Is this the last taboo?

As a toy wholesaler we are not the most obvious choice to take on taboos but I want to get something out in the open.

Last month, May 2012, we had a really quiet month. It was so quiet one week that we actually asked BT to check our telephone line was ok.

There are many reasons this could have happened, Jubilee, half term, recession, but what it meant to us was that sales were well down on the previous month.

I am not telling you this to gain sympathy or get an order, but because I think its important that we acknowledge that there are going to be times when business is scarce, especially now as this recession drags on.

This does not mean that your product or shop is flawed in some way and the last thing to do is to take emergency measures such as half price sales. My immediate reaction when I received an email from another wholesaler announcing 50% off everything in their range was that they were on their way out which is definitely not the message you want to give out!

Having a quiet month turned out to be really positive for us. We finished work on a potential new range which we had orginally sort of planned in for Jan 2013. The reaction we got at Pulse was so positive that we are pulling it forward to Sept 2012.

We also had a good look at our sales and marketing plan. It turns out that we are only communicating with people who have approached us either via the website or at a trade show. If you haven't seen us then we're not talking to you which I don't think qualifies as the best marketing strategy I've come across! In addition 90% of our communication is digital via the website, social networks or email. Definitely time to look at other ways of talking to people about new ranges etc.

So during May we identified opportunities with both marketing and product ranges which we think will have a huge impact on our autumn sales.

Unless you are very new then having a quiet month shouldn't be a real problem. Infact its a really positive thing as it will gives us all a chance to work on our businesses rather than in them.

We can't be busy all the time but we can treat this as a positive thing rather than pinning on a smile and undermining profit margin and brand values in order to create sales. 

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