7 Tips To Boost Sales In August!

Why waste the month of August cleaning your office? Make the most of your summer by seizing new business opportunities while your competition plays miniature golf! Most business owners and salespeople assume making calls in August is pointless because decision makers are on vacation. While it’s true that most people do vacation in August, I don’t know one person who goes away for 4 weeks straight. What does this mean for you? It means people are at their desks, often in good moods and are more likely to pick up their phones and speak with you. Seize this valuable opportunity and boost your business by following these 7 key strategies in August.

1. Add 20 new A level prospects to your list and call them. An A level prospect is the person you most want to do business with. He/she buys the right amount at the right price in the right time frame. Block out 1 hour twice a week with your phone off, email closed, Blackberry off, cell phone off and hammer away at the list.

2. Catch up with your current clients and upsell by offering incremental programs and add on services. Capture “sweep up dollars” from the use it or lose it 2007 client budget.

3. While you’re talking with your current clients, ask for referrals to other departments, divisions, parent companies, sister companies, subsidiaries who have a bucket of money to spend on what you have to sell. Request to have your call internally transferred. Whose name is on the caller ID? Not yours! Your call is more likely to be picked up if it shows an internal caller ID.

4. Look through your files and make a list of prospect decision makers you’ve met but have not closed sales with. Call to schedule September meetings to discuss what is new since you last spoke and whether there is an opportunity to work together now.

5. Look through your pending proposals and identify 3 strategy ideas which will move each proposal closer to a close. Choose the best one for each and execute!

6. Half day hooray! Make calls after 2pm on the Friday before Labor Day and you will reach those hard to reach decision makers without their gatekeepers answering the phone. Office staff goes home at 2pm leaving your decision maker at the desk, relaxed and ready for your call! Were you thinking of leaving early that day? So is your competition. Don’t miss this valuable opportunity!

7. Prospect Purge. Delete prospects that don’t belong on your list. If they are not A’s, B’s or C’s, they aren’t worth your valuable time. This is true for referrals as well. Just because you were given a referral doesn’t mean that it is a prospect worth your time. Spend your valuable time on prospects you WANT to do business with. Check against your criteria and move on if it doesn’t fit. This will streamline your new business efforts with less stress and more financial success!

Implementing even a few of these key strategies can lead to a huge payoff this year. It may be tempting to set aside this article and move on to your next task. Big mistake! Can you really afford to forego this opportunity to develop new business? Take a moment, decide which strategies you will follow and set a time on your calendar to make it happen!