ensuring your marketing campaign is top-notch will help you in this upcoming quarter.
2. Take Advantage of the Holiday Season
The holiday’s round out the fourth quarter and for many companies, this is where the most money is made. For small businesses, take this time to highlight what makes small businesses better for holiday shopping. For all of the large businesses, use the holidays as a big push for your products that are being discontinued. There will always be people taking big holiday shopping trips so use this season to really sell your product or service. Providing customers with great deals or promotions never hurts either.
3. Review All of Your Expenses
During this time, review all of your business’s expenses. This could range from mileage to employee spending. Decide which ones were necessary and which ones could be cut back in the next year. This is the time to cut costs so expense evaluation will make you more prepared going forward.
4. Set Company Goals
Before the fourth quarter begins, set your company goals for the end of the year and the upcoming year. This includes revenue. How much do you want your company or business to make in the next year? These goals could also include benchmarks. How many customers would you like to gain or what’s your ideal ROI? Once you have these goals set, decided what steps you need to take as an organization to reach those goals. Discussing all of these things will help you get ready for what’s to come.
5. Train Your Employees
This busy time of the year can be stressful for employees. Take time before the last quarter begins to train your team members on new strategies, give them insight on what is to come, and be sure to give them the necessary tools to close out the year strong.
The fourth quarter can be the most crucial time of the year. Following these steps with making sure your company is ready to take on the last quarter head on.
Article from BizImprove