Relaunching your Spirit Box in Fall 2020:
Time to Create a Plan
Planning for a new year
As our world adjusts to Coronavirus, the school year this fall is already going to be different. Change can be scary but take this time to turn this challenge into an opportunity. Will how you run your Spirit Box need to be adjusted if the school schedule is altered next year? Absolutely. Does that mean it’s going to be a problem? Only if you let it…
During the next few months, it is important for your team to come up with a plan for relaunching your Spirit Box next school year. Things to think about when planning: the new school schedule your district puts in place, keeping your customers safe, marketing your Spirit Box, and selling products that benefit your customers during this time.
Pivoting with uncontrollable circumstances
Many schools are considering changing the traditional school day schedule. There are many ideas for this. Whatever your district decides, it is important you explore to have a plan in place for when school starts up.
New school schedule
Create a new team schedule: If students are meeting on different days or are working from home, it is important to create a new schedule for your team. Who will be stocking the box? How will you meet? (Zoom, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, etc.)
Test new strategies and analyze results
As a business owner, it’s important to test new strategies and take calculated risks on how you package products and market them to your customers. Not everything will work and that’s ok. Test your strategies then analyze how they did to see whether it is worth keeping the new approach.
Example: Help parents and kids avoid going to the store. Create school supplies packs in the machine for each grade level. Send a note home with students in each class saying the Spirit Box will have the supplies they need!
Safety
With no vaccine currently available, it is our job as businesses to help keep our customers safe. A few ways you can do this:
Cleaning station
Set up a cleaning station next to your Spirit Box. Have a box of wipes with a sign that asks customers to wipe down the box before and after each use. Attach hand sanitizer to the machine for individuals to use after they make their purchases. Mark the ground with a safe social distancing line that is six feet away from the machine for other customers to wait.
Safety products: school masks, sanitizer, etc.
Provide products your customer’s need. You could stock the machine with masks that are in school colors or have the school mascot on them. Stock the machine with gloves, hand sanitizer, wipes, and other safety products. If students are working from home certain days, stock the machine with charging cables and other tech products they may need to effectively work from home.
Marketing:
How will you plan to launch your Spirit Box? What marketing will you do to spread the word?
Social media
Most students are on social media. Reach them where they are at. Use social media to engage your customers. Post sales, team updates, team highlights, and more. Create a community around your social media. Connect with other Spirit Box schools to get ideas and build relationships with them.
Fliers
Fliers are still a great marketing tool if used well. Location is incredibly important. Think about a spot in your school that students visit regularly. For example, hang a flier in the bathroom stall or over the sink. What will be on the flier? It needs to be eye grabbing and not text heavy. Images are more engaging than text.
School announcements
Ask if your Spirit Box team can make a school announcement with product updates, sales, and any other information you want your customers to know.
We created a blank calendar template for your Spirit Box team to fill in with important dates, holidays, deadlines, and more. Filling out a tentative yearlong calendar will help keep your team on track. This calendar can and should be revised as your plans change. We also created a basic Spirit Box calendar template with a recommended schedule to follow throughout the year.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, you need to create a plan that is best for your school and your team. Within every problem there is always opportunity. There is opportunity for you to serve your customers in a way you haven’t in the past. A true entrepreneur doesn’t let an outside circumstance knock them down.
Does your team need help brainstorming ideas to relaunch your Spirit Box in the fall? Let’s schedule a call today. We are happy to talk with your team and help you get your Spirit Box going in the right direction for this new school year.