Gearing Up for the Holidays with New Tech Tools
Fall has only just begun, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start thinking of the holidays ahead! In fact, now is the best time for business owners to consider new ways to keep their event companies running while taking time off to celebrate with loved ones. After all, you don’t want to worry about your inbox when there’s turkey on the table!
Since everyone tends to take time off during the holiday season, it’s the one time of year you can’t rely on your team to fill in for you. Fortunately, the right mix of tech tools can put the integral parts of your business on autopilot so everyone can step away and enjoy the festivities with their loved ones.
Here are the key areas to optimize before the holiday season:
Invoicing
It doesn’t matter whether you’re at your desk or sleeping off a food coma. You still need to get paid on time! With client invoicing software, you can set it and forget it before you even put up an out-of-office message. Imagine getting paid while snoozing on the couch!
Recurring payments keep clients on a consistent schedule, so they always know when to expect an invoice. And with automated payment reminders, you don’t have to think about follow-ups while you’re logged out of your inbox. Let technology do it all for you!
Marketing
Your marketing efforts can’t go silent during the holidays; otherwise, you could miss out on a lot of new business opportunities! But if the idea of sneaking in a social media post between flights or waking up early to knock out a blog post sounds less than appealing, the good news is that you don’t need to take marketing homework home!
Instead, plan your content strategy and bulk schedule everything ahead of time. While you can schedule blog posts right from your website, consider using a social media scheduler like Planoly to keep your feed active. Knowing your marketing is on autopilot ensures you can celebrate the holidays without racking your brain for new content.
Contracts
Business doesn’t stop, even when you’re indulging in eggnog and peppermint cocoa. But if you’re waiting for a hot lead to sign a contract, you don’t need to stand idle by the phone! Streamlined contracts and automated reminder emails keep the conversation going, even when you’re on vacation.
With contract software, you can step back into work with a fresh perspective and a stack of contracts to countersign. Or, if you pick a mobile-friendly platform, countersign on the go and get excited to hit the ground running when you’re back in the office!
Running an event business involves many moving parts, but that doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice all of your personal time! A few simple updates to your internal processes can make all the difference for you and your team as you prepare for the holiday season.
Elizabeth Sheils is the co-founder of Rock Paper Coin, the first software platform to bring together wedding planners, couples, and vendors into one system for managing and paying contracts and invoices. Elizabeth is also a lead wedding planner with award-winning firm Bridal Bliss, where she manages the Seattle team. In addition to recognition by Special Events in its Top 25 Event Pros to Watch series, she also earned a spot in The BizBash 500 for 2021.