It’s the holiday season. And that means more people are spending more at retailers across virtually every consumer category.
Overall, holiday sales in November and December have averaged about 19% of total retail sales from 2016-2020, but that figure can be higher for some retailers, according to the National Retail Federation. For most retailers, it really is the most wonderful time of the year.
However, not all businesses experience the same kind of seasonal uptick in revenue this time of year. In fact, some non-retail businesses actually see a dip in traffic over the course of late November and December. It makes sense when you consider more people are out of town, cashing in their PTO for winter trips. Then there’s that never-ending list of chores from holiday cooking, gift shopping, wrapping, cleaning, and airport pickups — not to mention still making time to wrap up that daunting list of work projects before the end of the year.
Luckily, there are ways to counter a possible holiday slowdown at your coworking space. You’ll just have to get a little creative.
To help, here are five easy ways to keep your existing members engaged and attract new ones this holiday season.
1. Offer an Escape From the In-Laws
Let’s be honest: it’s not that we don’t love time with our in-laws and our own families for that matter. It’s just that, in order to facilitate a healthy and joyous holiday celebration, it’s important to build in a little breathing room. The truth is, we all need a little time away from each other to recharge our batteries and show up as our best selves.
This is a great time to sell punch passes to people who are looking to get out of the house. Spread the word that your space is the perfect location for a little peace and quiet during the holiday season.
2. Make it Easy for Tourists to Drop in
A lot of remote workers are combining their holiday trips with a little bit of flexible work and need a secure and productive place to take a few meetings or catch up on a few emails. If your space accepts drop-ins, make sure you broadcast this on your website, social media, and via your email newsletter, for starters.
It’s also not a bad idea to let your local visitor center know. That way, you’ll position your business as the go-to flexible office space for out-of-towners in your area.
If you’re comfortable doing so, you can invite your family members from out of town to come work alongside you. If you need a little space (see #1), maybe just request they don’t sit right next to you.
3. Promote Your Space as the Holiday Party Destination
A successful restaurant wouldn’t serve seven courses of soup in the summer. They’d adapt their menu to fit the demands of their current season and maximize revenue. You should operate your coworking space with the same willingness to pivot based on the time of year.
In other words, just because fewer people might be wandering into your coworking space to wind down the calendar year, that doesn’t mean you’re boxed in. For instance, you can repurpose your space to make it attractive to companies looking for a venue to host their holiday parties. Ask around and you’ll see — there’s certainly a demand for it. You just have to position your space as the best possible solution to meet the current needs of your community.
Make a list of 10 or so of the biggest companies rooted in your community, and pitch them on holding their holiday party at your space. Be sure to include photos in your pitch so they can easily envision their event in your space.
4. Partner with Local Charities
This is a perfect time to offer your space up for toy drives, canned food collections, and more! Think of it more like an open house that happens to benefit the community: you get to show your space off to locals who may not have otherwise wandered in and a worthy charity gets to carry out more of their impactful work without spending money on a venue. Create an excellent experience for those nonprofits and charitable groups and they’re likely to recommend your business to those in their networks looking to book an event venue. This is also an outstanding way to get great feedback and testimonials to improve your future events.
Better yet — this is a perfect way to get your members connected with local charitable groups and help them deepen their ties with the community.
5. Host a Bring-A-Friend Day
We all have that friend who’s still working from home or a noisy coffee shop with no outlets simply because they’re not aware a better option exists. Ask your members to invite this person to come work at your coworking space for a day, free of charge. And if you want an especially successful turnout, incentivize the promotion for your current members with a free gift card to a local business. Make sure you stock your kitchen area with delicious coffee and treats to help entice anyone trying your space out for the day.
In the short term, it might look like you’re taking a small loss on the event, but think bigger. You’re generating new leads with minimal spend, and you’re increasing loyalty among your existing members with that small gift. This is a terrific opportunity to broaden your list of prospects. If you can get someone in your space to try it out, you’re that much closer to converting them to a full-time member.
If you want to set up a more robust version of this offer, start a referral program. Did you know Proximity now offers a special feature that makes it easy to track member referrals to your space? Any member can get a unique, tracked referral link that they can give to friends, family members, or colleagues. If a new member signs up at your space via the link, Proximity records the referral for you.
You can even give your current members a discount on their monthly membership price or free days or months if they sign up a buddy. Just remember: one of the best ways to grow your membership base is to tap your existing members.
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