Ahhhh, Summertime.
Sun and Fun. The beach. Ballgames.
Vacations with the family. Relaxation.
Whether or not we ourselves are taking
advantage of these wonderful aspects of
Summer, most of us tend to assume that's
where all our prospects are - leaving us with
precious few people to meet, and, therefore,
very little to do. Well, nothing could be
further from the truth. There is, in fact,
plenty to do, if you're willing to
recalibrate your expectations and adjust your
approach. Before we get into just what that
entails, though, I want to take a moment to
explode the myth - and for some, the crutch -
that "no one's around" in the Summer, 'so
there's not much for me to do." I don't know
about you, but I can't recall ever driving by
a totally empty office park parking
lot during the work week in any Summer. I
can't remember ever getting on a
completely empty train into the city
in any Summer. And I can't think of any
office phone I ever dialed which was not
picked up by someone in that office,
in any Summer.
"But there are fewer people around, Craig.
Or so it seems."
True. But let me ask you: how many people do
you know who take the entire Summer -
July and August - off from work? For
my own part, I can confidently say that in
the 20+ years I've been working, the answer
is zero (I know very few retirees or
unemployed people). While the pace of Summer
is decidedly slower - there are fewer
networking events, fewer seminars (but not
none - check out ours
coming up later this month), and fewer
conferences - the business
world in this country does not come to a
screeching halt. Stocks and bonds are
traded. Goods are produced and shipped. And
products and services are bought and sold -
including yours.
Sure, it may be difficult - even impossible -
to get a group of 4-6 people together during
the Summer to conduct a presentation. But is
it really all that difficult to get in to see
individual prospects, or pairs of
prospects, at each and every one of your
target accounts? Because commerce does slow
down during Summer, people who may have not
given you the time of day during the rest of
the year may have time to give you during the
Summer. And if you can, as I alluded to,
recalibrate your expectations and adjust your
approach, you just may get to crack open some
doors that have remained closed to you
throughout the year.
Recalibrate and adjust
Let's face it - during the Summer months,
it's likely that half the people you need to
be present at your presentations in order to
hit home runs won't be around to attend. In
those cases, don't try to hit home runs. Go
for a few singles instead, and meet with
individuals. A key to successful
selling is building relationships, one at a
time. Take this time to develop and nurture
those relationships, and turn them into your
internal champions for when everyone returns
in September. Maybe you can't expect to
close a lot of business during this time, but
you can certainly set the table for doing so
down the home stretch.
I've always looked at Summer as a time of
opportunity for several reasons:
- Precisely because my competitors look at
Summer as a "slow" period, there are fewer
knocks on my prospects' doors. Fewer knocks
mean less annoyance, and less annoyance means
greater receptivity for those of us who do
knock.
- Just as Summer is slower for us in Sales,
it's also slower for our prospects. They
have more time to meet with you, and that
meeting is more likely than during other
seasons of the year to be a relaxing outdoor
lunch - infinitely more conducive to
establishing those relationships, and
building business opportunities.
- Similarly, because many people are away,
more golf tee times are available than during
Spring and Fall. It's a well-established
fact that much business is transacted during
those interludes between the green and the
next tee, not to mention at the 19th hole.
If golf is your game, and your prospect's
game too, get yourself out on the links with
them this Summer.
Sun and Fun. The beach. Ballgames.
Vacations with the family. Relaxation.
These aren't just for our prospects to enjoy.
They're for us to enjoy as well. And
they can be your rewards to
yourself once you've done the work
that needs to be done - that can be
done - to fill the pipeline for an explosive
September and fourth quarter.
Good selling!
Action Item
Look through your list of accounts. Identify
those you've wanted to get into, but haven't
managed to yet. Target a specific number -
6, 8, 12. Recalibrate your expectations of
what you want from a meeting, and adjust your
approach. Then see how many of these
accounts take you up on your offer for lunch,
a cup of coffee, a day on the links, or a
traditional office meeting. Then, On
September 1st, look back and see how your
pipeline has grown. It'll make that Piņa
Colada you're sipping on Fire Island, the
Jersey shore, or South Hampton taste a whole
lot better!
Good Selling!
