How To Help Your Business Thrive When Fall Is Its Slow Season

In our last blog, we intimated that fall may be a slow season for many businesses. Of course, during the summer, a lot of people are out and about shopping to their hearts’ content. With the fall season comes a new school year and people just tend to be busier. Not to mention, the colder temperatures keep people at home a little more often. Is autumn your slow season? If so, there are many ways to help your business thrive during this forthcoming tough time of year.

Step up your online presence.

If you notice that you have slower foot traffic in your store during the fall, it’s time to pay better attention to your online traffic. No matter the time of year, it’s wise to invest in enhancing your online brand visibility. Update your website with fresh content, optimize your SEO strategy and make sure your site is mobile-friendly. As well, enhance your social media profiles by posting regularly, sharing engaging content and running targeted ads.

“Use your most valuable assets wisely by enhancing your online brand visibility,” encourages Neil Anders, Trusted Rate, Inc. on Forbes.com, “You should market your business by posting on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as by publishing images of your products on Instagram and Pinterest. This will help to increase website traffic and attract new clients who may not have heard of you before.”

Focus on customer retention.

The key to a successful fall season may not be in trying to secure new clients and customers. Why not focus on those wonderful individuals who have supported your brand in the past? Use the forthcoming fall season to strengthen the relationships you have with members of your current customer base. Send out thank-you emails, offer loyalty rewards or provide exclusive discounts to repeat customers.

“According to market research, when compared to the cost of keeping an existing client, the expense of acquiring a new one can be up to 25 times higher,” reports Propello, “Existing consumers also spend two-thirds more than new ones. Additionally, when compared to the likelihood of selling to a new client, which ranges between 5%-20%, the odds of closing deals with existing customers are between 60%-70% higher.”

Diversify your products and services.

If your brand isn’t particularly well-known for catering to the needs of consumers during the fall, it’s time to change things up. Let’s say, for example, you run a landscaping business that is traditionally busy during the summer. Why not offer fall clean-up services? If you own a retail business that popularly sells summer-based products, introduce such items as cozy apparel, home décor or holiday gifts.

“One approach a business can take is to diversify its products or services to earn more revenue outside of the peak season,” says Jeff Call of Bennett Thrasher in the aforementioned Forbes article, “For example, a landscaping business that traditionally is busiest over the summer might consider offering fall clean-up and snow-plowing services to generate income throughout the year.”

Apply for a merchant cash advance.

Synergy Merchants’ unique merchant cash advance program has helped many a Canadian business owner to survive their slow seasons. To learn all about it, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-877-718-2026 or email us at info@synergymerchants.com. You can also apply online for a free, no obligation quote!