6 Business Lessons from Father Christmas

Christmas is nearly here and in workplaces up and down the country we're either starting to relax because we get a week or so to celebrate with our families away from the stress of work, or we're busier than ever going through our peak trading period and hoping for a couple of days to take a breather.

Christmas means many things to many people but if people think that they're busy they want to have a word with Father Christmas, he has his busiest day of the year approaching.

As we're all professionals on this platform it's interesting to think about the business lessons that we can learn from Father Christmas and this season of festivities.

1. Stand Out

As every organisation knows, brand is everything, closely followed by marketing. So you want to make sure that your brand is recognised amongst the potentially thousands of other companies that do the same thing as you.

Father Christmas has cornered the market in this respect. He has arguably one of the most recognised brands in the world.

Everyone knows the red suit with the mop of white hair and the straggly white beard belongs to Father Christmas.

What is it about your businesses branding that makes it instantly recognisable and makes it stand out from the crowd?

You need to have something – a colour, a logo, even a uniform – that you can claim as your own and that people will immediately recognise as yours. Then you can be constantly visible without even being there personally.

2. Keep the promises you make

As the song goes “Santa Claus is coming to Town…”

You run down the stairs on Christmas morning and the presents…aren’t there. You’re confused, angry and disappointed.

Promises were made – and broken. You start to dislike and distrust Father Christmas.

Father Christmas doesn’t make this mistake and nor should you.  

If you don’t deliver as promised, your marketing isn’t going to help you. So make sure you do what you promise to do. Even if it’s you not directly making that final mile delivery, you will get the blame as the supplier, the retailer, or the name on the box so ensure that everyone you work with is singing from the same hymn sheet!

3. Create a system and automate as much as possible

Father Christmas doesn’t actually do most of the work. 

For about four days of the year he’s on top of it, but for the rest of it he’s relaxing. How? He has representatives in every shopping centre drumming up the crowds, Mums and Dads playing their part, and the Elves making and packing. He has clear systems in place that run without his direct input.

Make it your mission to systemise and automate parts of your business. Hire a hardworking team to make you look good (your elves), create a great delivery process (your reindeer), run repeatable self-promotion events (shopping centre representatives), and create autonomous groups that can manage things locally (the parents).  

On top of all of this think about areas of your business that are monotonous, transactional and happen routinely and understand how you can automate these areas of work so that you can focus on the more interesting, value adding elements that make your business special.

4. Create customer loyalty

Nobody tops Father Christmas for customer loyalty. He certainly picked a large market when be decided to embark on his annual journey. There are approximately 2.2 billion customers in the world. And even though not every child believes in Santa, one estimate was at 1 in 5, that’s still a large market that any business would love to have.

But, it’s not just a large market that floats Father Christmas’ sleigh. He effectively segments his customers between who's naughty and nice. What makes this segmentation so successful is it’s simplicity. If you want to be bad, Father Christmas isn’t going to waste his time on bringing you the toy that you’ve dreamed about all year.

As for the children who make the "nice'' list, Father Christmas takes the time to listen to them. Whether it’s a bike, game system or puppy, Santa listens to each and every one of his customers and delivers what each one wants on Christmas Eve.

To become a successful business you need to have a large, targeted market that can support your organisation. You should segment your customers so that you can make your loyal customers your first priority and you should always listen to the wants and needs of your customers.

As CD Baby founder Derek Sivers once said, “The single most important thing is to make people happy. If you are making people happy, as a side effect, they will be happy to open up their wallets and pay you.” And, Father Christmas, has certainly made his customers happy over the years.

5. Be ready for anything

There’s talk of recession, Brexit is on the way, democracy is falling down around us...

Even turbulent economic times can’t stop Father Christmas - not even in 2019!

While children may not receive as many gifts as they would like, Father Christmas is still able to give them a present when they wake-up in the morning. It’s the magic of Father Christmas that keeps a smile on our face. Father Christmas is a necessary and vital part of the festive season and he doesn’t have to rely on huge marketing budgets. He’s willing to cutback on the number of presents he delivers when times get tough.

Preparing your business for the worst of economic times is a challenge, but if you want to prevent the economy from impacting your business, you should focus on tightening your budget so that you don’t spend money on items that aren’t needed. You can also embark on a creative guerrilla marketing campaign - just like Father Christmas who doesn’t have to pay for all the free advertising that he is given during the festive season.

6. Build a team that stays for the long term

As we’ve already touched on, Father Christmas didn’t become such a legend on his own. He has a skilled and talented team backing him. There are the elves making the toys. There are the reindeer pulling his sleigh.  

Father Christmas, like all successful managers and business owners, surrounds himself with the right individuals to make his operation run smoothly. He can motivate and encourage where needed. He can also spot issues before they become issues and ensure that the right people are in place to ensure one present that’s gone astray doesn’t become a whole sack.  

He has a knack for using the unique talents of specific team members -- we all know the story of Rudolph. Without his helpers, there’s no way that Father Christmas could create and manage such an efficient business.

And, he also shows appreciation for his team members. He’s known to share his milk, sherry, mince pies, cookies, and carrots with all the reindeer while making his legendary global journey.

As a manager or a business owner, some days it may feel like the weight or the world rests on your shoulders and this can cause productivity and morale to reduce. Having the right team in place ensures that you can share the burden, be more productive and ensure that your department or business is as good as it can be.

7. Take a break (bonus tip!)

After spending much of the year preparing and delivering presents to children all over the world in just one night, Father Christmas takes a much deserved break to recoup and recharge. Don’t be surprised if you spot him surfing or relaxing on the beach and spending some quality time with Mrs Christmas following the big event. The man works hard. He deserves a much-needed break from his workshop at the North Pole.

Ensure that you take a break this festive season. Without taking some take off, you aren’t giving your body and brain time to recharge. Taking a break can also help you become more inspired and discover new perspectives on problems that have been blocking you from success.

We’ve heard from Father Christmas on his lessons, but what would you add?

Here’s wishing that you and your families all have a fantastic Christmas, and remember to take a break!

Other articles in the #FestiveFinance series:

#FestiveFinance

#FinanceFundamentals

Robin Kiziak is an experienced finance manager with over 10 years experience in the distribution/logistics and retail industries