Smart Tips to Help Your Business Thrive & Prosper this Holiday Season

Stories of the Grove

Smart Tips to Help Your Business Thrive & Prosper this Holiday Season

Free GMCVB Trainings

Is your team hired up, fired up, and ready for the holiday shopping rush? To be sure, here’s a great way for your employees, new and old, to get set to offer the best customer-service ambassadors in town! The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) offers a free three-hour customer service training, called “Miami Begins With Me” as a way for BID members and your designated employees to sharpen skills and build awareness of the needs of guests and tourists who visit our Downtown District. Check out the GMCVB website and this short GMCVB video for a quick overview.

Typically offered once a month at various locales around the county, the seminar is geared toward tourism and hospitality professionals, but honestly, it’s a real eye opener for anyone who wants to attend. Next up is a segment entitled “LGBTQ Sensitivity & Awareness Training” that focuses on how to offer personalized ways to engage with your LGBTQ customers. Register now for this powerful training that takes place on Nov. 9 at the AC Hotel on Miami Beach. And we’ll keep you posted on other offerings coming your way in the new year!

Get Featured in the Grovite

Now here’s a smart and easy tip: Get featured in the BID’s Grovite newsletter! Is your business offering seasonal specials or promoting amazing gift ideas? The BID Marketing team would love to know more about your upcoming holiday plans. So please reach out to Kristell@grovebid.com to discover the various ways we can help get the word out about your business.

Take Advantage of Seasonal Events

We’re excited about the amazing seasonal events here in the Business District. So, get ready leverage the heavy incoming foot traffic these public events generate. Will your store be open on Dec. 3 for the Grove Heritage Holiday Celebration on Commodore? How about getting creative for the Pinta Art Fair during Miami Art Week? And don’t forget the Biscayne Bay Celebration on Dec. 9. For water lovers, this could be a great way to lure in your seafaring customers. Check out the CoconutGrove.com events calendar and get inspired. There are a lot of fun things happening in the Grove!

Pump Up the Volume on Your Events!

And don’t forget to post your own events on the BID calendar, that is public events that you are hosting. One of the best ways to amplify your invitations is right at your fingertips – on the CoconutGrove.com calendar. Here’s a cool fact: The BID calendar is the most visited location on our website. And this is the source from which our Marketing Team curates the top five best events to be featured in the Grovite newsletter, and on our social media, too. Such a deal!

Keeping Holiday Hours are Key

Did you know that the peak hours for foot traffic in Coconut Grove are from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.? Is your venue open for extended holiday hours? Optimize your holiday sales and take advantage of the visitors who are enjoying evenings in the Grove.

The Power of Holiday Window Displays

Why let Fifth Avenue get all of the attention? We have so many creative people right here in Coconut Grove. What if you offered an opportunity for a local artist to “take over” your window and design a display that will get people’s attention?

The BID’s holiday theme this year is “Grove Heritage Holiday,” featuring all of the locations that come up with show-stopping ways to celebrate our 150th anniversary. This initiative could be even draw news media attention – because who doesn’t love a bit of nostalgia? And we will be heavily promoting and featuring the Windows of the Grove Heritage Holidays via our social media channels as well as to local media outlets. Let’s give them something to talk about!

What’s Your Secret Holiday Sauce

Make shopping easy – by sharing gift ideas, hosting a festive new product launch, or creating an “Advent calendar” of deals that will pique the curiosity of your customers and stimulate sales. Who doesn’t like to discover a special surprise behind the door each day?

Time for a Win-Win Sweepstakes

“Shop Coconut Grove 2 Win” is back after a super successful spring campaign – and we will be heavily promoting the initiative for the next several weeks. Encourage your customers to join the contest for a chance to win a weekly prize drawing. If your customer is randomly selected, then your business will also win! This way, everybody wins. What a great way to show our love for our local Coconut Grove businesses!

Barbershop Quartets & Musical Entertainment

What’s more enchanting than the twinkling tree-lined sidewalks of Coconut Grove? Answer is: the refrains of the barbershop quartet and musical talent situated throughout the Grove. This is a time of joy and celebration, and people will be visiting our area with their families to take it all in. Invite your friends and family – and your favorite customers – to enjoy a walk down memory lane. What can you do to make sure they leave having made memories of a lifetime?

VIP Holiday Events & Local Business Lunches

Thank your best customers with a special holiday event that celebrates their loyalty to your shop or restaurant. Offer a champagne toast or a hot tropical toddy and light bites in a show of gratitude for being valued customers. Sometimes the smallest gesture makes the biggest difference. Few people never forget gratitude – and we have a lot to be thankful for!

Ideas? Share Them Loud & Proud

We look forward to any and all ideas that offer ways we can use to help the business thrive. We have quite a few surprises in the works and look forward to welcoming the tens of thousands of holiday shoppers and visitors to our district this holiday season.

MENU

Stories of the Grove