Don’t Write Off the Holidays When You Could Be Writing Up Sales
Sure, there are people who complain that the holiday season has become “too commercial.” But for most of us, shopping, going to festively decorated malls and buying presents is a real part of holiday spirit. It’s the one time of year when spending money isn’t an unpleasant chore. It’s an opportunity to express your feelings to those you care about.
And that last part is just as true for your business. During the holiday seasons, most everyone—except for those rare Scrooge types—has a rosier disposition and tends to see beyond strictly transactions and business relationships. That makes it a wonderful opportunity to deepen your connections and strengthen your relationships with employees, prospects and customers.
You Deserve a Christmas Sales Tip (or Six)
You don’t need to put business on hold to share in the spirit of the season. With a little planning and some smart decisions, you can heat up sales while warming up your most important relationships. Here are six sales tips to help you make that happen.
6 Sales Tips for a Successful Holiday Selling Season
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Making Merry Takes Money
Set a budget and approach the holiday season as the final push for a big fourth quarter. You won’t achieve a goal if you don’t finance the steps to achieve it. Put it in the plan early and stick with it. If you haven’t, it’s not too late. Find funds you can shift. After all, it’s not an expense. It’s an investment.
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Make a Plan and Make the Time
This one is about goals. Your time, money and resources are limited, and you want to spend them on your most important business contacts. Identify those individuals and do two things: check your schedule, to see what times you have available. Then figure out when they are most likely to be, as well. That will help you decide if a party, an open house, or a few festive lunches will accomplish your objectives. Block out important times for important people.
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Choose a Thoughtful—and Thought-Filled—Gift
How much you spend on the gift is less important than how much time you spend choosing it. We’ve been talking a lot lately about how to buy the most effective promotional gifts. We’ve learned a lot from our experience. Some are more appreciated than others, and it varies by industry and geography. Creativity (and sensitivity) count for holiday gifts with impact.
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Take Stress Off Your Guest List
None of this will matter if you yourself are not in the holiday spirit. You are probably overbooked already between work, family responsibilities and seasonal events. But you need to be at your best for those festive get-togethers with important contacts; they will think better of you and your business. So follow mom’s advice: eat right, get plenty of sleep….and check out these quotes about stress that may help. (Okay, maybe mom didn’t tell you that last one, but she would have if she saw them)
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Send Cards … They’re Note-worthy
Bottom line, you can’t meet with everyone you’d like to during the season. But you can connect with hundreds of them this way. Today more than ever, cards present an engaging personal counterpoint to the cool impersonality of tech. First, create a corporate holiday card that stands out. (We can help.) Then, especially for those most important contacts you identified earlier, add a hand-written note. Is this all rather time-consuming? Yes. But that’s the whole point. It tells those receiving them that they were worth your time. That’s what a relationship looks like.
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Hang on to the Holidays
Think about it. Strengthening relationships. Building business. Making sales calls more personal. Selling more. Which of those things do you really want to stop in January? If spending more time on key contacts works in December, why not let it work at other times? If special gifts build bonds, why let the calendar halt construction? In fact, promotional product management could help you keep those connections growing on a regular, strategic basis.
Bonus Tip: Contact Us
Want to hear more about any of these sale tips? Just contact Superior. Our ISO certification and three consecutive Best of Print and Digital awards are hard evidence that our processes are both customer-focused and customer-pleasing!
And I’d also like you to make sure you don’t miss any future sales tips. So sign up for our newsletter today! Until I talk to you next–Happy Thanksgiving!
