Or is there? This is the time of the year when many of my clients complain to me of that summer business slump, with school out, the weather hot, vacations in full swing and gas prices rising.

But the summer slump has more to do with what goes on in your business throughout the other times of the year, before the summer season hits. How you build and maintain your customer base during busy times can help get you through lean times. So here are some tips.

 

Actively Promote Your Business Throughout the Year

Maintain your Google My Business (map) listing, get reviews, run promotions, optimize and update your website with blog posts, use paid search and other targeted advertising both on and off line. All of these activities will give you a broader customer base to work from. Look at it this way, if your monthly customer interactions are 1,000 and you see a summer slump of 20 percent, you’re down to a still healthy 800 customers. If your monthly interactions are a borderline 500 and you slump to 400, you could be in for some hurt. Plus, the bigger base gives you more people to market to during the summer off-season, which brings me to my next point.

 

Build a Customer Base to Market to During the Summer

They may have bought and engaged with you or they may have been window shopping. If you’re a provider of services, they may have called during your busiest times and you weren’t able to accommodate them. All of these people can be a powerful pool to re-market to when things get slow. Get their contact information and interests and reach out to them with targeted offers, reward programs, insider deals and more,

 

Make the Summertime Special

Do things during the summer you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Create a summer-themed event. Hold an open house. Conduct a seminar. Stage a customer appreciation day.

All of these tactics can help ward off the summer time blues. As the song goes: “My Mom and Poppa told me you’ve got to earn some money…”