
It’s summertime, and everyone is taking it easy … but selling is hard.
Summer can be a slow season for salespeople. Prospects are on vacation. Every email a rep sends seems to gets an automated out of office reply. Calls go unanswered. LinkedIn connection requests remain pending for days. It’s a rough time for people whose job revolves around connecting.
But if you’re in the midst of a summer slump, the worst thing you can do is panic. Your selling power hinges on your mindset. Letting yourself succumb to despairing thoughts such as “I’m never going to close a deal until September,” or “No one’s going to pick up the phone today” works against you in the long run. Your negative expectations become self-fulfilling prophecies.
Instead of lamenting your sad situation, take the following 7 steps to get yourself back on track.
1) Prospect, prospect, prospect.
No movement at the bottom of your pipeline? Take some time to refill the top. The secret to beating quota month after month is to maintain a consistently full pipeline. This way, even if you miss your number once, you’re laying the groundwork to crush quota in the future — and possibly make up for your slow period.
2) Seek referrals.
Referrals are approximately 50% more likely to close than other types of leads. Unfortunately, salespeople don’t seek referrals nearly as much as they should.
If your prospects are unavailable, call up your customers and ask if they know anyone who could benefit from your product or service. Because you’ll be kickstarting your relationship with the referred prospect with a personal recommendation instead of having to earn trust from scratch, the deal can close that much faster.
3) Upsell.
Call your existing clients and see if there is anything else that you offer than can benefit the client. The call will reconnect you with your client and offer a chance to upsell additional services.
4) Revisit old deals.
Remember that prospect who said it wasn’t the right time a few months ago? Well, it just might be the right time now.
While it’s unlikely for deals that have been in the pipeline for six months or more to close (53% of closed-won deals wrap up in the first 30 days according to Implisit data), it doesn’t hurt to give it one last ditch effort.
5) Set a goal.
Of course, you have a quota to hit — the ultimate goal. But if you’re in the depths of a summer slump, it can be helpful to set a few mini goals as well to sustain a good amount of activity and keep your spirits high. Maybe you want to make three connect calls by the end of the day. Perhaps you’re striving to present five demos this week. Whatever it is, a smaller goal can keep you pushing ahead — especially when quota seems hopelessly out of reach. You might just find that the big number becomes a lot more attainable after you soar past a handful of smaller hurdles.
6) Remind prospects about upcoming obligations or deadlines.
Okay, it’s a bit of a buzzkill, but there’s nothing like reminding a prospect about a looming fall deadline to ramp up the urgency. It can be hard to concentrate on and plan for the months ahead during the dog days of summer. If you know that the prospect has a drop-dead date they need a solution in place by, or an upcoming goal they’re at risk of missing, gently nudge them to take action now — before it’s too late.
7) Ask your director about sweetening the pot.
Every business goes through sales slumps, and it’s the job of sales managers and directors to formulate a company-wide strategy to combat them. Odds are, if you’re having a dry spell, some of your colleagues are too. Approach your manager about levers you can pull to get more prospects biting — discounts, freebies, relaxed contract terms, etc. Just be mindful that these options should only be used as a last resort. You should always strive to sell buyers on value, not price or terms.
You might go through a sales dip in the summer, but don’t let your shoulders slump. Model your disposition after the weather — the sunnier, the better :)!
Happy Tuesday & Happy Selling!
Kevin
Summer Sales Slump?
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By Kevin Frisch | 0 Comments