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Meeting Demand: Staying on top through the seasons
Managing expectations is a means of communicating so that all involved have a clear understanding of what to expect and when to expect it. In this case, it's managing the expectations of your customers! From pre-planning to predicting customer behaviour, managing your customer's expectations is a great way to boost sales and build a predictable and consistent relationship with your customer base.
Preparation is key
One of the best ways that you can meet demand is to prepare properly. From deciding launch dates to prices and products needed, you need to plan even the finest of details. As you may know, it's important to thoroughly test your candles and wax melts before you plan to sell, this way you know exactly how your product performs before you sell to customers. This way if a complaint was to arise around something such as melt pools to hot throw, you’ll know your products inside out. Pre-planning everything from product prices to delivery costs will ensure you know exactly how much profit you’re making as well as how much you’ll be charging your customers and the more transparent you can be with pricing, the easier it will be to manage your customer's expectations.
Having everything you need
When it comes to candle making, it's important that you have a stockpile, especially for peak seasons. This means you’ll need to plan exactly what you need and when for. Necessities such as wax and fragrance oils should be bought in bulk, where possible, ahead of your busiest times to ensure you have everything you need to keep churning orders out. For new businesses, it can be hard to predict exactly what you need, and how much but given time you’ll start to see patterns arise in where your sales grow up and down throughout the year. A great way to get advice is to ask around. Ask other chandlers what they’ve experienced and how they have handled peak seasons in the past. Why not join our Facebook Group where our customers share hints, tips and advice around candle making and business strategy!
Don’t set expectations too high
The best way to meet demand during peak times is to ensure that you don’t set your customers expectations too high. It's vital that you’re transparent as a business, which means communicating about everything. It's better to let your customers know if something is out of stock sooner rather than later but let them know when they can expect its return rather than leaving them confused and in two minds whether to take their business elsewhere. The same goes for other aspects such as delivery. Telling your customer their parcel may take up to five days to arrive will not only keep you covered but if their items arrive early it makes your business seem super efficient, which is much better than promising next day delivery and an order failing to turn up!
It's also important to get into the mindset of your customers in terms of predicting their behaviour and expectations. If you were them, what would you want to know. Being the first to let them know about any changes that may affect them before they’ve even thought about it is a great way to not only manage their expectations but also build a trustable rapport.
Online presence
The great thing about being online is that you can tailor it to you and your business. You can use your platforms to share important updates with your customers, whether that be new shipping costs or when a product is out of stock, keeping an up to date feed is a great way to meet your client's demands. Having an online presence is also a great way to provide your customers with the information they need to know in real-time. Having a community for your customers means that you can manage expectations much simpler than word of mouth. If you have a shipping delay, new products or products on sale, sharing this information online will help your customers know exactly what to expect.
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