It’s not just tour operators and ski resorts that are in season. Even beauty salons and barbershops have swings: before graduation and New Year’s Eve, artists have all their days booked by the hour, and after the holidays there is a lull. There are several ways to help smooth out the gaps without customers and establish an even flow of orders.

Consider why it will be beneficial for customers to contact you in the off-season
To get people to buy your products and services out of season, create added value that will encourage customers to buy. The easiest option is to offer a discount. Here are ideas for different businesses:

Manufacturer of garden furniture, which people are more likely to buy in the spring and summer. You can discount orders in the fall or winter. And as a bonus, offer to keep finished products in stock until the start of the dacha season.
A company to build frame houses. Book wood for customers in the fall and winter at discounted prices. If your technology allows you to build year-round, talk about it in the low season, too.
Holiday agency. Gather a customer base in the summer during wedding season or in the winter when New Year’s Eve corporate events are underway. Then offer them discounted events for spring or fall.

Offer products and services for the off-season
If a business is idle, you can come up with new services or add items that customers need at any time of year. Ideas for different businesses:

Bike rentals. Rent out skates, skis and snowboards in the winter. Or start a regular maintenance service for cyclists who ride even when it gets cold.
Guide. Give tours of the city in the summer for tourists. And in the off-season, invite locals to see unusual locations: ride the streetcar routes and hear about their history or walk through the most mystical buildings and learn their legends.
Car Service Stations. Offer customers seasonal tire storage after they replace their tires. That way people won’t have to keep them in the storage room or garage.

Run ads in advance
To keep employees from sitting idle during the off-season, collect orders for that period before it even arrives. Come up with promotions and specials and promote them.

Run ads on social media and search engines a couple of weeks or months before demand starts to drop. That way, people who are looking for your products or services online will see a good deal and come back. And to stimulate demand during the low season, you can offer interesting terms if the customer comes to you after a while.

Write a script for salespeople to remember to offer guests a discount on a low season visit. Clients who come in for manicures and haircuts before the New Year’s holidays can be signed up for a repeat service with a small discount in mid- or late January.

Work on keeping customers coming back.
During the season, people can come to you without additional advertising. But during periods of low demand, you have to invest in promotion and compete with other companies. If there’s a line of customers at flower stores on March 8, then on ordinary days people won’t order in advance and will just buy flowers at the nearest store.

To create a steady demand, make it more convenient or more profitable for customers to use your services. Run a loyalty program for regular customers or arrange a quick delivery anywhere in the city. Then people will be more likely to choose your store over a shop down the road. Read more about how to encourage customers to come back to you again in our article.

What else you can do to get customers back:

• Keep a customer database. This will help you understand the last time the person was at your place and suggest when they might need your services again. If the customer ordered their bike in the spring, they may need it in the middle of the bike season when the bike has done some miles. Send the customer a message or email and invite them to sign up for the service at a discount.
• Ask for guests’ opinions and study their feedback. This way you’ll know what visitors like and what is worth improving. If you work well with feedback and correct mistakes, you can turn unsatisfied customers into loyal ones and attract new people.
• Sometimes there are a lot of bad reviews on a company’s profile. This is normal – customers are more likely to share negative impressions than praise the company.