Five Tips For Successful Prospecting During The Holiday Season

The holidays loom... Office parties, family celebrations, religious celebrations, celebrations with friends... Meetings are cancelled. Decisions are postponed. Too much to do, no time to do it. The sales process turns to sludge.

The holidays can be a frustrating time for sales professionals. Telephone prospecting calls end with no appointment and prospects saying, "Call me in the New Year." Proposals languish. Decisions are on hold.

During that time from Thanksgiving through the end of the year, how do you keep from losing your momentum and how do you keep the sales process moving forward? If you are not able to keep the process moving, January can feel almost like starting over. Instead of leaping into the New Year with prospect meetings and starting new customer projects you are busy following up with all of the prospects that said, "Call me in the New Year." Here are five ways that you can use to keep your sales process flowing, not only over the holidays, but also year round.

1. If you have been prospecting consistently throughout the year, you should have prospects in your pipeline-even in December!

2. Use these holiday times to prospect for new business. Do not tamely accept the standard response; "Call me in the New Year." Instead, suggest to your prospect that you schedule a meeting in the New Year and promise to call to confirm that meeting. (In the "old days" prospects would frequently say they didn't have their New Year calendar. In these days of palm pilots and contact management software that doesn't fly. After all, January is only next month!) At least 50% of your prospects will go ahead and schedule the meeting leaving you with 50% less follow up calls to make in January.

3. The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve is often very slow. Sometimes that is a good time for prospect meetings.

4. When a prospect asks you to submit a proposal, then and there set up a meeting time with your prospect to go over that proposal. Ask your prospect when they want the proposal. When they give you a date or time frame say:

"Let's set up a time for me to come by and go over the proposal. Is (fill in date) good or is (fill in date) better?"

It doesn't matter if your prospect wants to meet in December or in January. The point is that you have kept the process moving forward, you have an appointment to discuss the proposal and you do not have to spend time in January making calls to follow up to schedule the meeting or get a response on that proposal. (And remember, on the appointed day, make sure to bring two copies of the proposal, both signed and ready for your prospect's signature.)

5. Let your competition take the holidays off.

Happy prospecting, happy closing, happy holidays!

(c) 2007, all rights reserved, Fox Resources Inc.

Nancy Fox is President of Fox Coaching Associates, a coaching and training firm specializing in assisting professionals and business owners nationwide"make rain without the pain(tm)." She has worked with hundreds of legal and other professionals in leveraging contacts, building successful relationships in business, and making lots of rain.

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