How do you handle taking time off for the holidays? How do you alert customers of changing hours/availability?

At Cantle Tech, we truly believe in family first, and not just over the holidays. We have layered access for our customers so we can ensure that SOMEONE is available to respond depending on the urgency, but I have found that your customers respect you more when you share their values... and family first is a huge one. When we do that for our team, they are more willing to hop on to support a customer when needed, even during off hours if it is necessary.

Something we do to make this work better for us (all the time, not just holidays) is to be very efficient in our interface so that our clients aren't dependent upon us for simple things, like passwords, scheduling sessions with us, etc. Also be sure to use social media for the purpose for which it was developed.... alerting your customers to any changes for the holidays. If you are able, put a notice on your website. Any clients that you would normally be interfacing with heavily over the timeframe might need a direct communication of any changes. It's all about managing expectations and less about whether or not you take time off.

So spend the time with your family and if your clients object, they likely have unrealistic expectations that will bleed into your work with them and it will likely not be a client you would like to keep anyhow.

I believe we have the advantage with the holidays, as people can order online. So, if someone thinks of something in the middle of the night, they can place the order online. However, with the holiday rush, we would like orders in by December 15th in order to have prompt delivery by December 25th. Right now, we have a 15% off special with a Promo Code at Checkout of Black15 and Joy15 at this website: http://www.extraspecialbaskets.labellabaskets.com

We at TGM CLEANING. Believe in family comes first. We treat our clients like family and understand we all need holidays. We give our clients at least two weeks to a month notice of our holidays during the summer. So they can plan as well.

Our clients appreciate the notice and we work together as a team to coordinate schedules.. all works well. And all is happyy.

My business is by appointment only. I don't have set office hours because people don't just drop in. This particular question doesn't apply to me. I did, however, work in a business where this was an issue. Communication in all forms is a must so customers feel they are included and in the know. Phone messages that say the seasonal hours, notices on the door, etc are all important.

We are only closed Monday December 25th & Monday January 1st. We inform our customers and employees of our holiday hours in a few subtle ways. We post our holiday hours on a sign on our front door, as well as our "Contact Us" page on our website. We will also add our holiday hours with a little seasonal flare on our signature on Outlook.

We have a full time and attendance workforce management system that will alert supervisors is employees who cannot work or change their schedule.

Upon the supervisor seeing the change he had options lists to replace the employee with someone else who can work for them and then alert the customer if need be

Well Grace Gallery is a seasonal operation. I take every Dec, Jan and Feb off. I take this time off to make adjustments to the art gallery and use it as a time to contact current artists to see if they may want to switch some art to other pieces/works. I also use it to connect to other artists and authors to schedule starting in March to November. I work with other artists to book dates and times they are able to work with. I also use this time to do major renovations on my building and any upkeep it may need. In this time I will be replacing the wood floor with a new wood floor and painting one half of the gallery and painting the stairs I just had put in.

Working in the music industry the clock never stops. So I work through the holidays as my co-workers do as well.

Our clients seem to completely understand about vacations, the great importance of holidays and family time. They also respect holidays and family time. We are predominately a 3 season, slam busy operation. Although we still have business in the winter, its a much slower pace. AND, most of our clients have been with us for many, many years. There are not TOO many true emergencies for us. I have had to gently remind some of the more spoiled clients, that our family time is just as important as their family time. They usually realize that no amount of yelling, whining, thinking they are the center of the universe and pretending something is an emergency (when they KNOW it's not) and are more reasonable. It's so much easier to make crystal clear boundaries from the beginning. I mean, clients train us and we train them. In my business, its not such a big deal. For employees, we all ALSO respect each others vacations and holiday time; family is VERY important to our operation and atmosphere.

Any change in hours I do through individual texts to my clients here at For Paws Pet Sitting. And to serve them better, I don't change my holiday hours: I worked both Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day for no additional charge. This is a little perk for my customers, and those who need the service appreciate it.