As the new year creeps ever closer, salespeople all over the world hope to finish the year on a good note. Depending on which industry you work in, the Christmas season can be super busy or super quiet. Sometimes prospects can be more difficult get hold of, some go on holiday to use their last allotted days and others are just a pain to get hold of due to busy periods of their own.
Here’s a guide on how to transfer the urgency and make sure you finish your year by nailing targets so you can enjoy a guilt-free holiday season.
Doing Your Spring Cleaning in Winter
It’s kind of ironic to hear people talk about the idea of “Spring cleaning”. The transition time over Christmas and New Year is a much better time to do it. Whether you’re selling payroll services, CRM software or anything else, this quiet downtime is a great time to transition into the New Year with new products or services. By selling your prospects on this idea and coupling it with the premise of a fresh start in 2014, this quiet time becomes a selling point to close more sales.
The Fresh Start of the New Year
On the subject of fresh starts, New Year is a great opportunity. Of course, any time of year can be a new start, whether it’s starting the summer, academic year, tax year or anything else relevant to your business. But with the New Year, try stirring up the pain of your prospect’s shortcomings and missed targets from 2013, positioning your product or service as the solution to that pain for a fresh start this coming January 1st. You can even make a point of this in your advertising and other marketing efforts to lay the foundation for those inbound leads later on.
Role-playing Your Last Day in the Company
This one may seem a little silly, but it can be a great way to think outside the box. Pretend like it’s your last day in the company and you have to close all sales this side of the New Year. As of January 1, you’ll be doing other things and every lead not closed today is lost money. Play a game with yourself like it’s your last day in the company and hit the phones harder than you have all year and without fear of rejection. After all, you won’t be there after the holidays, right?…
Everybody’s Doing It. Come Join the Party!
Put together a list of prospects who turned you down over the course of the year and start calling them up. Start call by saying something to the effect of:
“Hi there, Mr prospect. I’m just catching up with a few clients to make sure I haven’t left anyone off the list. Everybody signs up for our product or service in preparation for the beginning of the New Year, so I just wanted to make sure you were on the list.”
Let the prospect know how everybody is signing up with you and be 100% assumptive with your script. You’d be amazed how many people will go to the next stage in the sales funnel if they feel everyone else is doing the same.
What Would We Have to Do?
If you’re unsure about what you’d need to do to close business before the end of the deadline, ask the question. Put together a list of prospects you’re unable to take action on, phone them up and ask what you’d need to do. Phrase your script something to the effect of:
“Hey Mrs. Prospect, I was wondering, what would we have to do to get you signed up for our product or service before 2014?”
By making your prospects think about things this way, you can uncover hidden objectives and generally get people considering what would have to happen for them to sign up with you. If you know what the next step is, you can start presenting solutions and get the sales ball rolling.
Check out our blog post, “What You Can Learn About Sales Hustle From an 8-Year-Old”. And follow our YouTube channel for videos on Sales Motivation and Leadership!
