You've done your homework and planned a solid advertising campaign. But, says Elaine Fogel, you need to be sure you're ready for its success. Is your small business really prepared to handle the surge in volume you're hoping for? Her advice:

Plan for the best-case scenario. If a big response has the potential to overwhelm your staff, hire temporary workers or recruit friends and family to help out. "It's always better to be over-prepared and hire too many people in the short term than to miss out on sound business leads," claims Fogel.

Educate the entire team. Anyone at your company who answers the phone or responds to customer email needs to know about the promotion. Share your objectives and how to handle anticipated questions. Everyone should be prepared to pinch-hit if salespeople are overwhelmed.

Tell the truth. Follow the old maxim of under-promising and over-delivering by giving accurate information about product availability and wait times. Record follow-up requests in a database. Try to be as speedy as possible, but never make an appointment you can't keep.

The Po!nt: "It's a balancing act to have the accurate number of staff and resources to handle increased sales while ensuring that customers have a positive brand experience at every touch point," writes Fogel.

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