Every year it's the same. The shop or office shuts for Diwali, the owner finally gets three days with family, and the phone keeps ringing. A family wants a kitchen quote before the in-laws visit. A patient's tooth hurts on Bhai Dooj. A buyer saw your Instagram post and wants to "book a site visit after Diwali". By the time you're back, half of them have spoken to someone else.
None of this needs you to work through the festival. It needs a plan you set up once, this week.
The dates
Lakshmi Puja falls on Sunday 8 November 2026, with Dhanteras on Friday 6 November and Choti Diwali on Saturday 7 November (Kissht). Sources differ on Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj, so check your local Panchang. Most businesses that close will be off somewhere between 6 and 11 November.
Buyers are also busy online. In the first week of festive sales this year, order volumes on Unicommerce's platform rose 31% year on year, and Tier 3 towns made up 42% of orders (The Federal). That's e-commerce, not services, but it tells you people are on their phones and spending.
Before you close: five things, one hour
- Holiday hours on Google. Add special hours in your Google Business Profile for each day you're shut. Google shows "Closed" instead of sending people to a locked door. If your profile is new, our piece on Google Business Profile video verification explains getting it live.
- A line on your website. One banner or line near the phone number: "Closed 6 to 10 November. We'll call back every enquiry on 11 November."
- A WhatsApp away message. In WhatsApp Business, under business tools, set an away message for the dates. Say when you're back and that you'll call. Keep it warm and short.
- One number that still works. Forward the main line to whoever's on duty, or to a service that answers and takes details. A ringing phone with no answer is the worst option.
- Test the form. Submit your own enquiry form from a phone and check it arrives. Our guide to testing your contact form takes five minutes.
During the holidays: keep a callback list
Whoever is on duty, or the auto-reply, should collect four things: name, number, what they need, and when they'd like a call. Put them in one sheet, in the order they came in. That's it. Don't try to quote prices from a family function.
If an enquiry is urgent (a patient in pain, a leaking pipe), have one person who can decide whether to call back the same day.
The first working day: call everyone, in order
Block the first two hours after you reopen for callbacks. Oldest first. Open with the festival, then the enquiry: "Diwali ki shubhkamnayein! You'd asked about a 2 BHK on Saturday. Is now a good time?"
Then follow up the ones who didn't pick up, the same evening and the next morning. Festive enquiries go cold within days, and the business that calls first usually gets the visit.
Work out what a missed enquiry costs
Our free missed enquiry cost calculator shows what unanswered calls cost you in a month. If you'd like every call answered over Diwali in Hindi or English, with details taken and a callback list waiting for you, ask for a callback.