How do you tell customers you are closed for a holiday, vacation or storm?
Put the same message everywhere a customer might check, on the same day: your Google profile, the website, the voicemail greeting, an email auto-reply and a social post. Say when you are closed, when you reopen, and who to call if something is urgent. Google's Special hours page says to use Special hours for a closure of up to 6 days in a row, and to mark the business Temporarily closed for 7 or more days. Switch everything back the day you reopen.
Google first, in one step
On Google, set Special hours for a short closure or mark the profile Temporarily closed for a longer one; the related answer on Google changing your hours or saying you are closed covers both settings and how to fix a closed label set by mistake. One more thing from Google's holidays page: on the holidays it lists, a warning may appear on your profile telling people your hours might differ, and you can set Special hours for those dates in advance.
The message itself
Keep it to four facts: the dates you are closed, the day and time you reopen, who to call for anything urgent (or that you cannot take urgent work), and when messages left now will get a reply. For example: "We are closed from Friday the 24th through Monday the 27th. We reopen Tuesday at 8. For an emergency, call our on-call line. Messages left now get a reply Tuesday morning." Promise only a reply time you can keep.
Every place it has to go
- Your Google profile, as above.
- A short banner at the top of every page of the website, not only the home page.
- The voicemail greeting; the related answer on what a business voicemail greeting should say has the everyday version to switch back to.
- An email auto-reply. In Gmail it is the vacation responder: Gmail's help says you fill in a date range, subject and message, that it starts at 12:00 AM on the start date and ends at 11:59 PM on the end date, and that in most cases it goes to each person only the first time they write.
- One social post on the accounts you use, pinned if the platform allows.
- Any booking tool, with the closed days blocked out.
Leads that arrive while you are closed
Inquiries keep coming while you are away. Record each one with its source as usual, and make them the first task on the day you reopen, oldest first; the related answer on handling leads after hours has the routine. Reply by text only with the person's consent.
Switching it back
On reopening day, go down the same list: Google hours, the website banner, the voicemail greeting, the auto-reply (Gmail's ends on its own at the end date) and the pinned post. A closed sign left up after you reopen can cost more calls than the closure did.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, "How to set Special hours"
- Google Business Profile Help, "About holidays on Google"
- Gmail Help, "Send an automatic reply when you're out of office"
Related answers
- What should you do when Google changes your hours or says your business is closed?
- What should your business voicemail greeting say?
- How should a small business handle inquiries that arrive after hours?
Lead generation and lead tracking
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