It’s easy with summer upon us to coast a little bit, because the weather is nice and there are a host of fun things you could be doing.
If you’re one who is going to kick back in the summer, then you’re most likely the same person who is going to kick back during the holidays too.
When you allow yourself to kick back, you’re defeating yourself and what you stand for. As a professional salesperson, your job is to help others achieve success by providing them with the goods or services you sell.
If you’re not out there making it happen, then how will you ever be in a position to help others succeed?
The beauty of the summer slump is how easy it is to correct and how easy it is to scoop up business from competitors who are participating in the summer slump.
I’ve found it’s during the summer months and the holidays when customers who have long-standing relationships with your competitor can be snagged.
Why? Simple, your competitors aren’t placing the level of value on the customer and they think it’s perfectly OK to kick back a little in the summer.
The strategy you should have during the summer months is to increase your level of contact with those hard-to-reach customers who have been with a competitor for years. You never know what opporutnities might suddenly open up.
When you do this right, it can be a lot of fun, because many times your competition doesn’t even realize what you’re doing. They’re caught up with vacations and taking it easy (even when they are working).
When they do find out what’s been happening, they may simply brush it off out of their desire to not create any more work for themselves than necessary. And with that, it’s a score for you!
Will you take customers away all the time using this approach? No, but what you will do is pick up an occasional new customer and, just as importantly, you will learn tremendously about your competitor.
Yes, summer is one of the best times to go after your competitors!
Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
2 Responses
Summer is one of our busiest times. Kids out of school is one of the best seasons of a dental practice. Especially if you’re an orthodontist! I see what you mean. When the competition seems to be taking a breather, is a time to get your chance to shine.
Yes, Summertime has been more profitable to me than any other time of year.