It seems strange but every year we have to keep in mind that November and December are not normal months when it comes to making sales calls.
Depending on the industry you’re selling to, things can change — but no matter what, these two months have holidays and, for many people, vacations scheduled.
Set your own calendar up to where you have all of your major sales calls that you need to make to ensure you close the year properly completed by Dec. 7.
The last thing you want is to have a customer cancel an appointment you have with them set for Dec. 17, especially when you desperately need the appointment to have a shot at making your year-end number. Stuff happens in the last month of the year and it’s outside of your control, so be prepared by getting as many necessary things done early.
The easiest way I’ve found to deal with this is to look at the 4th quarter in total. Don’t manage your calendar one month at a time in the 4th quarter. This sounds simple and it is, but over the years, I’ve found this one simple technique to be the most effective way to keep from getting squeezed for time for sales calls in December.
One other strategy I’ve found effective is to make sure you’re pro-active in telling customers how important the meeting is to them. Provide them with some upfront information a couple days ahead of time that will get then interested.
Many times customers find themselves chasing their own time at the end of the year and will in turn look to cancel things on their calendar they don’t think are important. You do not want them to think the meeting they’re going to have with you is not important.
Yes, in the end you do have to remain flexible and open to last minute changes, but I’ve found if you’re proactive in how you manage your calendar now, you’ll be in better shape come November and especially December.
Copyright 2012, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
