Sales Woe or Sales Wow!
It’s Christmas time...
There is no question that if you are in a sales profession you are feeling the pinch. For over 25 years I have felt the pinch on my sales pipeline from Thanksgiving to New Years. For many years I fought it, but then I came to realize SOMETHING BIG.
There are times of the year when it is easy to sell and there are times of the year when it is difficult to sell. For instance, in January – everyone is ready to go. Any projects that they have been putting off are finally ready to be funded and get going. In fact, most people and businesses are ready all at once and it is hard to service them all in January. This pattern continues until the end of the school year and Memorial Day.
When summer starts, things slow down, the pace slackens and everyone gets lackadaisical. It’s not just because of the weather here in Florida (it’s really hot way before Memorial Day), it’s just a sense that life takes on different expectations. The summer is predictable, but the last two weeks before school gets back into motion you better look out. Everything comes to an almost grinding halt again. It is as if everyone forgets that summer doesn’t last forever.
From Labor Day until Thanksgiving, life in sales is grand. People are upbeat, the weather improves almost every day, and the kids are back in school. But, Thanksgiving is always looming. When you come to realize that Thanksgiving typically eats up a week of November and Christmas/New Year’s two weeks of December, meeting your year-end goals gets tough. That is unless you are sandbagging. That is another topic for another day.
But, let’s get back to the SOMETHING BIG. Instead of fighting the rising tide of people saying “Call me in the New Year”, I came to realize that to keep myself from being frustrated I just needed to take 5 to 10 days off at the end of the year. My kids were home; family is usually coming in town. Instead of going to the office wondering what to do, I realized that the Christmas slowdown was a gift from God – in so many ways. So I stopped fighting it and I started embracing it. I found “Peace on Earth and Good Will to Men”.
Rest up for the mighty so we are prepared to fight the battle. New Years is coming.
May you know the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ today. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
About the Author, Jim Brangenberg
Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!