Are you amazed and a little dazed after this past weekend’s events?  So many of our clients reached out to include us in celebrating their BEST HOLIDAY SALES WEEKEND EVER!

The reason?  The pre-planning.

Funny thing about Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Secondhand Sunday and Cyber Monday…they come around every single year.  Shocking, isn’t it?  I know!

For many store owners, it kinda just sneaks up on them because they are so busy in the day-to-day grind, and all of sudden they look up and it’s here.  They aren’t planning.  They aren’t getting ahead of the game.  They aren’t thinking about how to have fun.

Those owners that planned this year using our tools and our Make It Happen workshop were astounded at their results when they looked at their numbers at the end of each day. 

But here’s the deal…it doesn’t stop there.  You absolutely have to follow through and finish it off.  And that means an after-action report.  It’s answering questions while it’s all still fresh in your mind rather than thinking “I’ll remember that for next year”. 

If you stop to create a promotions binder for the year, you’ll always have a plan and a place to remember all those little things you know you’ll forget between this event and next year’s.  Here’s what you need to do:

Use our After Action Report or grab a piece of paper and write down the name of the event and date up top.  Then answer these questions.  (If you can do this with your entire team, it makes it even better, because our employees are the eyes and ears of the store.) 

• What worked well?
• What should be changed?
• What should be added for next year’s event?
• What were some lessons learned?
  • Were the team members in the right role – did I use their strengths?
  • What supplies were needed/not needed?
  • Did we have enough social media presence?
• Would I do this event again?
• Would this type of event/promo work for another time of year?

As you go through the year, do this for each promotional event you have (big or small) and write them in the calendar for the next year if they were a success.  That way, you’ve got a huge head start on planning for an AHmazing year!