As it happens every year, this thing called Christmas is about to make cold calling, prospecting and closing hit knee deep mud. Things are going to slow down, drastically.
Firstly, this isn’t a reason to stop doing any of those things, but it is also not useful to deny reality either and pretend none of this is going on. So, here are a few thoughts I usually embrace this time of year, that help me not lose the month of December or let it get me down.
1 – If you missed your year, Santa isn’t going to help you. Sorry, but Christmas miracles are reserved for things that really matter, like sick kids, or starving puppies. Santa is plenty busy and he isn’t going to deliver you a long shot miracle client on the morning of the 25th. July 25th is a good time to make a plan to hit your annual number. December 25th isn’t. If you missed the year, you’ve missed the year. Let’s make the focus on not missing next year, next quarter or even next month.
2 – Your client’s buying decision is not affected by the calendar. Their needs and their desires are not going to change drastically just because a month or a year ends. If you’ve identified significant pain, and you’ve gotten your prospect to admit to it, then you should be in the mode of pushing for a decision. If you haven’t found that pain, then pushing for a decision is a good way to let your prospects know that your annual bonus is what matters to you, not helping them. Artificially pressuring a client to buy now is a good way to cost yourself the account in the long term. 3 – Downtime isn’t a bad thing. It’s healthy to take a break now and then and recharge your batteries. So if things freeze up anyways this time of year, embrace it and enjoy the holidays with your family. Sitting at your desk pulling your hair out isn’t going to help now, and will leave you defeated and tired when the new year kicks off.
4 – Most people don’t plan to fail. They fail to plan. Slower times of the year are a great time to take a step back and do some planning and setting up your future success. You can build a target list, clean up all your client and prospect info, map out where your revenue will come from next year, listen to past calls (you record those, right?), read those training materials that have been sitting on your desk for months, brainstorm ideas for new ways to get clients, take online courses to improve your pitch, or your industry knowledge. If you are going to take time off, fine, but if you are going to be at work, BE AT WORK. Knock off all those quadrant 2 things you have not been able to get to in the last few months.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.