Potential customers are on vacation. Salespeople are 20% less productive. Everything related to your sales pipeline becomes a little less predictable. But that doesn't mean you can't achieve great sales results in summer. You just need to shift your approach and set different goals. Here are 5 ways to overcome the summer sales slump in the B2B world:
1. Shift Your Goals
Every sales team needs goals, but those goals can be different in summer. Since sales are more unpredictable, it's harder to set and meet revenue targets. But you still need to work toward something. So what should you do?
Instead of focusing on the total amount of revenue your team generates, you could emphasize appointment setting. This can be easier because contacts can agree to meetings when summer is over. Invite potential customers to put something on the calendar for when they're back up to speed.
Having a bunch of appointments set for fall will help you get back on track when the summer slump ends.
Your summer goals don't have to focus on setting appointments. Your goals might be to upsell to current customers, get new leads at conferences and events, or increase the click-through rate on your promotional emails. All of these goals can be achieved during the summer period. And all of them will have positive effects on your sales process.
2. Improve Your Database
Your sales database is the foundation of your sales results. If your database isn't solid, you'll have problems. Your sales reps have some extra time during the summer that they can dedicate to improving that database. It may seem like an unimportant task, but it pays big dividends in the long run.
These are just some of the things that can decrease the quality of your sales database or CRM:
- Inconsistent formatting
- Outdated contacts
- Duplicate contacts
- Old product information
- Outdated sales materials
Summer is a good time to fix these problems.
But you can also go further. You can enrich your database to create a better tool for salespeople when they return to full capacity.
Additional data helps you target the right potential customers. Event data helps you plan your field sales activities for the rest of the year. Information allows you to tailor your sales process to specific accounts.
All this database improvement requires a lot of work. A summer sales slump is the perfect time to do it. It will pay off later, and it means salespeople aren't wasting time when things are slow.
3. Lead Generation + Prospecting
If your regular potential customers aren't available, it's time to find more people to sell to. Summer is a great time for lead generation and prospecting.
Part of your team should work to fill your pipeline with ideal customers as they would during the rest of the year. But you can also take advantage of summer to expand into new areas.
Maybe one of your representatives has an idea about selling to a new market. Or a hunch that a different type of targeting will get better results. Give your sales reps a bit more freedom during the summer to explore new lead generation avenues.
Your sales team should also keep prospecting during the summer. Even though it may seem like all contacts have gone on vacation, it's worth spending time calling and qualifying potential customers. Just like setting appointments, it helps your team get back to full speed when summer is over.
4. Work with Existing Customers
The summer sales slump makes it harder to acquire new customers. Why not work with the ones you already have? Existing customers are a valuable resource you can tap into year-round, but they are especially useful during the summer.
There are two main ways they can help: referrals and cross-selling.
Good customers in your core market probably know other people who would be a good fit for your business. Why not ask them to make a connection? Offer a referral incentive during the summer to attract customers and help your sales process.
Turning to your customers for referrals has an added advantage in summer. If your customers have good contacts, they may know when those contacts are in or out of the office. Save time by setting up a reminder in your CRM to reach out to them when they return.
You can also sell to existing customers. Sales reps have the extra time they need to build a very compelling case for an additional purchase.
And if the customer isn't ready to make another purchase, sales reps can lay the groundwork for future conversations.
5. Up Your Sales Game
If you can't make as much progress as you'd like, you can opt for non-sales activities. Invest in your salespeople.
Summer is a great time to expand your salespeople's knowledge and experience with additional training. Unfortunately, some of your employees will be on vacation, so attendance may be lower than usual. But that's okay.
Your salespeople can brush up on selling techniques, learn more about your product line, or get a motivational boost. Sales training possibilities are almost limitless, and there's no better time than summer.
If you'd rather not spend the money (or time) on comprehensive sales training, there are other ways to prepare your sales team to improve performance when summer is over.
For example, you can implement a sales enablement program. When your team is back at full capacity, you'll have more resources and useful information to support your sales. You can also have your SDRs collaborate closely with your marketing team to better align your objectives.
Summer is also the best time to increase sales coaching. Ask your managers to spend more time teaching your reps how to close deals, increase average deal size, and make any other improvements that help your company.
