December is Here: Are You Prospecting or Punching Out?

In the United States, Thanksgiving is over and we’ve (mostly) recovered from stuffing our faces with turkey and pumpkin pie. Now, with the calendar showing December and snow beginning to fall all over the country, the holiday season is officially upon us.

Of course, that also means you’ve got just a few weeks remaining in 2013 to do one of two things: slam in as much prospecting, customer engagement and closing as is humanly possible, or kick your feet up, relax and assume that the year is already over and there’s nothing left to accomplish.

For many salespeople, the obvious choice is the latter.

And why not? After all, prospects and customers have end-of-year work to complete. CFOs are finalizing their 2014 budgets. Business owners are looking ahead to (or already on) their holiday vacations. HR managers are conducting performance reviews and planning company parties. And IT managers are implementing or scheduling important system upgrades. Amidst all of that, no one’s going to have time to take a sales call, right?

Wrong.

In fact, you might be surprised to learn that December is actually one of my favorite times to prospect. Why is that?

Because, like most of us, prospects are often more relaxed and cheerful this time of year. They’re more apt to take your call and be more charitable with their time (even if they are busy with end-of-year planning). And, as you might have guessed, those psychological shifts often give savvy salespeople an opportunity to change the entire dynamic of their prospecting calls.

Instead of having to frantically jump into a pitch that hits on your prospect’s key trigger events, you might be able to squeeze in some casual, friendly conversation to warm up the call first. For example:

• What the heck are we both doing at work this week?!
• Any special plans for the holidays? We’re making a 12-hour drive to Iowa with three toddlers … can’t wait!
• Is your family coming to town? We’ve got a small army coming to our place, so I just cleaned the house from top to bottom. It felt like spring cleaning in December!
• Doing anything fun for New Year’s? I bought my husband tickets to a comedy club as a surprise.

Ah, good old-fashioned small talk. Remember what that feels like?

Suddenly, instead of feverishly fending off objections, you’re sharing laughs and swapping holiday stories. And soon after that, you’re transitioning into a more serious conversation about year-end needs and 2014 initiatives, and planning a Q1 project.

If, however, you wait until January to try to have that conversation?

Well, you’ll likely find that executives and managers are heads-down, focused on strategic initiatives for the new year. Not only will they not have time to engage in a casual, friendly call, you’ll be lucky if they call you back before Memorial Day. In other words, you’ll miss the boat and you’ll likely have to spend the next several months swimming furiously to catch up.

So, with the holidays upon us, don’t assume that no one will respond to your outreach this month. In my experience, the opposite is true. December is a fantastic time to prospect—and I’m talking about the whole month, not just the first few weeks of it.

Will you reach everyone you contact? Of course not (people do take time off in December). But the people you do engage will be more receptive, relaxed and approachable. And that can mean a lot of new opportunities for you heading into 2014.

Happy prospecting!

Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert, author of the newly released book, “The Sales Magnet,” and the award winning book, “Selling Against the Goal,” and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment.