Don’t be the Grinch… don’t try and stop the holidays because you’re afraid of what it could do to your pipeline. Embrace a unique time to sell.

With 10 days left until Christmas, and many other holidays in full swing already, [Happy Hanukkah], I’ve heard sales people complain for years that their buyers aren’t responding during December. Guess what?

It’s not them, it’s you.

Maybe you’re not putting in the extra effort you know it takes, or you’re not showing them their pain clearly. Could it be you’re not helping them realize how bad it really is and you’re not bringing value when you speak because you’ve given up?

This is one time it’s not about your prospect, it’s about your ability to push through what you perceive as a slow time of year to get the deals [or pipeline] you need. I admit it can be daunting, but here are some things to consider as you sleigh the last few weeks in 2020.

Dig into Discovery

If you were bringing concise solutions to their painful business problems, they would still be talking to you. Just because the holidays hit doesn’t mean their pain points also take PTO. Challenge yourself to illuminate their pain more clearly and provide your solutions in a simpler way. This is a great time of year to work on carrying their pain points all the way through the conversation while helping them understand how bad it really is. Do this by asking quality discovery questions, then using their answers to ask more questions. Yeah, it sounds easy, but it takes practice to be great at it.

Find out what the “why” of your buyer is and use that to illustrate how you can help them achieve it. Get the notion out of your head that they aren’t talking because it’s the holidays...unless you sell to shipping companies, card merchandisers, or Hallmark you’re probably in the clear. Bring value with each reach out and be prepared to walk them through their pain by asking good questions.

Be personal

We think during holidays people are too busy to talk, they aren’t. In many cases their job doesn't get busier, it’s their mind that fills up. It happens to you too. All of the stress that comes with your holiday is probably with your prospect as well. What would cause you take time to listen to right now personally to something new? Now, what would you cause you to take time to listen to a solution for work? You’re not trying to cut through business noise you’re trying to cut through personal noise during the holidays.

So here we go one more time….be personal. 2020 has been a shitshow, nothing cuts through the personal noise like showing someone you get it. A great way to do this is find a local coffee shop in your prospects town and buy them a coffee. Or tequila...either way really. But seriously, show up for them, serve your prospects needs and they will give you time. Get creative to cut through their personal noise.

Pro tip: People would rather stop a potential loss, than acquire the equivalent gain. Use their Loss Aversion to frame how your solution can stop a loss, rather than provide them with more of something. Focus on how you're speaking when you share your solutions. If you stop the loss, the gain will happen automatically.

Put in the extra work.

You’re going to have to make extra cold calls, send more emails, and reach out to more people on social. Chances are your sales teammates are using this time of year to take a break. You will win because you’re not going to sit back and blame it on the time of year. Make 20 extra calls a day for the next 10 days and tell me what happens. 10 more in the AM and 10 more in the PM. I bet it pays dividends.

• DO. THE. WORK.
• Follow the process.
• Show your work ethic.

The Grinch did a lot of things wrong but, maybe in this instance be the Grinch. He worked overtime to try and stop Christmas….can’t hate the guy for that world class effort. In the end his heart grew three sizes and you could end up with three more deals over the line. This is the time of year to do just a little more than everyone else. The discipline comes in when you’re ready to check your social media, or stop for the day, push yourself to do 10 more.

Your prospects (and you) will be able to have a break, detox from tech, and rest. It will be well-deserved this year more than any other. Use the next 10 days to your advantage and don’t give up because your co-workers are, or the first 50 people didn’t pick up the phone. If what you’re selling stops the bleeding, and you’ve learned the best way to communicate that, you’ll still have a successful end of the year.

Don’t be a Grinch and wish away this time of year, you could surprise yourself.