Subject – Summertime Strategies – Part 1 – dealing with cancellations

We have been hearing from some of you that you are having challenges in two areas of your business as summer approaches. The first area involves party cancellations and the 2nd area is the challenge of balancing family and business. Our next “mini-series” will address both of these potential trouble spots.

Today, we will look at the “why’s” so that you can keep things in perspective. Tomorrow and for several days beyond, we will look at some solutions.

Summertime party cancellations are just a fact of life. Do not take them personally! This is something that those of us who’ve been in the business for a length of time learn to expect and we strategize accordingly. Summer comes and people leave town, kids are sent off to camp, and baseball and soccer season are in full swing. Schedules are, if it is possible, even more hectic and unpredictable than during the school year. Add to that weekend get-togethers – family reunions, weddings, graduations, First Communions, etc; and you find that people are not as available to attend parties as other times of the year.

Balance of family and business become an additional challenge due, in part, to all the aforementioned scheduling challenges that we ourselves are experiencing. Also, for those of us with school aged children; we now find ourselves in the position of “camp activities director” constantly in a position of coming up with activities to keep our kiddos busy so that we can not only have time to make calls, but to get all the other household duties under control. Add to it the fact that it’s even trickier to catch people at home when you do have a few minutes to make some calls and you potentially have a recipe for disaster.

Even if you don’t have children in your life, do not ignore this next series of emails. We know that you too have balance issues and you probably have team members who are challenged with having the kids at home. You will need to be able to brainstorm solutions with them.

So, the easy thing would be to just say, you aren’t working this summer, right? WRONG!

It is more important than ever to keep your business rolling in the summer, it’s just a matter of working it differently. Keep in mind that business is a 90 day cycle. Count 90 days from now and you will find yourself right smack dab in the middle of your fall season. When your fall harvest isn’t producing the “bumper crops” you’d hoped for, rest assured that you will be able to trace it back to your CHOICE of inactivity in the summer.