Welp, it's May! How are you all doing out there? Keeping your head above water? I am... I think?

I've been at this for a long time. Each year we prepare and plan for the spring boom, but despite my best efforts, May shows up with a vengeance and puts me right back in my place. While we have all been working hard for months, for most consumers, May means the official start of the season and it seems like our call volume triples! I think the best advice I can give is to learn to prioritize your tasks and ask for help when you need it! I've learned that your performance in May can dictate the success of the rest of the season so how you respond to the craziness can have lasting impact.

How quickly do you return voicemails and emails from current and prospective clients? How do you communicate service completion date expectations with recurring clients? What's your process for tracking completion of contracted recurring work? These are very reasonable questions to ask yourself and your management team. If you want to survive the spring madness, you should have quick answers to these questions. Establishing a guideline for prioritization is worth its weight. In my business, we prioritize incoming calls/emails/requests by responding to existing clients first and new leads second. Existing customers are already on the hook- the contract is signed and now all you have to do is execute to the level you've promised and send that invoice for payment. If you prioritize new leads over all else, you stand to lose money on the deals you've already made. A new lead isn't guaranteed, but a satisfied customer almost guarantees rave reviews, portfolio updates, and likely returning business. New leads are important as well, I'm just suggesting that if/when you're faced with a customer satisfaction/quality control issue vs. a new lead- investing time in the current business will pay off better in the end. Quality customer service is something that will bring in new business every single time. I don't mean to completely ignore the new lead- explain the situation at hand. Communication is key!

If you’d like to learn more about communication with clients, consider participating in one of ALCC’s monthly virtual business workshops, Client Communication: Evaluate Your Communication Systems, being held on September 2. 

Register and check out the other workshops in the series here.  

Simple actions bring huge returns- bottom line. I can see how this message can be easily pushed aside as idyllic, but I am knee deep in the muck with you. This time of year is hard and unforgiving. Keep your head up, work hard, and be true to yourself and your company's core values.  "This too shall pass," my friend.