Kick your business into gear as summer fades away

The days of getting off early on Fridays and monthly company barbecues are quickly slipping away as summer comes to a close. The summer months are typically a time for businesses to take things a little easier because it is so often a slow season, and, because of that, a great excuse to get your vacation time in.

But after three months of kicking back, it can often prove trying to get the ball rolling again!

If you find yourself looking around to an office still very much infected with summer fever, give these four tips a try:

1. Start out with a fall promotion.

A great way to let your customers know you’re back and better than ever is to leave summer behind with a fall promotion. You can do anything from hosting a contest to gain a larger social media following, to simply offering a coupon code in your first fall newsletter. Promotions not only get your customers excited to participate in something with your company, but they’re also a good way to get your employees back into work-mode! Even by offering a simple coupon code, there’s a lot to keep track of and organize, so your employees will have to be on their game.

2. Visibly track your progress.

At my company we recently started displaying our sales progress throughout the month on the front wall of our office. Each month we hang a large, paper thermometer on the wall and fill it up as we go, numbers included. At the top of the thermometer is the monthly goal we’re trying to hit; it’s been calculated by how we’ve been doing recently as well as past accounts of that month. When we hit our goal, we reward the office with a lunch!

We’ve found that visibly tracking our progress gets our employees working towards a common goal as a team, and also keeps everyone on the same page because our numbers are displayed on the wall for everyone to see.

3. Evaluate your marketing efforts.

If you ever feel like your business puts out a lot of money, and at the end of the day you aren’t sure how much of that is actually coming back to you, taking a closer look at your marketing strategy this fall would be a step in the right direction. You’ll never know if what you’re doing marketing wise is the best possible option for your company until you shop around a little bit.

Take a break from your current press release site and try a new one each month for a couple months. If you haven’t tried paid online advertising, give that a go, or try being a guest writer on a blog that’s prominent within your industry. Track the clicks back to your website these trials gain you, and go from there. You can learn more about freshening up your advertising plan in this post.

4. Reward hard work.

Rewarding everyone as a whole when you hit the monthly goal is great, but motivating your employees individually will really help them kick their summer slump. You don’t have to hand out raises or promotions every autumn, but definitely reward those employees who surpass their goals or put a little extra into their latest project with a simple token of gratitude that lets them know you’re noticing. Something as simple as a gift card for their favorite coffee shop or a lottery ticket is an easy, inexpensive way to say thanks for all your hard work.