Itās the fourth quarter. Your sales numbers arenāt where youād like them to be. The calendar is changing. The minutes are ticking down. Tick-tock.
You may be feeling discouraged, annoyed, even angry. You can do all that. Or, you can get motivated.
Recently, I heard a sales consultant tell a team that they should forget about closing Q4 deals if they werenāt already close to achieving this yearās revenue goal. Ā The only value to Q4, this consultant argued, is that it presents an opportunity to get a jumpstart on Q1. He advised the reps turn their attention to laying groundwork for next year.
And he was dead serious.
Thatās not how I see it. If this were a football game, the players wouldnāt give up in the fourth quarter. Rather theyād push harder, looking for every opportunity to score points. And when there are two minutes to go, they find still more power, take more risks and never concede the win until the last second of the game.
Why should a salesperson treat Q4 any differently than the other three quarters of the year? Opportunities are still there and youāve still got quotas, targets, and annual revenue goals to shoot for ā right up until December 31. For me, quitting on Q4 to look ahead to Q1 is akin to a football team walking off the field in the fourth quarter of a game so it can rest up and prepare for its next one. Thatās not going to happen. Nor should it happen with you.
Youāve still got time to close more deals and make more money. Why wouldnāt you give Q4 your full attention?
3 Excuses for Abandoning Q4 (and Why Theyāre All Bogus)
With over 25 years of sales experience, Iāve heard every excuse business owners and reps make for why Q4 is a dismal time to sell.
Itās the holiday season ā prospects arenāt in the office and they donāt want to hear from me. Iām too far behind ā even if I worked my tail off, I couldnāt make our target. To close any deal, I have to slash our prices and we canāt afford that.
What do I think about those excuses? Theyāre incorrect, self-defeatist drivel. Hereās why:
- āNo one wants to talk business during the holidays.ā Do companies suddenly shutter their windows in November and December, plan their holiday parties and give their staff time off? Do they ignore their biggest challenges or top initiatives to focus on in January? No. Someone is working and, believe it or not, itās often easier to reach those people because theyāre more relaxed and open to chat.
- āThere isnāt enough time left to do anything meaningful.ā Most of the small and midsize companies we work with have average sales cycles of 60-120 days for new clients. So, yes, there are some deals that just wonāt close before year-end, but there are plenty of others that could. While we donāt have 120 days left, thereās still time to close add-on sales, upsells, and fast moving 30-45 day opportunities.
- āBecause itās year-end, prospects and clients expect a discount.ā Guess whose fault that is? Because so many sales reps now manage Q4 with such nonchalance, customers have begun to expect fire sales and slashed prices. When you sound desperate or frantic, prospects smell blood in the water and take advantage of the situation. When the tone of your emails and phone calls is confident and built around a clear business case, you can manage your prospecting with the same confidence you have in March or April.
Boom or Bust: How Will You Close Out Q4?
I donāt let those business owners, sales leaders or sales reps off the hook with excuses. Iām not going to let you off, either. Think of me as your own personal football coach pushing you to find the energy and drive to take more risks so you can close more sales and make more money.
You can still make your Q4 target.
But to achieve your goal, you need to fully commit to the next few months just as you would in Q1. The payoff for doing that can be significant. The payoff for quitting on Q4? Iām guessing you can figure that one out on your own.
As you can tell, Iām passionate about the sales opportunities available to you in Q4. So passionate that weāve just written a new ebook to give you 10 sales strategies to close the year strong. Get your free copy to find last minute opportunities and boost your sales in Q4.
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