Some Not-So-Obvious Ways to Get Through the Tough Holiday Season Ahead

2. Be nimble. It’s too late to change your mail plan, but what can you influence? Skunk works — an ad hoc team assembled to accomplish a specific project, which has the connotation of not being part of bureaucracy and, thus, being able to get things done quickly and effectively — and cross-functional teams of marketers, merchandisers and customer service reps can identify key opportunities to improve your holiday sales through pay per click, Web site changes and call center opportunities.