With Australia Day just gone by, did you consider how to keep in contact with your customers while you were out of the office?

Every year, it’s a day full of relaxation, barbeques, and being proud of our country. But it is also a public holiday where many businesses - maybe even yours - have a day off. Considering business never truly stops on any Australia Day, we here at Telcotalk thought we’d provide you with some solutions on how to prepare your business for this national holiday in the future.


1. Record an Australia Day message on your answering machine

Because certain businesses remain open on Australia Day, people may not be sure as to whether or not yours will be. Instead of leaving your stock standard answering machine message, record one especially for Australia Day, informing your callers you’re not in for the day. Also leave details of when you’ll be back in and the opening times.


2. Divert phones

If you’re willing to take business calls on your day off, then consider diverting phones for the day. If you have a 1300 or 1800 number, you can set up specialised phones that customer calls will divert to. A good choice would be that of your business or personal mobile phone.

If you do not have a 1300 or 1800 number, you can still set up call diversion from your local business number to your mobile phone. Contact your telecommunications provider to find out how.


3. Set up an out-of-office auto-reply for emails

Much like tailoring your answering machine message, consider setting up an automatic reply to any emails informing the senders of your absence for the day and when you’ll officially be back in. Either you or your staff could set this up and apply it to all related business email addresses. Implementing this would be especially useful if you have overseas customers or clients.


4. Inform current customers of your upcoming absence

If you have a mailing list full of customers/clients and people who are interested in your company, send out an email to all of them informing them of the fact that your offices/place of business will be closed for the day. Wish them a Happy Australia Day, outline when you’ll be open again, and maybe even consider offering them a deal or special offer as a reward for their loyalty to your company.


We hope these tips have helped you put together an out-of-office plan for not only future Australia Days, but also other public holidays where your business may be closed for the day.

If you have any tips on other ways to cover your business for Australia Day and other public holidays, please share in the comments section below. From all of us here at Telcotalk, we hope you had a wonderful Australia Day!