Summer is the time when most of us take time off and enjoy ourselves. But it’s also a critical time in the sales year. With a little bit of extra work, you can crush your competition while they are on holiday.
Most of us like to coast a bit in the summer and relax after working so hard to get sales during the first two quarters. But the reality of the situation is that now we are in the second half of the sales fiscal year and we need to stay on track to hit our sales goals.
How will you work smarter, not harder, this summer to outperform and crush your competition?
When I started my sales training and coaching business, I quickly realized that my strategy needed to adapt to the new sales and buying cycles I faced which were different from my old industry.
I want to share with you how I adapted Teneo’s mantra, “Be Strategic. Be Proactive. Be Brave.” to create three strategies to crush the competition over the summer months.
Be Strategic
One thing I did to adapt was identify the percentage of business I would need to close by the end of Q2 to meet my year-end sales goal. I was not expecting to find that 80% of my business must be secured by June 30th to ensure that I exceeded sales goals for the year.
I analyzed sales from the previous three years and asked myself, “How could I be more tactical with my customers to ask for referrals?” I learned a valuable lesson in being strategic during the transition and securing new business while my competition was on vacation!
Your customers have more time to speak with you while your competition is on holidays. Take advantage of this opportunity to discuss their goals for Fall and keep your funnel full! Share on XBe Proactive
Another piece to this puzzle is prospecting all year long with an increase in my prospecting efforts before I leave for vacation.
One year, my husband and I decided to travel to Europe in September, but I knew that was an ideal sales time for my business. Instead of taking my foot off the gas over the summer months, I kept my prospecting funnel full during July and August and by September 1st I was able to hit my Q3 sales goal.
Here is how I did it: I got up early with the summer sunrise to make ten prospecting calls per week. I made those important calls between 7:30 and 8:55 am when my prospects were in the office before getting caught up in their meetings. I then enjoyed a guilt-free holiday and learned a valuable lesson in being proactive!
Be Brave
Finally, I scheduled important meetings with my customers and prospects during the summer months. I knew if my competition was on holidays, my customers would have more time to speak with me.
I met with them to understand their business projects for the fall and how I could help them make their next quarter a slam dunk. My clients appreciated that I asked those tough questions to keep them on track to reaching their sales goals, and it taught me a valuable lesson in being brave and not slowing down.
When my competition was letting their foot off the gas, I was putting the pedal to the metal!
Teneo’s Challenge: Instead of procrastinating on prospecting this summer, crush your competition! Commit to a certain number of prospecting calls or emails. How about ten each week or even each day? How many customer or prospecting meetings will you schedule this summer?
With a bit of focused effort, and by being strategic, proactive and brave, you will be able to keep your pipeline full and stay on track this summer to exceed your sales goals for the year!
Contact us to learn how to focus your efforts on being more strategic, proactive and brave.
Lisa is driven by the mantra – Be Strategic. Be Pro-active. Be Brave. – and has been successfully training and coaching sales leaders and their teams to do the same for over 15 years. As the President of Teneo Results since 2003, she has trained thousands of sales professionals at more than 250 companies across North America. She transitions salespeople away from the standard “product & price” approach to having purposeful business conversations with their customers that drive results.