The holiday season has arrived and many salespeople tend to take their foot off the gas. And while this time of year is full of vacation and great expense and chaos, careful planning can help you meet your sales goals during the vacation and beyond.
Here are some tips on how to keep your sales team productive during the holiday season:
Don’t make assumptions
The first thing you should do is not make any assumptions about what your prospects are doing. It is a common assumption that buyers are too busy or out of the office and currently unable to deal with the purchase. It is entirely possible that your prospects may actually be more willing to buy than usual during the holiday season!
Year-end can create urgency with buyers as they assess their fourth quarter needs and year-end budgets and plan to start their year over. Change brings us all new opportunities. Call these old prospects and see how they are doing what they think. Put your foot back on the gas.
Check in and meet previous customers
If you’re struggling to sell to new customers, you can always focus on your existing customers. This is especially important when you are selling a changing product. Now is the perfect time to check in with old customers and let them know you are thinking of them. Chances are they’ll be evaluating their situation in the fourth quarter, too, and you could be high on their list now for contract renewals or product upgrades, all from a simple phone call.
Find new leads in a creative way
In order to attract new prospects you have to make calls, which is not easy at this time of year when everyone is on vacation and business calls are avoided. So it’s time to get creative!
Take a day to check news sites and find companies in your target industry or market that have raised a lot of capital recently or have hired a lot of new employees. These growing businesses may need your services. Also, look for other social websites and forums. Just because no one picks up the phone doesn’t mean you can’t get new leads.
Set up sales pitches after the vacation
If you’ve stayed motivated, avoided assumptions, and been creative, you have likely gained some new leads. This means it’s time to get these for meetings and demos by phone or zoom. Since the holidays are usually full of business and personal events, you may have difficulty figuring out a suitable time to meet. No worries. Just make sure you meet within a reasonable time after the vacation. Find out when your customers will be back in the office, then schedule your meetings.
As a salesperson, it’s easy to get too involved in selling, and it’s easy to stick with whatever has been working for you. This time of year reminds us that change is inevitable. Use this season to reevaluate and renew your approach – you may have hit your best year yet.
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