Is sales really slower during the holiday season or do we sales people just prefer to believe that? I've often been tempted to decrease the work rate during the holiday season (July-August). On the other hand I've never met more interesting people than during that time of the year. It seems that CEO's and other very influential people (like their personal assistants) hold calenders open for lunch meetings with people who like to learn more about business and sales. That's why I've created a matrix that holds the right strategy for the right type of market: There are two indicators: The level of the person you are talking to when prospecting (1 being the marketing assistant - 10 being the CEO) The intensity of labour in your sector (1 being really slow - 10 being unbearably fast)
When both have 0 it's obvious something is very wrong When intensity of labour is 10 you might find that most people are just too busy to meet you for new business: limit yourself to finding out the correct information on call timing and remaining top of mind with your prospect. When the level of the prospect is the highest, I'd suggest also focusing on finding out the maximum amount of information, as well as getting a great referral from a very influential person When both level of labour intensity AND level of prospect are in alignment at 7-8, make the meeting and close the deal!
