Surviving the slow season

Traditionally summer time is a slow period in sales. People are vacationing or are having to cover for individuals who are on vacation. For many salespeople getting in to see customers and potential customers can be a challenge. Trying to close business can be a challenge as well. And although the summer can be slow, business must move forward. We still have a quota to meet, reports to complete and other vital business responsibilities we have to met. While it may be slow on the sales calls front, the summer can still be very productive. Here are a few tips to help survive the summer slow down and move business forward when things seems to be at a stand still.

While business may be a bit slow, the summer season is the perfect relationship building season. In my experience, the summer can provide an opportunity for you and your customers to get out of the office and enjoy the nice weather while building relationships. No other time of year provides this opportunity like the summer does. Summer time activities such as golfing, tennis and baseball games are perfect activities to involve customers. These are great relationship building activities that can be done with customers and can help cement business relationships that will pay dividends down the road.

The summer season is also the beginning of trade show season. Many professional organizations have their yearly conferences in the summer and early fall. Trade shows provide an excellent opportunities to build relationships. Supporting your customers professional organizations conferences shows you are interested in what they are interested in. Professional organizations such as the AACC, AARC, AORN, PGA and CLMA, just to name a few, rely on vendor support to fund their membership drives, education funds and other useful causes. Use the slow summer season as a time of support for your customers, they will really appreciated it and you will benefit from it in the long run.

As I have mentioned in past post, relationships are key to successful selling, regardless of matter what you are selling. Most people take time off in the summer to spend time with their family, do some traveling or just to relax. When you meet with customers, this is a great ice breaking opening topic to discuss. If I know a customer has been on vacation, I will ask them how their vacation was, where they went on vacation, did they do anything interesting etc... Most people like talking about themselves and what interests them and most people are open to these types of discussions. If you are sincere in your conversation and questioning, customers appreciate you taking time to listen to them on matters other than what you have to sell.

Lastly, when the summer slows your business, this can be a good time to make sure your home office is as efficient and organized as possible. I like to spend less time in my home office and more time in front of customers but there are times when you should take inventory of your home office and make sure it is organized and functional.

Enjoy your summer.