This Holiday Season: Stuff Your Excuses
Remember earlier when you said, “Next year’s gonna be big?”
Guess what? It’s next year.
So, what are you doing about it? Because with just 2 weeks left in the year, what I hear the most are excuses. Nobody makes decisions around the holidays. Nobody will meet with you around the holidays. Nobody is even there around the holidays.
If that’s you than guess what? Next year isn’t looking so great either, then.
Stuff your excuses and pick up the phone.
True, major decisions are less likely to be made around the holidays. Drastic changes are less likely to be implemented around the holidays. It’s not that they aren’t interested, but your priorities just may not be the same. So, it may be true that it is more difficult to hit your quota in the final days of the year.
Businesses are focused more on closing out their own sales and inventory and taking care of their employees than they are meeting with potential vendors, so it’s only natural that “Call me after the first” is the most common rebuttal to sales calls.
And even though we know that “Call me after the first” is just the December version of “Not Interested,” if you hear it enough times, you may begin to believe it.
Then you keep drinking the eggnog. You keep feeding yourself the same line until it grows and suddenly you tell yourself, “It’s a waste of time to make calls. No one is around.”
Stuff your excuses and pick up the phone.
Everyone is open this week. Most everyone is at work this week. Most businesses will be open on Monday and many still on Tuesday. After all, yours is. They may just not want to talk to you. They likely didn’t before either; but now they have a more palatable excuse.
True, even while many businesses remain open, many decision makers take vacations the last two weeks of the year. So, what can you do?
PROSPECT!!!
The business is open. Someone is answering the phone. Someone is there to answer questions. Why not sit back and just dial the phone? No stress, no hurry, and no distractions. Just build a prospect list.
There may be excuses for lackluster sales around the holidays, but there’s no excuse for coming into work on January 2nd not already knowing who you were going to call.
It’s also a different type of call. You may be less of an interruption and since you aren’t trying to turn every call into a sale, you’ll be easier to receive. Your competition is still “goal planning,” filling out Holidays cards or dropping off popcorn to customers. Take the opportunity to engage in constructive conversations and build relationships since neither you or the person on the other end of the phone are hurried or burdened with the day to day. Take the time to learn more about your customers business – and not just the business they do with you.
Most of all, don’t let a slow week in December make a bad month in January. Hit the ground running! Go Stride!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!