Your sales game shouldn't take a holiday hiatus

Originally posted on LinkedIn Dec 3, 2018:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-sales-game-shouldnt-take-holiday-hiatus-rich-stone

The time between Thanksgiving and the New Year is a tricky one to navigate for inexperienced sellers. While everyone else seems to be throttling down for the holidays there are still monthly. quarterly and annual quotas hanging over your head. This can be stressful for some but fruitful for others who take advantage and capitalize on the opportunity this time of year presents.

Although most of us take some time off during holiday months, the slowdown is a myth – no business comes to a complete halt during this time. The quieter months present an opportunity to build brand equity at a time when your prospects have the bandwidth to interact with your message.

As a bright eyed sales rep back in April 2009 TechTarget shipped me from our HQ in (at the time) Needham, MA to our San Francisco office. For anyone who knows me you've probably heard me talk countless times about how big of a positive impact that move has had on my life but one interesting part of that move for me (and any young rep who makes that move) is the unique experience around the holidays. Almost everyone who works in our SF office is a transplant (the vast majority are from the East Coast) and most folks fly back home for a couple weeks to be with family and friends for the holidays. One one hand this is awesome because the young reps get to spend a lot of time with loved ones but on the other hand it also reverts you right back into that college break mindset just as your are evolving into a contributing member of the economy. The biggest difference is that you now have a quota and something to prove.

Here are a few tips to help you continue to get after it during the holidays and finish out the year strong:

1. Get out of your parent's house (or wherever you are staying) for the workday. Go post up at a local coffee shop or a shared workplace if that is an option. I vividly remember making prospecting calls on my Blackberry (the sweet one with the scrolling wheel on the side) from a Starbucks in Haverhill, MA. Fun Fact: Haverhill is home to the most Dunkin Donuts per capita so I had never been to a Starbucks (in Haverhill at least) before that day...

2. Stick to the plan. Do your best to keep up with your schedule and habits that are yielding results for you. Discipline equals freedom.

3. Mix up your approach. The holidays are a great time to go old school and send out some hand written letters to your customers and prospects. A thoughtful and personalized touch never goes out of style.

4. As people start to throttle down around the holidays they may be more likely to actually engage with your messages. Take advantage of the spotlight and sharpen your approach to be as concise and relevant to your prospects as possible. Do so across all mediums that you leverage in your sales outreach (phone, voicemail, email, text, social etc.).

5. Do something active every day. Go for a run, hit up your high school weight room or take it back to the glory days and drop in on a winter sports practice.

6. Don't half ass anything you do. If you are working then get to work. If you are spending time with your mom don't be looking at your phone. You get the idea.

7. Reconnect with where you came from. This is a great opportunity to get back in touch with where you came from and visualize where you are going.

Good luck closing out 2018 strong and setting yourself up for your best year yet in 2019!