Lesson
Preparing for November and December Sales: Why Strategy Matters More Than Bigger Discounts
By Addrian N.
As a founder building Merllou and working in business consulting, one thing I continue to emphasize is that increasing sales and improving profitability are not necessarily the same. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, 12.12, Christmas, and year-end promotions approaching, many businesses are preparing discounts, advertisements, and promotional campaigns. But I think an equally important question is: Is the business operationally and financially prepared for the additional demand? Research published in Harvard Business Review by Srinivasan et al. (2002) examined the impact of price promotions and highlighted how temporary sales increases do not necessarily produce sustainable business benefits. This reinforces something I believe founders should consider before launching major promotions. A campaign should start with a clear business objective. Here are seven areas worth reviewing. 1. Strategy: Define what the campaign should accomplish. Customer acquisition, profitability, revenue growth, and inventory optimization require different approaches. 2. Pricing: Understand how discounts affect margins and the volume required to maintain profitability. 3. Customers: Identify which customer segments are most relevant to your offer instead of relying on broad promotions. 4. Operations: Make sure your business can manage inquiries, orders, fulfillment, customer support, and unexpected increases in demand. 5. Technology: Review whether your existing tools support the customer journey or create unnecessary administrative work. 6. Analytics: Monitor conversion, acquisition costs, campaign performance, and operational bottlenecks. 7. Long-term planning: Use the results of November and December campaigns to inform your strategy for 2027. One of the reasons I am building Merllou is to help entrepreneurs and growing businesses organize essential activities without immediately needing multiple disconnected platforms. Merllou brings together websites, landing pages, sales funnels, CRM, email marketing, automation, and e-commerce. It also offers a Free Forever plan and access to business consultation. https://merllou.com/ Alongside Merllou, my consulting work focuses on strategy and planning, business operations, data analytics, AI, and practical business solutions. https://addriannicolas.com/ My takeaway: A promotion should not be evaluated only by how many customers it attracts. It should also be evaluated by how well the business converts demand into profitable sales, fulfills its commitments, and builds lasting customer relationships. For fellow founders here on Buildside, I'm curious: When preparing for a major sales campaign, what do you prioritize first: pricing, marketing, customer acquisition, or operational readiness? Reference: Srinivasan et al. (2002), Who Benefits from Price Promotions?, Harvard Business Review.
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