A Great Selling Month Can Be a Matter of Perception
You can find more
resources on sales coaching, executive coaching, sales training,
time management, cold calling, prospecting and career coaching
from New York Sales and Leadership Coach Keith Rosen MCC at
http://www.profitbulders.com.
Ahh, the holidays. A time for festivities. A time for vacation.
A time for family. A time to relax, enjoy and reflect upon the
year and your accomplishments. It is also a time when many
businesses prepare for slow sales and a fall in performance and
production. This is the time of the year when sales and
appointments slow down and more work must be done to generate
the next sale. After all, your customers are more focused on
preparing for the holidays, right? Sales quotas are compromised
and expectations of strong sales are lowered.
Many sales professionals, managers and business owners
anticipate a slow December by budgeting and preparing their
staff for the inevitable. It seems as if everyone in the
business community not only plans for this but accepts the
notion that sales will be slow; period.
I recently spoke with several managers in different industries
and heard things like:
1. I tell my sales staff to see what they can generate within
the first two weeks, since it is a short month anyway. 2. People
are busy preparing for the holidays and don't want to be
bothered with any type of purchasing decision. 3. People want to
wait until the New Year before making their purchases. 4. The
leads are going to slow down since many people go on vacation.
5. It is just "that time of the year." 6. The only money people
are looking to spend is on gifts for the holidays.
Everyone seems comfortable accepting the notion that sales will
always be slow in December. Some companies even close up their
doors for a few weeks. "Hey that's just how it is. It's this way
every year."
Does it really have to be this way? Consider for a moment that
business owners, managers and sales professionals, actually
created this obstacle or objection themselves! When did you
decide that every December would bring about the same old thing?
Many organizations have been saying this for so long that they
have conditioned themselves for this to be the only truth.
If you are a manager or business owner, what message are you
sending to your staff? The philosophies and expectations of
performance will always start from the top and flow downward. If
the managers are expecting a slow month, you can imagine the
results you are going to get from your staff. By informing your
staff that they have to work twice as hard to compensate for the
slow month may actually be setting them up for failure. This
way, when they have a bad month, you have already given them the
out to justify why their sales are slow. You are helping them
validate their poor performance.
I remember a few years back hiring a salesperson during the
month of November. Sure, I could have done what I did in the
past by preparing him for a slow December, informing him about
this imminently slow time of the year. Instead, I tried
something different. We sat down and discussed why December is a
great month for selling. This is what we came up with.
1. Many purchases, whether you are selling business to business
or consumer direct, can be used as a tax deduction for that
year.
2. Some companies actually have the money put aside in their
budget for end of the year purchases or still have money in
their budget. As a matter of fact, they may need to spend the
money in fear they won't be allocated that amount in the budget
for the following year.
3. You might be able to offer deferred payments that won't have
to be made until the New Year. Sometimes it's simply a matter of
bad timing. Determine whether or not this is a purchase your
prospect will inevitably be making. If so, and they are simply
concerned about taking on another expense, see what can be done
about offering them some type of finance or payment program.
4. People are willing to spend money! Just look at retail sales.
You just need to find a unique proposition or strong selling
point that fits into the holiday spirit. How can you position
your product or service so that it is timely enough to tie in
with year-end business goals, family or the holidays? Adjust
your presentation so it fits accordingly.
5. The morale of many people is actually up around the holidays.
Take advantage of the holiday spirit.
6. Since many sales oriented companies plan for slow months, a
salesperson may have more negotiating power with their clients
to earn their year-end business. Since every company would love
to end the year with strong sales, you can explain to your
clients how they can take advantage of this position.
7. Many companies raise their prices in January. Clients can
take advantage of your lower pricing structure before the year
is out.
The result of this experiment? This salesperson broke a new
record for the most sales ever in December. Was it because he
was any better, more aggressive or talented than the rest? I
don't think so. It had to do more with the message he received,
the perception that was created, and the results the company
expected. After all, perception really is reality.
More on sales coaching,
sales and mentoring from New York Sales Coach Keith Rosen MCC at
http://www.profitbulders.com.