Tomorrow is the National Day holiday. The factory will stop production for a holiday from October 1st to 8th, but overseas buyers will not leave work and inquiries will not stop. In the past, every year after the Golden Week, factories would repeat the offer with the same regret:There was no handover before the festival, no one came back during the festival, and remedial classes were being made up for two weeks after the festival.This article gives a three-stage list before, during and after the holidays. By following this, the loss of business during the holidays can be reduced to close to zero.
1. Last 24 hours before the festival: 6 things must be closed
- Check the goods in transit with the customs cut-off time.A large number of shipping companies were empty before and after the long holiday (about 77 voyages on the main route were cancelled from mid-September to mid-October). The customs clearance and interception and release times on the SO were confirmed one by one for the booked cargo. Orders later than September 30 were confirmed in writing with the freight forwarder. The shipping schedule was confirmed in writing.
- Send a holiday notice to all current customers.Write down the start and end of the holiday, the first working day after the holiday, emergency contact person and alternative contact information, and attach your WeChat/WhatsApp. The purpose of this email is to let you know who to turn to when encountering problems in the customer section, rather than default that you have disappeared.
- Set up automatic reply to inquiries.Foreign trade mailbox, independent station form, and B2B platform messages are uniformly set for automatic reply: explain the holidays, give emergency contact information, and promise to reply within 24 hours after the festival. Don't just write "We are on holiday" in the automatic reply and then disappear. Give the customer a guide for action.
- The order delivery date is repeated.For all goods to be delivered after the holiday, the production and inspection time will be reversed; if there is a risk of delay, it is much more decent to inform the customer now and give the plan than to explain when the customer urges the goods after the holiday.
- Collection and document closing.Remind the final payment that can be collected before the festival, and check clearly the L/C submission and customs declaration documents-banks and freight forwarders also have holidays during holidays, and document problems are delayed until after the festival will affect the delivery time.
- Arrange the duty schedule during the festival.At least one business person is designated to rotate, covering the 2-hour online time period in Europe and the United States, and the duty arrangements are written into the contact information left to the customer in the holiday notice letter.
2. 7-day long holiday: acceptance of inquiries and customer maintenance
The goal in the festival is not to get a deal done, butDon't let any inquiry go cold。Data shows that during the Golden Week, the volume of B2B inquiries will drop seasonally, but the purchasing plans of European and American buyers will advance as usual. If the response speed is slower by one day during the holiday, there will be an increased risk of being intercepted by their peers after the holiday.
- Enquiries are responded in a hierarchical manner.The on-duty personnel have two fixed hours every day (it is recommended to 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., which covers Asian buyers at night and European and American buyers during day) to centrally handle inquiries: priority replies from old customers and specific product models, and general inquiries are given to standard information packages.
- Prepare a "holiday kit".Pack product catalogs, quotation forms, test reports, and company videos into a link or PDF, and send them with one click when you receive general inquiries. We do not pursue in-depth communication during the festival. Let customers get complete information first and follow up after the festival.
- Social media keeps updates but does not push hard.During the holidays, you can send factory holiday notices, real shots of production lines, and festive atmosphere content to keep your account active. The frequency of AI and search engines grabbing web pages is not affected by holidays. If you have an inquiry entry on independent websites, remember to check whether the form is submitted normally.
- Keep an eye on the abnormal situation in transit.The long holiday coincides with the autumn typhoon season, and the average waiting time for Shanghai and Ningbo ports has been significantly prolonged due to weather conditions recently. The personnel on duty check the shipping schedule every day and notify customers in advance if there are signs of delays.
3. The first week after the festival: remedial sprint
- The backlog of inquiries is cleared within 48 hours.On the morning of the first day after the festival, we will take stock of all unprocessed inquiries during the holiday, sorted them according to "old customers-specific needs-general inquiries", and all substantive replies will be given within 48 hours. When replying, first respond to the customer's questions during the holiday and add new information. Don't just use "Sorry for late reply" to finish.
- Grab the cabin window after the festival.The first to second weeks after the festival is the peak of shipping space: goods that were missed before the festival and orders that had been backlog during the festival are released in a concentrated manner, and the space on the U.S. line is tight. If you can't book cabins before the festival, book them on the day you resume work. Don't wait until production is finished before looking for a ship.
- Customer return visits are done in layers.Those who made inquiries during the holidays but did not have an in-depth chat will follow up by phone or via video after the holidays; if the price is undecided before the holidays, they will use the latest exchange rate and freight rate to re-calculate and take the initiative to quote the updated version, giving customers a reason to sit down again.
- Review holiday data.Count the number of holiday inquiries, source channels, and on-duty response time to determine which channel is still valid during the holidays-this review directly determines how to allocate on-duty investment for next year's Golden Week.
4. One-page holiday duty list (can be applied directly)
| period | action | person in charge |
|---|---|---|
| Daily 08:00-09:00 | Handle Asian time zone inquiries and check shipping schedule trends | Rotation Business A |
| 20:00-22:00 daily | Handle inquiries and respond to urgent matters in European and American time zones | Rotation Business B |
| Every two days during the festival | Social media posted 1 article, checking that the independent station form is normal | operation |
| Morning of the first day after the festival | Check all backlog inquiries and sort them | the competent business |
| Days 1-3 after the festival | Reply to all backlog inquiries and make up booking space | All business |
| The fifth day after the festival | Holiday data review meeting | the competent business |
common problems
1. When receiving inquiries from major customers during the holidays, what depth should the person on duty talk about?
There are only three things to do during the festival: confirm requirements, send complete information, and agree on a post-holiday communication time. Don't make decisions during the holidays when it comes to price authorization and delivery commitments-the information on the personnel on duty is incomplete and it is easy to make promises with different calibers. Giving customers a clear "I will give you a complete plan on the morning of X month after the holidays" is an additional item.
2. Will automatic replies make customers feel unprofessional??
Writing in a standardized manner is an additional item. The automatic holiday reply with complete elements (start and end dates, emergency contacts, response commitments) sends the message "This company has management." Don't write "If it's urgent, please call my mobile phone at any time" without arranging for someone to answer it. You must keep your promise.
3. When I came back after the festival, I found that the inquiry had been picked up by my colleagues. Is there still hope??
Yes. First analyze the conditions that the other party may give (price, delivery period, payment method), and then start from the differences: supply stability, certification qualifications, and similar customer cases are all the starting points for turning around after the holiday. Golden Week is a common holiday for the whole industry. Overseas buyers have certain expectations for reply delay, and follow-up within 48 hours is still competitive.
--Qihang AI Foreign Trade Research Institute·Let China Intelligent Manufacturing Set sail to the sea| Foreign trade customer consultation: 180-0327-6609
