The Customer Touchpoint

• Rewards/incentives. Strategies to try include: pay for performance, incentive-based pay, longevity rewards, raffles and prize drawings, and celebrations such as pizza parties to keep the work environment fun. Surprises and contests all aid in retention.

Best Practices for Handling Seasonal Spikes

Almost every catalog has some degree of seasonality associated with its business. Some seasonal trends are more severe than others, with some extreme cases seeing more than 75 percent of their annual order volume coming in an eight-week period. To address this spike in staffing requirements, utilize some creative thinking and management practices. The following ideas come from catalogers who have faced this issue in their businesses: