Summer is almost upon us! If the forecasts are to be believed we could be in for some great weather in the UK at last (subscribers from around the world please hold back your mockery)! Holiday season is also famously the salesperson’s excuse for reduced numbers and performance drought. You know the excuses: “Well of course business is slow, August is always quiet…” So, here are some practical ways to avoid the Summertime Blues and enjoy a Successful Sales Summer.
Plan Ahead
August happens at the same time every year and yet it seems to come as a surprise to a lot of sales people. If you know holiday season is going to be difficult, plan ahead. The same for any other month that can suffer seasonal variation (you could probably come up with an excuse for each month of the year if you tried).
It may seem obvious but widen your pipeline to include a greater variety of opportunities. Deals of different sales cycle lengths will mean a) you’ll have more deals on the go so even if a few slip in the Summer an equal number will be likely to close or b) if they all slip (worst case) you’ll have a lot on to quickly catch up after the holiday season.
I know, I know, shouldn’t you always have a lot of opportunities bubbling? There is a difference between general pipeline management – having a good mix of the right sort of opportunities on the go – and actively planning when looking at Summer pipeline to ensure that you can cope with unexpected delays to a few deals without it impacting your overall performance.
Widen Your Known Contacts
A common mistake is to only have one point of contact within a customer or prospect. This means that when they are absent, especially over the Summer, deals can stall. Cultivate a network of contacts within your business relationships to reduce your dependency on individuals. This will also help you better understand your customers as these contacts will all give you different perspectives on their organisation.
Through questioning or Selling Time flush out when your key contact is absent over the Summer and agree in advance who will have deferred authority when they are away. Selling Time is such a great technique for holiday season planning as it allows you to spot any gaps or potential delays to your sales cycle at the front end. You will then be able to agree with your contact all the tasks they need to complete before going on leave, reducing your dependency on their presence. They can enjoy their holiday and your deal can carry on developing regardless.
It really is awful when a salesperson doesn’t know when their key contacts are on holiday. When they get caught out and their deals delay as a result it is frustrating, especially when it can be so easily avoided. Don’t be that person. Just ask in an early meeting “do you have any holidays planned we need to work around?”
Inflate Your Own Goals in The Run Up
Some of the best salespeople I’ve known always used to set themselves inflated goals in the run up to the Summer. They would challenge themselves, through planning and focus, to over-achieve their Year To Date target prior to the Summer breaks. As a result, even if they wrote no business in this period they’d still be on track. This may sound difficult, but it is just a case of mindset, graft and anchoring yourself to a larger number. After all, it is no more complicated to secure a £100k deal than a £10k deal, so set you sights higher, earlier.
Consider the Odds
While it is logical to assume many people will be away in the Summer months, it also follows that just as many people won’t be. Through talking with and understanding your prospects, you’ll know which are more likely to take holiday at this time – for example, those with children would be likely – and which aren’t. Maybe spend your time with these prospects across this period?
If you are dependent on a group of customers who are all likely to be away then the sensible tactic would be to plan your holidays at the same time. That way you are all away, and the overall impact on your year’s performance is less. Otherwise, when they are back and ready later in the year you’ll be taking your break!
These kinds of probabilities also apply to different sectors. Education establishments tend to do a lot of their investing in the school holidays while pupils on break, so maybe focus on these prospects? Hospitality gets busy in the summer and the sector tends to make their investments in the run up. Some sectors like legal or healthcare have little seasonal variation. Look at your prospects, their sectors and play the odds over the summer months.
Use Positivity to Advantage
Summer is a hugely positive time. The sun shines, we all feel good, outdoor spaces bustle with activity and laughter. Summer is great. Capitalise on this feeling if you can. People tend to be more open so use this. Invest time in building relationships, offer your prospects out for an al fresco catch-up, take them for a walk, change the meeting setting to somewhere outdoors and inspiring, you have so many more choices than the confines of an office.
Tapping into this relaxed vibe can help the prospect associate you with positivity and nice feelings as well. You’ll both be more open and authentic I’m sure, which will deepen your relationship. Also, if you have decided through forward planning that some of your pipeline does have to wait until beyond the Summer season to progress, you can still use this time to advantage. You can meet new contacts while your main contact is on leave, spend more time in their business (with their permission of course) to understand how they operate, generally working to become more entrenched and connected. Investing time in the relationship outside any sale if you do hit a “quiet” period, will reward you further down the line.
No Magic Answer
Like a lot of the advice we share on The Humble Sale, there really is no magic answer to avoiding poor Sales performance across the holiday season. Instead, you need to plan ahead, balance the odds, work hard on your strategy and avoid the same traps as those who aren’t as diligent as I know you will be. I hope that some of the ideas above will feed into your thinking and help you enjoy the Successful Sales Summer you deserve.
