There is a moment in December when business owners suddenly realise Christmas is no longer a tiny sparkle on the horizon. It is racing towards us like a reindeer with questionable spatial awareness. Up until then, everything feels manageable and calm. Then out of nowhere, customers want answers, suppliers want sign-offs, and everyone seems convinced their job must be finished before anyone dares eat a pig in blanket.
The reality is that most businesses want exactly the same thing at this time of year. A proper break. A chance to switch off for a few days, eat too much, and enjoy a bit of family chaos without their work phone buzzing like a faulty fairy light. At the same time, nobody wants customers feeling ignored or left in the dark. So, the trick is to plan ahead and make sure your phone system continues doing the polite, sensible work of keeping people informed while you are somewhere arguing about the rules of Monopoly.
The first step is deciding how open you actually are over Christmas. Plenty of companies close completely between Christmas and New Year. Some keep a very small team on standby for genuinely urgent issues. Others try to keep going as normal, right up until the exact moment everyone collectively runs out of energy. There is no single correct answer here. What matters is clarity. If a customer really needs help while you are off, they should know how to get it and when to expect a response.
Next, think about communication. We have all been on the receiving end of mixed messages during the holidays. A website that says one thing, an email footer that says another, and a phone that rings into silence. It creates worry and confusion. A better approach is to provide a simple, consistent message across every place a customer might look. Your phone system plays a huge part in this. It can give customers the information they need immediately rather than sending them off on a scavenger hunt for your Christmas hours.
That brings us to one of the most important jobs. Updating your phone messages. This is one of those tasks that is incredibly easy to forget until your first customer calls and hears a recording about your “summer operating hours”. A quick refresh of your greeting or voicemail can make a big difference to how supported people feel. You do not need sleigh bells or an impression of Father Christmas. Just a friendly message explaining when you are back and how to get urgent help in the meantime. Kindness goes a long way in December.
There is one more little thing that will save a lot of stress later. Test everything. If calls are being forwarded to someone working from home, check that it actually rings their phone. Make sure voicemail can still be accessed from outside the office. Confirm the routing you set up last year is still correct and not pointing to a number nobody has used since lockdown. As one of our engineers said recently, a Christmas miracle is lovely, but your phone system should not require one.
Doing these things matters because customers remember how they are treated when you are not available. A smooth festive plan shows that your business still cares even when the office lights are off and half the team is asleep watching a Christmas film. It protects your reputation, and it allows your team to enjoy their break without the guilt of checking their phone every ten minutes just in case.
At Excel Communications, we can help you with all of this. We can advise on the best approach for your business, update your phone system, write the scripts for your seasonal messages, and make sure everything works perfectly before you log off for the year. The earlier you send us your changes, the sooner you can settle into holiday mode without worrying that a customer will be left hanging.
If you want to get things sorted, give us a call on 0800 711 7111 or drop us a message online and we will take care of it for you. Just think of it as a small gift you give yourself to avoid unnecessary stress and to start the new year feeling organised rather than overwhelmed.
