Holidays - Keep your customers happy while you're on the beach!
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Although there are so many positives for your personal life when you run your own business, it also sometimes feels like you're never really able to go on a holiday and properly escape from it all. At Service Central, I'm lucky enough to have a great team that keep things running while I'm away, and we also generally close the office completely for a week in December. But how do you get away from it all and still keep your customers happy? Here are some tips that I've learned over the years that gives you the best of both worlds - having a great holiday with no impact to your customer service.
Plan your holiday at least 3-4 weeks in advance
Unfortunately, a spontaneous holiday is far more tricky to have - there's quite a lot of admin and communications recommended below that take time, so deciding to go on a holiday on the spur of the moment can make that holiday less awesome because of all the stress of setting things done before you go. So, plan your holidays at least 3 - 4 weeks in advance and that will give you enough time to sort things out before you go.
That being said, if you're in the great position of having a strong team that will be absolutely fine without you, then you've hit the jackpot of owning a business!
Schedule around your holiday
This one's a no brainer - we all know not to schedule meetings or jobs when we're not available. Still, worth mentioning especially if you have a team working in your absence. If there are jobs that need a bit more personal attention from you than others, then rather schedule the jobs that have a 100% likelihood of going smoothly for the time you'll be away.
Reducing the 'lag' of work when you return
If your business has a very short lead time from a prospective customer to completing the job (for example plumbing emergencies) then you'll find it easier to manage your schedule but you'll also find that you may have a couple days of 'lag' when you get back from holiday.
To reduce the financial impact of this lag on your business, it's a good idea to put in a couple of hours on your last day of holiday grabbing some work off the Service Central Open Jobs Board or reactivating your notifications a couple days early. You can spend those few hours setting appointments for the following days and then go back to your holiday with an unstressed mind knowing you have a productive day scheduled. Sometimes, I find that those days lag when people haven't realised you're back are the most productive for a bit of strategic thinking and planning - so you can always use the lag to focus on other areas too.
Communicate to customers with jobs starting after your holiday
Hopefully you have a great channel of work coming up when you get back, and won't need to factor in the 'lag' period. Even if you have jobs scheduled for after your return, don't think that these customers don't need to know you'll be away. Sure, it may not affect them but it's a great customer service step to pop out an email to your upcoming clients and let them know you'll be unavailable to discuss details of their job for a time. This will allow them to get any questions out of the way before you leave and not be concerned when they can't contact you. We'd recommend that you send out this note 2 - 3 working days before you're scheduled to leave.
Communicate to regular customers
Some businesses (like ours) have repeat customers that need us to be available to complete transactions (like topping up a lead fee account with cash). In your businesses, these customers will be builders who regularly subcontract to you, or sometimes property management companies or even regular clients in industries like gardening or commercial cleaning. Sending an email or letter to these customers let's them know you'll be away and should also give them contact details for emergencies or alternatives for service.
Subcontracting for regular customers
Depending on how long you'll be away for, you may want to set up a relationship with a similar business to yours. Preferably one that you trust to treat your customers with the same level of service that you offer. This works in a similar way to the suggestion on how to deal with sick days but would simply have a little more notice. When you're communicating to your customers, you can let them know that your subcontractor can help them with any emergencies while you're away. How you work the finances of this relationship are up to you - and it would be advisable to set up a contract for these scenarios that address any service failures or loss of revenue.
Evaluate regular materials deliveries
If you have a standing order with suppliers, check whether you'll still want to take delivery or put a pause on your account for the time you'll be away. Some suppliers will appreciate knowing well in advance.
Set up your out-of-office replies and voicemail
For any period you're not responding to emails or answering your phone, you need to let people know that you're away. You've proactively taken care of informing your regular customers but you'll also want to inform any new customer enquiries that may come in that there will be a delay in responding to their queries. A friendly message on a voicemail (preferably not rubbing your holiday in their faces as is always tempting!) and a helpful auto-response is all that's needed. Just remember to turn them off when you return!
If you often get the same query by email you could also include some FAQ in your auto-response, because this is very helpful to customers if they can get an answer without needing to wait for your return.
Setting up a holiday on your Service Central account
It's likely that while you're away relaxing without a care in the world, you may not want to be interrupted by text messages and emails that pile up. So, speak to your Account Manager or call 1800 SERVICE to put a stop to messages while you're away. Remember, you'll still be able to keep an eye on the Open Jobs Board whenever you like.
The steps above should ensure that you have a great holiday and don't damage the reputation of your business (and hopefully your cash flow too!).
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I get that the holidays that you plan can be worked around, but I seem to be unable to take a holiday if I plan one - I'm always going at the last minute. I wait for a lull in the work and then go somewhere. So good advice but I can't see how I can do all this stuff before I go if I've only got a day's notice at best.
over a year ago by FredM -
Looking at the list of ideas, you could definitely do a lot of them with only one day's notice - try preparing your out of office and communications in advance (just add the date you'll be back later) and this will cut down on the time it takes to implement.
over a year ago by liz_brock
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